Middle of the Night Strategies for Tinnitus and Sleeping

[Allan1967]

I've never been a great sleeper, 5 to 6 hours max, even less during this current 9 week 'spike'.

I wake up at 3am and like many will know it's all worse at night. The tinnitus is louder and then the fearsome thoughts start coming in...'I'm in for a bad day' 'This torture will never stop for the rest of my life's and the anxiety starts kicking in.

Sometimes I'll run out to an all night garage and buy a pack of 5 cigars and smoke them all in one go.

These behaviours aren't helping.

I've tried Valerian; Sleep Meds; Melatonin... nothing gets me past this 5 hour sleep.

If you wake at this time...

What do you do?
How do you get back to sleep?
How do you deal with anxious thoughts? The fear of this torture being never ending?

 

[another sean]

try some magnesium, the kind the dissolves in hot water that you can drink. I use Calm. Also some passion flower drop to go with it. If sedatives are not help then it sounds more like a GABA anxiety issue and you need to taking things that help promote GABA instead. The things you listed dont deal with anxiety at all. Thats what Benzos like xanex and Ativan do but try to go the natural route in raising your GABA first. I had insomnia for days and sedatives didn't do squat. needed GABA focused meds instead. On top of that, call a warm line and talk to some one as it helps get you get you out your head. I know warm lines open from 10pm-6am. try to find one in your state, if you cant find any then you can call other ones in different states. Also try to think about things to do that would make you happy. put you in a better frame of mind. I know when waking up mid sleep and the anxiety starts kicking in, your mind gets in this loop of bad thoughts. try to figure out ahead of time what would help break that cycle. maybe looking through family photo albums or a movie you loved as a kid. something that will help you break that train of thought. I don't think cigars will help since tobacco is a stimulant. And if none of this works then try to find some CBT therapy so they can help teach you how to break that cycle of bad thoughts when you wake up. sometimes there is no quick fix and you need to learn the tools ahead of time so they are there at your disposal when things get bad. plan and prepare for it.

 

[Allan1967]

Morning all

Here's my problem and I'd like your thoughts or experience.

I go to bed about 10 pm. I don't have an issue with falling asleep, I have an issue with staying asleep to the time I'd like which would be 6am.

However I'm waking up 1.30 am, 2, 3 or 4, depending on what previous nights have been like or what meds I've taken.

At that time of night between 2 am and 6 am is my most vulnerable time, that's when the anxiety kicks in.

I've been thinking about how I get past this and I was considering forcing myself to stay awake until 2 am and hopefully sleep until 6, and do the same the following night or a bit earlier perhaps... anyone experience this and what did you do about it?

 

[hans799]

I've recently had good experiences with L-Theanine for anxiety. It is is an amino acid, one of the components in green tea. It has been quite well studied in isolation. It appears to be a pretty unique substance because 1. it reduces anxiety, 2. but does not cause sedation, 3. and there's no risk of tolerance/dependence. I'm not aware of any other anxiolytic with such an excellent safety profile.

This is a pretty good writeup with plenty of links to studies:
https://legionathletics.com/l-theanine/

For me it 2x200mg a day reduces anxiety to the same degree a low dose of Xanax would, plus it also pacifies the tinnitus a bit.

Maybe you should try it, in addition to the other substances mentioned in this thread. Everyone's biochemistry is different, the more substances you try the better are the chances of finding something that works well, and theanine's pretty low risk and cheap.

 

[Nonna]

a dog that has a low rumbling snore laying on ur belly

 

[Allan1967]

Well tried staying up until 2am on Monday, zoned in and out a couple of times which I think re-energised me.

Went to bed at 2am. Woke at 3 with a minor anxiety issue and that was it.

Totally tired but wired.

In theory I think it works but anxiety issue got in the way. Probably best NOT do it when I have work.

 

[Basshell]

This will work for you.
Download "Atmosphere" app on your phone. It's free and has a myriad of sounds including nature sounds or pink, white and brown noise.

Use/ get a mini Bluetooth speaker.

Use Bluetooth on your phone and play the sound that most mixes with your tinnitus. Set the volume below tinnitus so it completely but partially does. Always only ever use a neutral sound (ie not music). Run it before you sleep and all night. You will sleep better for sure.

 

[Fin]

I had this problem of waking up in the night, no anxiety just the shite noise at such a high pitch its impossible to fall straight back to sleep. Once you're awake much harder to combat it so I try do everything I can before I sleep to try stay asleep.

Before bed, I take CBD oil and a Phenergan tablet, it's an antihistamine. Nothing to do with tinnitus but it keeps me asleep and seems to work, been doing it for a week now. Will let you all know if it continues to work.

The sounds also aren't good for me so I let audible play in the backgrounds, things that I've listened to a million times before like Sapiens so I can pay attention enough to distract the noise but still fall asleep.

Good luck.

 

[coffee_girl]

Reading on the Kindle really helped me.

 

[Sointu]

For years I have got used to waking up at night when I have had insomnia even before tinnitus. Slowly my sleep had been improving though and I didn't even remember waking up during night. Now after getting tinnitus my sleep has been broken again and in the worst case I wake up multiple times a night and sometimes struggle to fall back asleep. One thing that seems to be helping me fall back to asleep is going to eat a snack during the night if I wake up and struggle to fall back asleep. I usually eat half of a banana or/and glass of milk or coconut water. I have noticed that foods that contain minerals such as Potassium or Magnesium seem to have a calming effect on me. Sometimes I use topical Magnesium spray if I feel I need something relaxing. It helps muscles to relax . And I go immediately back to bed when I still feel a bit tired after waking up. I try to avoid bright light that would probably make me feel less tired.

I try to keep the same ritual when I wake up. Worst idea is to start using phone that has bright light and is too activating. I try to avoid other lights too.

Deep breathing can work too. Emptying the mind. Easier said than done when tinnitus sound ruins sleep though. I have somehow managed to not think about tinnitus lasting forever during the night when I am drowsy. I just keep some distracting sound on all night. Concentrate on it.

Stressing about lack of sleep definitely steals my sleep. If sleep doesn't come immediately it can come a bit later after concentrating on something relaxing.

Before tinnitus I used to listen to ASMR videos / relaxation tapes if I couldn't sleep but I haven't tried them with tinnitus. I don't know do they work with tinnitus. This is a new situation.