Night Time Terrors

[Marie79]

Hi Guys!
So it seems as though I am on the road to recovery (going away? habituation? not sure).

So many of you have said this is not a total path upward but back and forth and sooner or later more going forward than back. Does that makes sense?

I seem to have this going on now...one night I'm ok and if the T wakes me up I know how to get myself back to sleep. Then the next time I seem to forget all of that and wake up with the T louder (which I have seen here as well loud T at night is VERY normal) then my anxiety gets ahold of me and it gets even louder and I freak out thinking it is permanently louder.

Then the next day I'm better and can self sooth the next night. Then again freak out the next.

It is VERY hard to always remember how to put the T out of your mind in the middle of the night when you wake up already anxious. On those freak out nights I take 1/2 a xanax.

How is your path to success? Is it any similar?

 

[gotyoubynuts]

I freak out thinking it is permanently louder.

Why do you make this false assumption?

 

[glynis]

Over time we find a bit of a pattern to our tinnitus journey and find ways to tackle the noise and lack of sleep and over time get better at bouncing back after a knock back .
The main thing is to stay positive as nothing positive comes out of being negative.
Tinnitus is sure a monster but with help we can learn to cope better and our brain adapt to it to a point.....lots of love glynis

 

[Marie79]

Why do you make this false assumption?

probably because I'm freaking out and in a moment of great anxiety and it's in the middle of the night and I'm not thinking clearly. Either way though I think it's not uncommon for people to think their spikes could be permanent.

 

[glynis]

Hi @Marie79,
Spikes will come and go and as long as your ears have not been through danger most spikes will settle down to your normal base sound.
After you have had a few spikes you will have an idea how your ears and tinnitus react and a rough guide how long your spikes take to settle.
Any ear pain or discharge or temperature always needs checking by your doctor but if it's only the tinnitus spike then it could be due to a number of reasons like spike in the night or day or after a nap or cold weather or stress etc....lots of love glynis

 

[Marie79]

Cold weather too? Do you think rain does it like it can make people with an old broken bone have pain??

 

[glynis]

I know for sure cold and wind can spike tinnitus for most people...lots of love glynis

 

[JohnnyMx]

How is your path to success?

Almost exactly as you tell in your story.

I've had T since teenager, mild. In 2013 in increased (noise trauma, new meds, lot of stress, I can't pinpoint the sources) so badly that I can hear it almost everywhere. I can hear it inside of an airplane, just to give an example.

The first year was really, really bad. Being a father of 2 boys, i was devastated.

Nothing happened with my sound, but it did in my head, after 1 year of being a living death I decided i wanted to fight back, only with possitive thinking. That was the start for my improvement.

It was just as you describe it, the first months I was in a "fake it until you make it" mode. I went out with family to have fun, but I was not having it. I went to dinner with friends and wife, but I was barely present in mind... but, this forced actions to keep moving forward started to pay back. Then, I started to enjoy little things, like being in the park with my boys, or having an ice cream, just before getting at home and being hit with depression and anxiety again.

This was a loop for another 6 months maybe... but I keep moving, I forced things. Then, this cycle was longer and longer, I mean, at the beginning I was ok 2 hours, then the rest 22 hours of the day was a nightmare... In that days, I remember waking up in the middle of the night with a very very loud T, scared to death, taking the hand of my wife and crying.... but months passed, and I started to have 10 good hours, than 15 good hours... then 1 day, then 2 days... then where I'm now, most of my days are OK, and when I feel bad I have no depression, just feel sick just when you have a headache. I don't wake up in the midnights anymore, I sleep like a baby around 7 hours... T does not bother me NOTHING at the time of going to bed.

I had big problems habituating to my T, because at the same time I had alot of pain, temple pain, ear pain, muscle pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, despesonalization, and alot, alot of stress... all of this before T increased.

I'm now stonger than ever, I'm not only managing my T, but I learned how to manage anything in my life. I've had mostly at bay my pain and other problems.

So keep moving, keep believing, things will improve for sure.

The best for you,
Your friend,
Johnny.

 

[rzhang]

If you get a good pair of silicone earplugs you can isolate your t tone so that you know truly how loud it is, and in turn know when ou are actually spiking and not just being anxious and paranoid

 

[Nonna]

Those terrors are awful. Try Ativan, it is more calming than a xanax.