Scared and Tired: Tinnitus Spiked, Phobia of Choking and Horrible Anxiety Came Back

[zombiechick]

In March I had miscarriage. It doesn't end there. My phobia of choking along with horrible anxiety came back. My doctor wants to put me on Celexa but I'd prefer to avoid SSRIs. I came off of Zoloft in October. I haven't been sleeping well all week. I wake up around 4am to 5am everyday. I take 5mg of melatonin to fall asleep and go to sleep pretty quick. But I'll have a nightmare and bam, I'm awake.

Any thoughts or advice for sleep? Take more melatonin when I wake up? My tinnitus suddenly spiked tonight due to high stress and I'm really feeling pushed to my limits. If you want more info, please ask me. I really need help.

 

[HeavyMantra]

Are you doing any type of activity that reduces stress? Therapeutic yoga, qi gong, breathing excercises? I realize it might not be easy to find time with a child to take care of, but 10 minutes of breathing before sleep could potentially help a bit at least. Or a lot, depending on your current habits etc.

Your sympathetic nervous system could be "stuck" in active mode all the time right now. It's not uncommon in today's society. And the trauma of a miscarriage I cannot even imagine.. There are ways to activate the parasympathetic nervous system simply by breathing in specific ways.

Can you expand on your phobia of choking? It sounds relevant to the breath.

Many people today (including myself) are stuck in breathing patterns that are very detrimental to our stress levels

EDIT: this is what I would consider a physiotherapeutic way to approach the problem. It's all I know and can contribute with currently. I think you are very wise to avoid SSRIs (I've had very bad personal experiences with them)

 

[Michael Leigh]

Try and get a referral to a Therapist that can help with your phobia and anxiety.

 

[aot]

I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this. I can't even imagine.

@Michael Leigh and @HeavyMantra have the right idea. This is a stressfull time for you, (for everyone, really) and it would do you good to vent.

 

[Juan]

Any thoughts or advice for sleep? Take more melatonin when I wake up? My tinnitus suddenly spiked tonight due to high stress and I'm really feeling pushed to my limits. If you want more info, please ask me. I really need help.

Sleeping well has a lot to do with meal times, what we eat, and the time of the day we make exercise. It is also best to avoid stressful activities before going to sleep, and screens, computers, cellphone... reading is good for dozing off.

 

[zombiechick]

Are you doing any type of activity that reduces stress? Therapeutic yoga, qi gong, breathing excercises? I realize it might not be easy to find time with a child to take care of, but 10 minutes of breathing before sleep could potentially help a bit at least. Or a lot, depending on your current habits etc.

Your sympathetic nervous system could be "stuck" in active mode all the time right now. It's not uncommon in today's society. And the trauma of a miscarriage I cannot even imagine.. There are ways to activate the parasympathetic nervous system simply by breathing in specific ways.

Can you expand on your phobia of choking? It sounds relevant to the breath.

Many people today (including myself) are stuck in breathing patterns that are very detrimental to our stress levels

EDIT: this is what I would consider a physiotherapeutic way to approach the problem. It's all I know and can contribute with currently. I think you are very wise to avoid SSRIs (I've had very bad personal experiences with them)

We've been going on walks during my day off. The first couple of weeks I was really bad. Just shaking non stop. Barely eating. A week ago I was barely able to sleep, so I took 4mg of melatonin and slept better for a week. This week, I woke up at 3am and couldn't fall back asleep until 6am. I work a full time job at a grocery store, so things are a bit stressful there too. Wearing a mask for eight hours can get to you and everyone is sleeping as poorly as me. I've been eating bananas and yogurt for breakfast. I try and eat a waffle energy cookie, 2 of them with yogurt for lunch. I eat organic yogurt with a ton of probiotics. I eat other solid foods, in smaller portions. If I need to get my calories, I'll eat chunky lentil veggie soup. I stopped drinking beer and coffee. But this waking up is making me shaky. I used to look forward to going to bed and now I worry about waking up super early and laying in bed. Last night, my spouse went to hang out with friends and I stayed with my son. Ate a homemade broccoli cheese soup, cheese sticks and I drink water with every meal because I get scared that food isn't going to go down. I tried to take a nap and woke up to a panic attack with loud tinnitus. My spouse is going to rub my shoulders because I carry a lot of stress there and sometimes that lowers the ringing.

I can handle trying to get past my phobia again but with the tinnitus potentially spiking, it sends me over the edge.

I do take 1mg of Clonazepam at night but before I got pregnant with my son, I took it for years. When I got pregnant with him four years ago they put me on Zoloft. My doctor took me off Zoloft in October and let me go back on Clonazepam. The only reason I stay on Clonazepam is because year ago when I tried to get off of it my tinnitus started up. That was eight years ago.

It's just with all the shaking, hard time sleeping, trying to get over my phobia that started 10 years ago, its pushing me into a dark place. It scares the hell out of me. I did breathing exercises last night, ate a few spoon fulls of yogurt and took some magnesium.

I'm scared I'll get desperate and end up on an SSRI again. I'm seeing a therapist right now and she's going to speak to a psychologist for me.

My husband keeps telling me to get vape pin and try THC. I don't know what to do. I'm scared of losing myself, my family and my job. Everyday I drag myself through everything and now I can't get enough sleep.

 

[zombiechick]

I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this. I can't even imagine.

@Michael Leigh and @HeavyMantra have the right idea. This is a stressfull time for you, (for everyone, really) and it would do you good to vent.

I spoke to my therapist yesterday. It helped. Just this spike in tinnitus is making me feel hopeless. One thing at a time. Now its three things at a time.

 

[zombiechick]

Try and get a referral to a Therapist that can help with your phobia and anxiety.

I did but the lack of sleep and tinnitus flaring is really making me panic more.

 

[Michael Leigh]

I did but the lack of sleep and tinnitus flaring is really making me panic more.

I suggest that you discuss your lack of sleep with your doctor who will hopefully offer a solution to help you. l also advise that you continue with counselling for your anxiety and stress.

 

[zombiechick]

I suggest that you discuss your lack of sleep with your doctor who will hopefully offer a solution to help you. l also advise that you continue with counselling for your anxiety and stress.

I don't intend to stop seeing my therapist. My doctor wants to put me on celexa. Literally her first response when I told her I was having anxiety and my phobia. I have an appointment with her Monday. I'm just trying to keep it all together for my kid.

 

[aot]

I don't intend to stop seeing my therapist. My doctor wants to put me on celexa. Literally her first response when I told her I was having anxiety and my phobia. I have an appointment with her Monday. I'm just trying to keep it all together for my kid.

Maybe it isn't enough considering the circumstances, but ZZZquil, which contains Melatonin, helps me when I have a bad night.

 

[zombiechick]

And I want to point out that here in Colorado we are still on shut down and it makes it hard when you can't meet someone in person unless you want to risk going to a hospital. So, that definitely does not help if you are having a mental health crisis.

 

[Michael Leigh]

I don't intend to stop seeing my therapist. My doctor wants to put me on celexa. Literally her first response when I told her I was having anxiety and my phobia. I have an appointment with her Monday. I'm just trying to keep it all together for my kid.

I understand your situation and hope when you see your doctor on Monday, you'll be given the help that you need.

I wish you well.
Michael

 

[Bill Bauer]

Take more melatonin when I wake up?

Melatonin has always made me wake up a couple of hours later.

Consider taking Amitriptyline. It is nonaddictive and it won't make you drowsy when you wake up the next morning.

 

[zombiechick]

Melatonin has always made me wake up a couple of hours later.

Consider taking Amitriptyline. It is nonaddictive and it won't make you drowsy when you wake up the next morning.

It says its an antidepressant? How long have you been taking it? I had to be at 6am for work, so waking up at 5:22am wasn't awful but I hope I can fall asleep okay tonight.

 

[zombiechick]

Maybe it isn't enough considering the circumstances, but ZZZquil, which contains Melatonin, helps me when I have a bad night.

Several bad nights, feel like freaking out but am trying to stay calm. At work and it feels louder than when I was at home. I feel so damn hopeless. The doctor claimed that celexa could help my tinnitus.

 

[HeavyMantra]

We've been going on walks during my day off. The first couple of weeks I was really bad. Just shaking non stop. Barely eating. A week ago I was barely able to sleep, so I took 4mg of melatonin and slept better for a week. This week, I woke up at 3am and couldn't fall back asleep until 6am. I work a full time job at a grocery store, so things are a bit stressful there too. Wearing a mask for eight hours can get to you and everyone is sleeping as poorly as me. I've been eating bananas and yogurt for breakfast. I try and eat a waffle energy cookie, 2 of them with yogurt for lunch. I eat organic yogurt with a ton of probiotics. I eat other solid foods, in smaller portions. If I need to get my calories, I'll eat chunky lentil veggie soup. I stopped drinking beer and coffee. But this waking up is making me shaky. I used to look forward to going to bed and now I worry about waking up super early and laying in bed. Last night, my spouse went to hang out with friends and I stayed with my son. Ate a homemade broccoli cheese soup, cheese sticks and I drink water with every meal because I get scared that food isn't going to go down. I tried to take a nap and woke up to a panic attack with loud tinnitus. My spouse is going to rub my shoulders because I carry a lot of stress there and sometimes that lowers the ringing.

I can handle trying to get past my phobia again but with the tinnitus potentially spiking, it sends me over the edge.

I do take 1mg of Clonazepam at night but before I got pregnant with my son, I took it for years. When I got pregnant with him four years ago they put me on Zoloft. My doctor took me off Zoloft in October and let me go back on Clonazepam. The only reason I stay on Clonazepam is because year ago when I tried to get off of it my tinnitus started up. That was eight years ago.

It's just with all the shaking, hard time sleeping, trying to get over my phobia that started 10 years ago, its pushing me into a dark place. It scares the hell out of me. I did breathing exercises last night, ate a few spoon fulls of yogurt and took some magnesium.

I'm scared I'll get desperate and end up on an SSRI again. I'm seeing a therapist right now and she's going to speak to a psychologist for me.

My husband keeps telling me to get vape pin and try THC. I don't know what to do. I'm scared of losing myself, my family and my job. Everyday I drag myself through everything and now I can't get enough sleep.

This is one of the most important skills I have learned in my life: making the exhale twice as long as the inhale activates the parasympathetic nervous system (which is the part responsible for the very ability to feel relaxed). I'm not going to go into detail because people seldom take me up on advice like this. But for me, this is what I do when my tinnitus is so loud I'm laughing in disbelief and wish for and early grave.

The act of slowly counting is one part of it, something to focus on. The rest is a physiological process that just works... I always find myself not counting anymore after a while, and I'm always relaxed and am often able to drift to sleep. It's synergistic with safe and calming substances like l-theanine, which is my other secret weapon for my worst nights (very large doses).

If sleep is impossible, I've always found it calming to accept that and focus on just relaxing instead. Another very easy thing to do is to put your legs up against the wall (viparita karani) for 20 minutes. The blood flow reverses and activates the parasympathetic nervous system. Coupled with deep breathing the effect improves. Podcasts and audiobooks are great if you need something additional to focus on.

During my restorative yoga training, I slept 4 hours a night which I thought was impossible.. But due to calming the nervous system while awake, I was surprised to find I felt like I had slept 8.

I would NOT recommend THC to you at this time. Since I think cannabis is pretty much a panacea, I don't have anything against the plant. I think it would do the opposite of calming you down right now is all. CBD is something you could explore though.

 

[Bill Bauer]

How long have you been taking it?

Large doses of Amitriptyline (50-100 mg, as opposed of the normal 10 mg that one uses to help one to fall asleep) has been used as a Treatment for tinnitus.
https://www.researchgate.net/profil...e_Tinnitus/links/5502051c0cf24cee39fb28c8.pdf

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0079612307660245

Just like most potential tinnitus treatments, Amitriptyline can Cause tinnitus (or make tinnitus worse) for a very small fraction of the people who take it:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0269881107082126

During the first few months after the onset of my tinnitus (back when I haven't been aware about any of the above) I had been taking Amitriptyline to help me sleep and I ended up feeling good about it.

Many people on this forum have had a similar experience with this drug.

 

[zombiechick]

Large doses of Amitriptyline (50-100 mg, as opposed of the normal 10 mg that one uses to help one to fall asleep) has been used as a Treatment for tinnitus.
https://www.researchgate.net/profil...e_Tinnitus/links/5502051c0cf24cee39fb28c8.pdf

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0079612307660245

Just like most potential tinnitus treatments, Amitriptyline can Cause tinnitus (or make tinnitus worse) for a very small fraction of the people who take it:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0269881107082126

During the first few months after the onset of my tinnitus (back when I haven't been aware about any of the above) I had been taking Amitriptyline to help me sleep and I ended up feeling good about it.

Many people on this forum have had a similar experience with this drug.

Any SSRI'S make me nervous. Like I'm signing up to eventually be put on several when one stops working. I'm sorry, I'm keeping an open mind but I have several coworkers on three to four different drugs.

 

[zombiechick]

This is one of the most important skills I have learned in my life: making the exhale twice as long as the inhale activates the parasympathetic nervous system (which is the part responsible for the very ability to feel relaxed). I'm not going to go into detail because people seldom take me up on advice like this. But for me, this is what I do when my tinnitus is so loud I'm laughing in disbelief and wish for and early grave.

The act of slowly counting is one part of it, something to focus on. The rest is a physiological process that just works... I always find myself not counting anymore after a while, and I'm always relaxed and am often able to drift to sleep. It's synergistic with safe and calming substances like l-theanine, which is my other secret weapon for my worst nights (very large doses).

If sleep is impossible, I've always found it calming to accept that and focus on just relaxing instead. Another very easy thing to do is to put your legs up against the wall (viparita karani) for 20 minutes. The blood flow reverses and activates the parasympathetic nervous system. Coupled with deep breathing the effect improves. Podcasts and audiobooks are great if you need something additional to focus on.

During my restorative yoga training, I slept 4 hours a night which I thought was impossible.. But due to calming the nervous system while awake, I was surprised to find I felt like I had slept 8.

I would NOT recommend THC to you at this time. Since I think cannabis is pretty much a panacea, I don't have anything against the plant. I think it would do the opposite of calming you down right now is all. CBD is something you could explore though.

Tonight was kind of rough with work but the T did subside a little. Had a ton of anxiety before work. I make myself take my son on a walk around the lake by our house, although I played dinosaurs this afternoon. He called me crying at work, begging me to come home. So, that's awful. I've added taking magnesium to my nighttime routine. Slept better last night. Just woke up anxious. Meditation might be harder with 2 dogs, a cat and four year old and spouse who is also overwhelmed. I'm trying with everything I got.

 

[Tweedleman]

Any SSRI'S make me nervous. Like I'm signing up to eventually be put on several when one stops working. I'm sorry, I'm keeping an open mind but I have several coworkers on three to four different drugs.

Amitriptyline isn't an SSRI, it's a TCA. At low doses (10-25mg) it basically only functions as a sleep aid, nothing serious. It doesn't have any antidepressant effects until you go up to the higher doses (50-100mg). If you're having trouble sleeping it's worth a try. I was taking it nightly for months before I switched to 0.5mg clonazepam. Amitriptyline was just as effective for me as a sleep aid, but without the potential for addiction.

 

[Jazzer]

Tonight was kind of rough with work but the T did subside a little. Had a ton of anxiety before work. I make myself take my son on a walk around the lake by our house, although I played dinosaurs this afternoon. He called me crying at work, begging me to come home. So, that's awful. I've added taking magnesium to my nighttime routine. Slept better last night. Just woke up anxious. Meditation might be harder with 2 dogs, a cat and four year old and spouse who is also overwhelmed. I'm trying with everything I got.

Eckhart Tolle says:

- his writings help me Zchick.
When silence is denied - find
Peace through Stillness.

 

[Mister Muso]

Be careful with amitriptylene. It might not be right for you.

I found it helped my sleeping better than anything, but it gave me crazy dreams and brought back my stress-related breathing difficulties. Both those symptoms are noted as side-effects for this drug, and you've said you have had problems with both those issues. The same goes for some antihistamines as well, unfortunately.

I find I can't take anything now that gets me to sleep through the night without side-effects, and since having coronavirus symptoms, my stress-related breathing difficulties have been worse than ever.

One thing I would recommend is menthol crystals in a steam inhaler, taken three times a day. You can add a drop of aromatherapy oil to make it more pleasant if you like. Also regular walks in the fresh air. I'm sleeping a little better since starting those practices. I may try melatonin next. My doctor prescribed me the same inhalers that asthmatics use, even though investigations have ruled out asthma in my case.

 

[zombiechick]

Any SSRI'S make me nervous. Like I'm signing up to eventually be put on several

Eckhart Tolle says:
View attachment 38445
- his writings help me Zchick.
When silence is denied - find
Peace through Stillness.

Thank you, I like this very much. Tinnitus is better today but got a new speaker for sleep.

 

[zombiechick]

Eckhart Tolle says:
View attachment 38445
- his writings help me Zchick.
When silence is denied - find
Peace through Stillness.

 

[friend74]

Consider taking Amitriptyline. It is nonaddictive and it won't make you drowsy when you wake up the next morning.

I think this depends on every individual. I got it prescribed in liquid form. i was told to take 5-7 drops before going to sleep. Didn't work that good with me.

- strangely it took a while to get sleep
- I felt very drowsy the next morning. took me to midday/lunch time to be 'full there' again
- and it made me kind of aggressive or better easily irritated the next morning/day

However, all good things come in threes... might have a last try.

 

[zombiechick]

I think this depends on every individual. I got it prescribed in liquid form. i was told to take 5-7 drops before going to sleep. Didn't work that good with me.

- strangely it took a while to get sleep
- I felt very drowsy the next morning. took me to midday/lunch time to be 'full there' again
- and it made me kind of aggressive or better easily irritated the next morning/day

However, all good things come in threes... might have a last try.

I am considering it. Another night of waking up around 3:47am and I have work today with loud T. Really hoping it will settle down.

 

[friend74]

Here where I live we have also stuff like Vivinox Sleep or Hoggar Night that works via Doxylamin. You don't need a prescription for the pharmacy.

Strange, lately I was also waking up around 3 in the morning for some nights while going to sleep at midnight.

 

[aot]

@zombiechick, can I recommend you a book that really helped me out during a bad time in my life? Nothing in it about tinnitus, but still.

 

[zombiechick]

Here where I live we have also stuff like Vivinox Sleep or Hoggar Night that works via Doxylamin. You don't need a prescription for the pharmacy.

Strange, lately I was also waking up around 3 in the morning for some nights while going to sleep at midnight.

Its happening to a lot of coworkers. They keep waking up or not sleeping. I managed to sort of sleep for while. My tinnitus went down but now I feel like I'm having a panic attack. Kind of a cruel rollercoaster ride I'm on right now. Just hope I'm not nauseous at work again. My spouse had me drink a stout last night before bed and I think it caused me to have spike for minute and wake me up. No more beer before bed. That's for damn sure.