Sleeping with the Head Elevated

[Damien Cavanagh]

When I lie down in bed, my tinnitus goes mad (this left-ear hiss goes tonal, the right-ear whoosh sounds like a tsunami). On a good night, it calms down but remains louder than when I'm standing. On bad nights I have to take Zolpidem. And always in the morning, the hiss is very loud.

A lot of other posters seem to have this experience too.

I'm bought a giant, firm, wedge-shaped (maybe 40deg) pillow so that I can sleep elevated, like in a hospital bed.
The tinnitus doesn't go mad now, but of course I have to get used to sleeping in this posture (I've been waking up in the middle of the night lying flat on the mattress ) And in the morning, the hiss isn't quite as loud. I'm hoping that this could eventually bring the tinnitus down a bit overall (gotta have hope!)

Has anybody else here tried sleeping with the head elevated?

 

[blissaliss]

@Damien Cavanagh. Great post. My tinnitus is so much louder while lying down. Have you experimented with this more since February? As soon as I get out of bed, 10 minutes later, my tinnitus is down to an ok level. However, on the nights I miss a lot of sleep I'm tired enough it's louder than normal through the day. I've thought about sleeping in my recliner but, lol, the living room is the only place my massive rabbit hutch fits and the bunny would keep me awake all night doing bunny-stuff. So Ive kept from sleeping in the recliner. I don't sleep reclined in bed well. Like you, I'd just end up on my back/side as soon as I'm out. Pillows to prop me up sounds uncomfortable enough, I'd probably loose sleep just the same My poor husband works super hard all day, then puts up with my up and downs all night. He hasn't complained, but I'm going on over a year of this.

 

[Star64]

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Hopefully this message gets to you...

 

[Daniel S.]

I've been experimenting with different pillow types (as much as my budget will allow to me, at least), and I have to admit that I haven't had much luck finding one that helps reduce the ringing at night.

Melatonin has been somewhat helpful for me over the years, though. Not a magical cure by any stretch, but it does usually help me get to sleep faster, especially when I use it in conjunction with a white noise generator or those Youtube nature sound videos that I can't get enough of! Might be worth asking your doctor about it if you think you might want to try it.

 

[Rb86]

I find it helps me some. Otherwise it can get worse laying on sides or head flat. Not always but when it's acting up (mainly my low end) it seems to help a little.