This Is Getting Bad... What Can I Do Right Now?

[FlyFish]

Reactive tinnitus...sound reactive...kindling...wind up...whatever it's called. Escalates as the day wears on and unleashes at 3AM bolting me out of a Trazodone and Visteril sleep. Whatever I'm trying to use for ambient gets amplified 10 times...humidifier, streaming sounds on Bose Soundock, whatever. Sticking My Soundcure in the ear will sometimes reduce it by 50%. No going back to sleep. Sleep deprivation. Can't relax..body in perpetual fight or flight.

Help....this shit can't be masked.

 

[Sailboardman]

@FlyFish,

Any Xanax in the house? Sounds like you're in a bad way bro!

 

[Dana]

If you are going to resort to benzos, better try Clonazepam/Klonopin/Rivotril, IMO.
Helps with sleep, figh-or-flight state, T volume.
More effective than Xanax, in my case at least.
Start with 0.5mg, never more than 2 mg/evening.

 

[Telis]

I just have a question. What is it that makes the night so bad? Is it that you feel a lot of pressure to sleep? Or is it that you don't hear it during the day (masked) and then you get into the quiet of the night? I'm really trying to understand this. I'm fine with my T blasting at night and sleep ok, but in the daytime when I need to function I'm totally screwed.

Sorry to hear you are going through this.

 

[BobDigi]

My T can never be masked. Perhaps stop trying to sleep and wait till your body says "right, we're going to sleep now".

 

[FlyFish]

Unfortunately my journey with benzodiazepines was a disaster. While my T was mostly dormant there was severe damage to my central nervous system. I've been tapering off Valium for almost 500 days and am barely able to walk due to the damage to my neuromuscular system. Benzo tolerance and withdrawal drove me to near total disability. Sleep is essential to the healing process and I am basically averaging 3 hours per night. I've tried about 6 different ADs to no avail. I'm currently doing 50mg Trazadone, Visteril off and on as well as melatonin. There is probably not a person on earth that would be able to just "roll with it" with what I have going on.

It's better during the day since I can distract somewhat. My SoundCure Serenade provides some relief but cumbersome at night. I'm going to need to try and find other solutions...supplements...mechanical, etc. Those are some ideas I'm looking for.

I guess I'm shocked that pumping ambient noise through an iPhone or nightstand device is the only solution in year 2016. We can completely mask a ballistic missile submarine but can't block sound reactive tinnitus so a guy can sleep? Really?

 

[linearb]

You said "what can I do right now", my very literal answer is "listen to a guided body scan mediation from YouTube, join a gym, take up painting or writing."

 

[glynis]

@FlyFish ,
Have you tried a slow release AD....?
Lots of love glynis

 

[just1morething]

My SoundCure Serenade provides some relief

Most people found that device aggravated their tinnitus, including me, so I returned it. Mayo clinic says Nortriptyline or Amitriptyline works pretty well for bad noise, but the dry mouth can be hard to deal with at higher dosages.

 

[FlyFish]

Most people found that device aggravated their tinnitus, including me, so I returned it. Mayo clinic says Nortriptyline or Amitriptyline works pretty well for bad noise, but the dry mouth can be hard to deal with at higher dosages.

Thanks. I need to get some rest and Trazodone isn't cutting it so maybe I'll look into those.

 

[Vincent R]

Reactive tinnitus...sound reactive...kindling...wind up...whatever it's called. Escalates as the day wears on and unleashes at 3AM bolting me out of a Trazodone and Visteril sleep. Whatever I'm trying to use for ambient gets amplified 10 times...humidifier, streaming sounds on Bose Soundock, whatever. Sticking My Soundcure in the ear will sometimes reduce it by 50%. No going back to sleep. Sleep deprivation. Can't relax..body in perpetual fight or flight.

Help....this shit can't be masked.

This gets me to sleep even when T is like church bells in my head:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/meditation-practice-to-deal-with-tinnitus-suffering.8165/

No masking, no medicine, just plain old sleep the way it was done before T-hell started. Even if you get the hang of it, T will still make you feel lika crap. But maybe you'll be able to survive a bit less painfull and more effective than you do today.

 

[Lee#]

I have severe tinnitus and moderate hyperacusis from a second incident of noise induced trauma on 11/13/2015.

Recently, I too was in constant fight or flight mode. My tinnitus can't be masked. For about 5 weeks, I wasn't able to sleep much and was functioning very poorly. My anxiety was extreme. I was breaking down crying everyday for hours.

Two weeks ago, I got help from an Audiologist that specializes in tinnitus and hyperacusis. She started me on Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT). I am now placing white noise generators (NGs) in my ears for a minimum of 8 hours a day. In contrast to how my new tinnitus tone was provoking my nervous system, the white NGs are calming it down. While I am still struggling, the NGs have significantly reduced my stress level.

I'm not sleeping with the NGs in. To help me sleep, I am turning to exercise. I am doing cardio exercise for 1.5 to 2 hrs / day. Years ago, a sleep specialist told me that swimming was great for sleep. I am finding this to be true.

I empathize with you. Definitely try the exercise. Perhaps, consider TRT. Best wishes.