Tinnitus and Sleep

[RH2017]

Hi. This is my first time posting to the forum although I've definitely appreciated all the great information that folks share. I first noticed my tinnitus in 2014 and when I went to an ENT was told it was likely do to moderate high frequency hearing loss. For the most part I'm able to ignore my tinnitus during the day, but it has severely disrupted my ability to sleep. I fall asleep fine (usually very exhausted) but then wake up around 0200 - 0300. I've tried the range or treatments, medications, etc, but nothing seems to help very much. I've also seen multiple doctors again with very little results. I've had a sleep study and was told I had apnea so I tried the CPAP machine, hoping that somehow the apnea was linked to the tinnitus but noticed very little change. It's like I have an alarm clock in my left ear. I try to remain positive and I have a very supportive wife, but living without adequate sleep is taking its toll, both mentally and physically.

I would welcome any suggestions on possible treatments that might help with the sleep issue.

Thanks

 

[Bill Bauer]

I've tried the range or treatments, medications, etc, but nothing seems to help very much.

Have you tried amitriptyline? What about melatonin?

 

[Robert44]

Hi, My T used to wake me up screaming in the middle of the night but that has stopped. Don't know why... I do sleep with a "noise machine" or a device that makes white noise. This helps. I use it every night. I also started taking 5 mg of amitriptyline at nighttime. This has helped with waking up with headaches. This has been really great on reducing the headaches and hasn't affected my T.

 

[foliefortuna]

Have you tried clonidine? It is a prescription blood pressure pill that I take an extremely low dose of, it knocks me out for the night. It can make me really exhausted early in the day though.

 

[john paul]

Hi, My T used to wake me up screaming in the middle of the night but that has stopped. Don't know why...

Mine too, i figure its part of the healing process. We are over the worst of it thankfully, a grim reminder of what life can be like though. This is why i protect my ears from anything remotely loud now because i dont want to go back there.

 

[Robert44]

i dont want to go back there.

yeah... But I was at a concert yesterday and forgot my earplugs.... oops. ended up putting tissues in

 

[john paul]

yeah... But I was at a concert yesterday and forgot my earplugs.... oops. ended up putting tissues in

I just would have left or tbh not gone at all. Its just not worth it.

 

[Graham Beamson]

I have exactly the same problem as RH2017. I can usually fall asleep even though my tinnitus is hissing quite loudly. But then I wake up a couple of hours later with the hissing noise filling my head and can't get back to sleep for the rest of the night.
I have a sound machine at my bedside usually with waves crashing against the shore, but programmed to switch off after an hour. If I switch it on again after I've woken up it seems irritating. Maybe I should set the volume very low and leave it going all night ?
Graham.

 

[HeatherC]

Sounds tough, and losing sleep makes everything feel harder the next day. You could try sleep yoga. Basically this means getting out of bed and doing some simple yoga (you can pretty much make it up, stuff like slowly bending to touch toes and coming back up vertebrae by vertebrae) right next to your bed. The idea is to get your focus out of your head and back into your physical body, focus on how your body feels, focus away from the T, make yourself keep going 10-15 mins will feel long in the night when really your body wants to be sleeping, but keep going then when you are ready you fall back into bed, body tired, calmer and fingers crossed ready to sleep. A lot of people find this helpful, and given its free and drug free there is nothing to lose by trying.
Good luck.
H x

 

[Sven]

I listen to recorded rain. It blocks the T quite well, even when you're supposed to set it a level below your T level.

 

[Graham Beamson]

Thank you Heather, Sven,
I'll have to try the yoga. I used to be very good at relaxing myself - relaxing each part of my body a little at a time (feet, then legs, then hands, then back, then shoulders, then face etc - you will know how it goes) - then I could empty my mind and I would just drift off to sleep. However, in order to relax and empty the mind one has to concentrate but now I've got the constant hiss in my head I can't do it. It's difficult to concentrate during the day as well - so reading anything technical is a bit of a struggle. I did a THI (tinnitus handicap inventory) on myself yesterday, using a form that I found on the internet, and came up a score of 30 which is just a mild handicap, so I don't know what it must be like for people with a serious tinnitus - it must be terrible !

Last night at about 3.30 am I had a really bad whistle in my left ear (I could tell it was the left one) so I got up and put my hearing aid in and after a couple of minutes it went away - what a relief ! I listened to chimes on my sound therapy system for the rest of the night which was relaxing but I didn't get back to sleep and now I feel 'spaced out' - is that the correct expression ?

For the past 6 years I've only had one hearing aid in my left ear, but I think the tinnitus is in both ears (I've got hearing loss in both - the left worse than the right). So tomorrow I'm getting two of the latest technology hearing aids fitted and am hopeful that they will ameliorate the tinnitus.

Sven, I used to travel to Sweden a lot with my work - mostly Uppsala, but I've also been to Linkoping and Stockholm. I liked it a lot. We've got a few inches of snow here in the UK at the moment and it is almost a national emergency ! In Sweden you know about snow.

Graham.

 

[Sven]

Northern Sweden definitely does, anyway. Southern Sweden not so much, which has been obvious the last few days.