My tinnitus started about 10 weeks ago, caused by severe inner ear infection. I was also on a blood pressure medication (Telmisartan) at the time that seemed to have a role as well.
I'm 48, male, fit, and former athlete. When the T happened, I developed a severe and constant increase in blood pressure, my heart rate was constantly elevated, and I had tremors all the time. During the day time, if the T spiked, I would get tremors at the same time. Sleep, of course, became impossible, and I would have night sweats that would soak the sheets. No panic attacks though.
These physical effects were so strong, my cardiologist (I have some minor heart damage from a viral infection several years ago), but me on a beta blocker to alleviate the effects of the adrenaline spikes, and I went through a lot of tests to rule out specific tumour types which can produce similar symptoms.I spent a month on the beta blocker, then weened off it (that was rough!) because it made my insomnia even worse. That was about a month ago, and I've been completely med-free since then.
My T has been slowly reducing in volume (except for a recent couple day spike caused by naproxen), but I'm still dealing with severe sleep issues. I used to be a solid, 8 hour a night sleeper.
During the day I no longer have any symptoms, but typically what happens at night is that I fall asleep fine, but wake up after 4-5 hours, usually in the middle of heavy sweats, sometimes with tremors (typically mild waves of muscle contractions in my chest and hands). No pounding heart, panic, or anything like that. Usually I just can't get back to sleep - I'm wide awake. I'm not listening to the T (and frequently don't have it at night at all, or it is extremely mild), thinking stressful thoughts or anything like that.
Exercise beyond a very easy level seems to make these night time events stronger/worse, even if I work out in the early morning (6:30am) - that night, my body and brain seem to be having an outsized response to the physical stress, and the sleep issues are worse. Very mild exercise seems to help.
I have no desire to take any medication for the sleep issue. 25 years ago I had to wean myself off Xanax, which I had only taken for a couple of weeks, and I lost several years of my life to the awful withdrawal process and subsequent state it left my brain in.
I'm just frustrated that I can't seem to get back into a normal sleeping pattern despite the T reducing. I really don't pay any attention to it at night - this all seems to be driven by my sympathetic nervous system over-reacting and going bonkers.
Anybody have anything similar and have any tips on how to deal with it?
I'm 48, male, fit, and former athlete. When the T happened, I developed a severe and constant increase in blood pressure, my heart rate was constantly elevated, and I had tremors all the time. During the day time, if the T spiked, I would get tremors at the same time. Sleep, of course, became impossible, and I would have night sweats that would soak the sheets. No panic attacks though.
These physical effects were so strong, my cardiologist (I have some minor heart damage from a viral infection several years ago), but me on a beta blocker to alleviate the effects of the adrenaline spikes, and I went through a lot of tests to rule out specific tumour types which can produce similar symptoms.I spent a month on the beta blocker, then weened off it (that was rough!) because it made my insomnia even worse. That was about a month ago, and I've been completely med-free since then.
My T has been slowly reducing in volume (except for a recent couple day spike caused by naproxen), but I'm still dealing with severe sleep issues. I used to be a solid, 8 hour a night sleeper.
During the day I no longer have any symptoms, but typically what happens at night is that I fall asleep fine, but wake up after 4-5 hours, usually in the middle of heavy sweats, sometimes with tremors (typically mild waves of muscle contractions in my chest and hands). No pounding heart, panic, or anything like that. Usually I just can't get back to sleep - I'm wide awake. I'm not listening to the T (and frequently don't have it at night at all, or it is extremely mild), thinking stressful thoughts or anything like that.
Exercise beyond a very easy level seems to make these night time events stronger/worse, even if I work out in the early morning (6:30am) - that night, my body and brain seem to be having an outsized response to the physical stress, and the sleep issues are worse. Very mild exercise seems to help.
I have no desire to take any medication for the sleep issue. 25 years ago I had to wean myself off Xanax, which I had only taken for a couple of weeks, and I lost several years of my life to the awful withdrawal process and subsequent state it left my brain in.
I'm just frustrated that I can't seem to get back into a normal sleeping pattern despite the T reducing. I really don't pay any attention to it at night - this all seems to be driven by my sympathetic nervous system over-reacting and going bonkers.
Anybody have anything similar and have any tips on how to deal with it?
