Sleep Cycles & Tinnitus?

Hey all,

So when my ringing started and now during my relapse, I have noticed that I keep waking up at certain times of the night (usually around 1AM, 3AM, 5AM) and sometimes, especially around the 1Am or 5AM mark, my tinnitus is much louder. But I increase the volume of my laptop and manage to somehow fall back asleep and a few hours later when I wake up, the tinnitus is much lower / closer to the "normal" volume.

Does the brain increase in electrical activity when we sleep at certain times of the night or during certain parts of the sleep cycle? Is this a normal phenomenon?

I find that usually my tinnitus is quieter in the mornings - but sometimes in the night I get these "peaks" i volume. Any more information about this and/or other experiences would be greatly appreciated

Cheers!

 

Sleep has different stages, which can explain this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep

 

I've read a lot about sleep (haven't we all here done that?) but not the Wiki. Good stuff.

I find that I sometimes awaken out of a dream (REM sleep?) with heart rate elevated. I presume this is not uncommon. My T is often more noticeable then. Not sure if there's a true causality here, just my observations. Regarding elevated heart rate and awakening (middle of the night or at time of rising) from: http://sleepcenter.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=57

"REM is the stage of sleep when you have most of your dreams. It is only about 20% of your total sleep time. Your blood pressure and heart rate can go up and down during this stage. If you have a nightmare that wakes you up, you may find that your heart is racing."

"When you wake up in the morning, your blood pressure and heart rate both go back up. It is time for you to be active again, and your heart has to get ready for a long day of work."

YMMV...

 

I wish I understood the role of sleep and lying down and T. Mine becomes louder the moment I take my hearing aids out to go to bed but I can take them out during the day and not have that effect. Last night, it was really horrible and scary. I woke up several times hearing a virtual electrical plant humming in my head several with this morning being the worse. Sound machines are no help. Thank God, once I get up and start moving it begins to calm down even without my hearing aids. I wish I understood what's going on so it wouldn't be so scary.

 

@sgal Just a hunch. Could be acute T increase due to anxiety about T and sleep quality. Circular/related. Waking up several times is probably not doing you much good.

 

Thanks MikeA, interesting thoughts.

 

Excellent question. I totally believe something happens in sleep that can affect tinnitus or the treatment of it. I don't know what exactly it is but I found this study that chronic tinnitus sufferers have quite a difference in sleep stages.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24005841

Anyone have any information they can share about sleep and tinnitus?