After i have gone through burn out, rsi, years of depression, my life was age 32 finally starting to go well. About a year ago a small whistle began to do its thing in my right ear. After about three months my left ear took up a high pitched tone, all this at a volume that was there, mostly at night, but didnt bother me that much.. maybe a little annoying for about 5 minutes before i could ignore it. Four weeks ago ive worked with a powertool, ofcourse using earprotection as i always did, but... apparantly it wasnt sufficient. That night i woke up around 3 a.m. with a hellish loud tone. Over the next 2,5 weeks or so it seemed to settle down. During this time my hearing was so sensitive too any kind of noise, i wore earplugs for most of the time. Every usual, insignificant sound went thru my head like a knife. But also that was wearing off, to my relieve. For a couple of days i thought it was to reach its original level, which was more than i could have hoped for, beacause, as you all know, being deprived of sleep and constantly being haunted by that sound, makes the meaning of 'despair' very real. Unfortunately since this week the tones have gone up again, just a little... just enough to keep me awake... And now together with somekind of 'white noise' as i could only describe it. The sleepmedication i got from the doctor doesnt do the trick well enough, so i am going for a heavier one. This night i used the sound 'River and cicada' from this website.. i believe that helped somewhat. At daytime its not hard to mask it, although i miss silence. I love silence.. The struggle to sleep makes me scared of going to bed, being tired makes me feel hopeless. It touches depression i have had for years.. During my life so far, i have learned how to stay optimistic in the worst of times. I have seen the bottom before... but somehow i cant see a positive way out now. But i am trying.
Grrrm, Lack of sleep makes tinnitus harder to deal with and lowers your mood. Try keep to a night routine and have a relaxing bath and time to unwind at night. Sound therapy can help and sleep medication also like melatonin.....lots of love glynis
Thanks, Glynis.. It has been an emotional week. The resistance to go to bed isnt helping, i know. I need to deal with this.. There is a sense of disbelieve to it. Mourning the loss of silence... Before this even the ticking of a clock could annoy me in a way. I never had any structure to sleeping, i guess i must be more accurate with a sleeping routine from now on. Thanks again for your words...
Welcome to the forum @Grrrm. You have been well advised by Glynis. Yes, bad sleep is a sure fire for T to spike up. I think it may have to do with a phenomenon called 'Awakening Response'. When the brain is without deep or REM sleep, it seems to act in a strange way. We are often easily bothered by things, but worse T seems to fire up so much when we are drowsy or just waking up. Dr. Nagler has written about this a while ago: “I have always felt it to be due to the role of the reticular formation in tinnitus perception. The reticular formation is a primitive structure in the brain stem. It's a "vital sign monitor." When you wake up, the RF checks to see whether or not you are alive! It looks for heartbeat, respirations, blood pressure, temperature - basic bodily signs. It does not care whether or not these signs are good or bad - just that they are present. And as far as the RF is concerned, tinnitus is part of "expected" body function in an individual suffering from severe intrusive tinnitus. So when you wake, your RF checks to see whether or not tinnitus is present. And if it doesn't immediately find the tinnitus, the RF seeks it with a vengeance - - especially in the post-nap state, when there has been inadequate REM sleep and when, therefore, the RF is on already "high alert" that something might not be quite right. Theoretically - very theoretically - this RF hyperactivity in seeking tinnitus, which in a person with severe intrusive tinnitus it equates with life, results in temporarily markedly augmented tinnitus perception.” So without good sleep, I think the brain is in a perpetual mode of awakening response, bringing up the T signal as hard as it can and so T sounds so much louder. If you are considering to have some sleep aid without using prescribed sleeping pills, consider these natural alternatives, Melatonin, Lemon Balm, Valerian, Hops, Catnips, Passion Flower, Chamomile, Lavender, Kava, etc. You can google search or check Amazon.com for each of them to know how people review these products, and see if you can take them as a supplement. Check out this site on using natural herbs for helping to sleep or to calm the nerves. Take good care. God bless. http://www.christopherhobbs.com/lib...ealth/herbs-and-natural-remedies-for-insomnia /
