Can't Sleep! 5 Days In

Hi. My name is Emily. I was prescribed a mouth guard years ago because I grind my teeth while l sleep. Couldn't use it because it kept me awake.

I recall about the time I got the guard, while getting a filling my jaw got stuck open and my dentist had to force it shut. I've been to hundreds of concerts, have listened to really loud music, love fireworks and don't believe I've had any traumatic ear injury.

So, that's my background. My tinnitus (left ear only) was at a manageable, almost imperceptible level until Tuesday morning when I woke up to a super loud high pitch tone in my left ear. Sunday night was my last night on Klonopin. I weaned myself down from 3mg a night which had me sleeping great. My GP couldn't prescribe it anymore.

So now I'm wondering if this is a withdrawal symptom. Friday morning at my desk at work I had this sensation I can only describe like a jet flew through my brain. A moment later in my left ear was this swooping frequency from high to low but I could still hear the high frequency of the T. I have been praying for relief and was wondering if that meant the T was going to stop. It didn't. I tried applying thieves, eucalyptus and lavender oils, but they're not helping. I've been taking a formula I bought at Fruitful Yield. It doesn't seem to be working.

After reading others' posts, it seems like I might have meneirs because I've been experiencing vertigo. Has anyone else had the same sensation in their brain, followed by the sound? It was very unsettling and scary.

 

You poor thing ,

I know how you feel, really do. When I got off my high amounts of benzos, I had lots of problems as well. The first 30-90 days for me were very hard and sleep was a huge issue for me. The mind/body goes through so much when we are on the benzos and off them. Time was the only thing, that helped me honestly. I tried supplements and other aids, but time was what helped me most. Please take care of yourself and try to surround yourself with, loved ones as you go through this sleep issue.

Take care

 

I have an update to my condition. I had a very rough night. Chiropractor appointment in the morning. I let him know about the T and my visit earlier in the week to a retina specialist. Got my eyes dilated and had a horrible experience. My vision hasn't returned to the quality it was prior to the dilation. My chiropractor noticed that my left eye was drifting severely. I was horrified to see how bad it got. I've never seen it drift so far left before. I'm also seeing steady Amber colored lights in my right eye; one appears to be like a car roof light right above my head (sometimes this one changes to the brightness of a halogen bulb). The other one resembles an oblong, amber orb in my peripheral vision to the right. My balance was off today too. Went to a fest in the afternoon. Had to stop and get my eyeglasses adjusted because they were so tight on my head it was stressful to wear them. Got out of the car, got in the house and realized that my T had reduced in volume a bit and the frequency had changed from a screeching high pitch to a lower register. It really felt like a lot of pressure was released from my head after getting my glasses adjusted. I had another episode of the swooping high to low pitch in my left ear again. I have no idea what it is. I'm pretty freaked out by the things that happened to me today. I'm actually shaking right now. Hopefully someone can tell me what's happening to me. My chiropractor didn't have any advice for me, nor did he say that he's heard about what I'm going through. I told him that I've been having a hard time sleeping even before the T started. I've tried so many holistic approaches to sleep and the T kicks my efforts to sleep right in the ass. I have melatonin, phenibut and Tylenol simply sleep tonight. I only got about 4 hours of sleep last night. I've been praying for relief from the T. I have improvement. I just want to know what all is wrong. I'm going to see an ENT hopefully next week. Maybe go back to the retina specialist too.

 

Awww you poor thing, I don't know you, but i'd give you a big hug and tell you that you are going to be ok. don't be scared, you are going to be ok. Lack of sleep can do so so much to the body and mind. If your eyes are bothering you, possibly see another eye doctor. I never had those issues you are having, just from the tinnitus. Do understand that you are going through a lot right now. Take it easy on yourself and just relax a bit. Maybe call a loved one, a friend, hear a kind/compassionate voice.

I know how you feel, it can be scary at times. I been through it myself. I have been cheating on my diet this week and my perfect blood pressure has been higher today. I am mad at myself for doing this, I almost got nervous. I hope you can relax and possibly sleep a bit. It's so important for you at this stage.

Take care and God bless....

 

Hi Emily,
Have you done an audiogram?
When did your T begin? did you listen to music before that on earbuds? concert?
Please give me a detailed history before you got T. Your T might have been caused by TMJ.

 

You might ask your doctor for amitriptyline. It is nonaddictive and it won't make you feel drowsy in the morning.

 

I'm at the ER right now. EKG ok. Waiting to be seen.

 

Home now from ER. I had normal CT, EKG, CBC and comprehensive metabolic panel. Piecing together the T, balance, brain surge/swooping frequency auditory episodes and changes to my sleep meds (weaning from Klonopin, switching to PheniTropic (phenibut)), ER doc said discontinue PheniTropic and switch back to Klonopin. He couldn't write the Rx for me. . I'm totally ok with this because I have had chronic insomnia for almost 30 years and have had great, reliable results with it. It's the only thing that has ever helped me fall asleep and stay asleep. I'm very relieved to know that my heart and brain are healthy. I would urge everyone to steer clear of phenibut. If the doc is correct and phenibut caused a lot of my issues, hopefully clearing it will improve my visual disturbances. My left eye has stopped straying to the far left and is now back to normal. I slept for about 4.5 hours last night. It feels like a huge accomplishment. I can only pray that T will go away for good. I need to rest the rest of the day. I will reply with answers to the questions asked earlier. I'm very grateful to God and for tinnitustalk.com and how supportive everyone is. I have a considerate, supportive boyfriend who is helping me cope. His father had T for 30 a very long time.

 

Forgot to mention that the ER doc checked my ears and said they look absolutely normal.

 

Could the eye straying to the left been due to your lack of sleep?

 

Use booze to put yourself to sleep. Just drink plenty of water so you don't get a hangover and make your T worse.

 

My T goes down when I am drunk. I been drinking 4 days per week now, it lowers my T to mild

 

I can't say for sure but, I was so stressed, sleep deprived and terrified yesterday. I know that it drifts a bit when I'm tired. I'm so grateful it stopped.

 

I drink every single day.

 

Drinking too much does not help me sleep. If it did, I'd be happy to tie one on.

 

Wow. Funny you say that. The night before I woke up with T I had a few glasses of wine. I wasn't wasted, but more than I usually have on a weekday. Had a shitty day at work. Don't know what started it.

 

Hi Emily I am myself new to this Tinnitus stuff, and all the issues surrounding the head and the ears. So, while I would love to give you some advice on do this, or that, I would only be conjuring up something not tried by me. The only things that I have learned and can send your way is to encourage you to remain strong and remember that hope is a good thing. I can feel you pain and your distress (symptoms all to recent with me). Talking to an other half, friends or family helped me get it out. I have also found that meditation has helped me to remain calm, though I must admit it has been pushed to the limits. Best of luck and I hope it all settles in due time.

 

Thank you so much for your encouragement, John. I wish you the best.

 

So grateful to have slept well last night! The volume seems to have gone down a bit and the lights in my right eye seem to be dimming as well! What a horrible, terrifying and destructive thing is phenibut. In the quest for sleep, I wish I could reach out to everyone and urge them to NEVER use phenibut.