Developed Tinnitus without Hearing Loss. Suggestions on How to Sleep?

I'm 30 years old, relatively healthy, not overweight, and exhausted all the time because of Tinnitus. I developed Tinnitus mid-January and have had it ever since. I was not exposed to any serious loud noises and had an audiology test that showed more than healthy hearing. I hit my head prior to the development and it did occur while I was probably at the apex of my cold. Now my right ear has a constant ring that I can only describe as high pitch with laser focus precision able to cut through most ambient noise. My left ear later developed a refrigerator style humming echo effect with an occasional low pitch ring that chimes in from time to time in brief 10-15 second intervals. The left ear, I'm sure, was a result of having gone to a SuperBowl party with family. I did my best to cover my "good" ear but that clearly failed.

My question is, is there anything that I can take or do before bed to ensure I stay asleep for at least 4 uninterrupted hours? Since Tinnitus, I sleep on two and a half hour intervals practically with the gaps being a range of brief moments before readjusting and sleeping to completely awake for a few hours then back to bed. I never knew what torture was until this.

 

@TforThought Are you currently taking any sleep aids? A simple trial of melatonin may help.

 

Try playing some masking sounds on your phone and go to sleep not concentrating on the sound. Lower caffeine, salt, sugar before bed etc...

 

I have a really cold bedroom, and one thing that helps me fall asleep fast and stay asleep a little longer is HEAT. I have a heating pad that I sleep on, partly because of a really stiff back / shoulders / neck. It shuts off automatically after 2 hours but the heat is trapped for quite a while. If you are in a winter climate and can tolerate it, maybe that can help by relaxing all your major muscles and getting you to deeper sleep, at least for the first couple of cycles.

I'm also a big AudioNotch fan. I sleep with it in my ears every few nights, with notched white noise (ocean, stream, etc.) www.audionotch.com for more info. Any ambient white noise ought to help you fall back asleep in your first wakeful period, though. Good luck!

 

There are the prescribed meds from doctors to help sleep. But if you don't like to use that, consider the natural alternatives, such as Melatonin, Lemon Balm, Valerian, Hops, Catnips, Passion Flower, Chamomile, Lavender, Kava, etc. You can do 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 /

 

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the advice. I managed six hours of sleep with four uninterrupted last night. I'm currently playing the radio on a decent noise level capable of masking a little of the intrusive noise. In addition, I've started Valerian pills. I'm not sure if that led to my four uninterrupted hours.

Has anyone been able to go a day without noticing the noise? I surmise the habituation process is entirely dependent upon the individual's own capabilities. I wish there was a cure for this.

 

@TforThought,

I had a similar experience to you last January, also at a similar age while being relatively healthy, good weight, exercising, etc. I would immediately get your head and neck checked, including your jaw. Also try to get a CT and MRI of both the head and the neck. You want to make sure there isn't anything wrong with your bones, hence the CT. The MRI will show any soft tissue abnormalities (acute ones at least, if it's been a while then they might not show). I would also consult a neuromuscular spine specialist. You also want to see some kind of TMJ specialist (be careful however, they all seem to find "something" wrong with the jaw; just go for an objective opinion of the evidence).

As for me, I believe I injured my neck while sledding last January while having a heavy residual cough from a cold. I may have also partially injured my head. A doc I saw not too long ago thought that I may have residual tendonitis (basically tennis elbow) where my neck muscles attach to my head. I'll attach a pic.

Anyways, see an ENT and get your ears cleared if you can (in addition to the hearing test you already got). Make sure you don't have any infection, low b12, or thyroid. Get this in addition to a standard CBC and CMP blood test. Finally, see if you can notice any tightness/swelling/inflammation in different areas of your neck (front, back, side). As you have a good hunch that it was likely due to a head injury, then there's hope that it's reversible!

PM me as I am very interested in your case.

 

I do breathing exercises and I had been taking sleeping tablets, at the beginnings I was very depressed, but during the day I trained my brain to ignored, the best is to ignored, and I had hearing aids, if you focus in your tinitus it will get much louder, do not listened and sleep with sound therapy and enjoying to be with people that you lile

 

Red Viper, thanks for the information. How do I PM? My apologies, I am still learning to navigate this forum. That is incredibly detailed and I will ask my doctor when I see him again next week. I see that you have suffered from this since March of last year. I'm sorry to hear that. This is quite the unexpected life event I could, and I surmise everyone, could have gone without. I do have anxiety before I sleep but it does tend to dissipate a little in the presence of at least radio background talk or music or even cars driving down the street.

 

@The Red Viper Given your username I always just assumed it was from head trauma.

 

I started melatonin 2 weeks ago and it start to works well. You should try it!! I can now sleep almost complete nights and it's amazing!

 

Haha I didn't even think of that when I created it! I just liked the character. But it fits!