Do We Have Tinnitus in Our Sleep?

The best I can figure is that I don't experience tinnitus while sleeping. I have it immediately upon waking, no lag, but I never seem to dream that I am hearing weird noises.

Is this just me or is this a thing? If this is a thing I would be interested in theories about why the brain would process noise this way.

In my experience noises in the sleeping environment tend to work their way into my dreams at least occasionally. I'm thinking about radio or TV spawning some wild dreamland integration. I have yet to notice this once with tinnitus.

 

4th option: sometimes

 

At the higher volumes of tinnitus, we definitely experience it in our sleep as you wake up because of it. It even gets the name "Intrusive tinnitus." Be thankful if your tinnitus is not that severe as it sends the person on a downward spiral of severe tinnitus, that keeps getting worse as they cannot even get adequate sleep. Thankfully at lower levels of tinnitus, folks are able to sleep for the most part.

 

I have intrusive tinnitus and have never woken up due to it. Where do you base your facts from?

 

I'd throw in with @fishbone I have pretty significant tinnitus. Who knows what goes on in other people's heads, but mine is loud enough that it is unmaskable unless I wanted to crank up speakers/headphones to a very uncomfortable level. It is loud enough that I hear it 24/7 over loud TV, showers, traffic, or swimming, though on better days showering comes close to masking it.

I have never slept well so nothing new for me with Tinnitus, though I have actually found myself drifting off while getting lost in the noise rather than being kept up by it.

All that being said it really seems like I don't hear it in my sleep/dreams. Hard to say for sure of course, as I can't interview my sleeping self, I just wonder if the same way our body's experience paralysis while sleeping, if some other nerve pathways are shut down during our resting hours.

 

I have never heard my tinnitus, while sleeping and this beast is very loud when I am trying to sleep. So you recently got your T and it has reached intrusive level?

 

I think I spent too much time (at least 16 hours a day) worrying, so I hear horrible nightmare noises sometimes. It sounds like a gravel machine / drill scratching the inside of my brain and wakes me up (in a panic). Luckily it seems to be a dream but it still baffles me that my brain is able to come up with a sound/sensation like that

 

I'm so sorry. That must be exhausting. I hope you can find ways to find peace.

 

I just spent some time going through the medical literature, and can't really find a real definition of intrusive tinnitus worth quoting, other than when tinnitus intrudes into someone's life. Getting woken up from your sleep due to the tinnitus being too loud, which I have experienced, would certainly fit this working definition, but there would be certainly other ways for tinnitus to intrude into someone's life.

 

My tinnitus is always worse after falling to sleep for a while whilst watching TV.

Just today it was at a bearable level , fell asleep for a couple of hours after getting home from work whilst watching TV at a low volume, woke up to heightened tinnitus electrical noise all over may brain.

Any ideas to why this happens?

 

I dont hear it in my sleep and I haven't had a dream where I heard my tinnitus. At least none that I remembere.

 

Exactly. Had a dream about it last night. It was more of a noise thing rather than the high pitched sound I usually hear. But there was no outside source for the noise in my dream.

Also a few weeks ago I had a dream, more of a nightmare that sounded like intense grinding in my head. It woke me so I don't know if it was be just coming out of sleep and starting to hear my tinnitus but it was pretty bad.

 

How do you know? Many people with severe tinnitus have awful / unwanted sleep patterns and quality of sleep is low. If one sleeps at all, why would that be?

 

No one knows for sure. My theory is that when you wake up, the brain becomes "active" as it anticipates both physical and mental activity.

I am inclined to think that the brain is immediately firing more neurons to signal the hearing loss but since the presence of hearing loss seems so varied with tinnitus, I don't know if that's the reason.

 

"Worse than moderate tinnitus?"

I doubt mild tinnitus will wake anyone up. I don't know about moderate tinnitus. But, my wild guess is that severe tinnitus could.

 

Hi PeteJ, I have been following some of your posts. I feel very sorry for you and hope you find some peace soon. Tinnitus and hyperacusis are terrible conditions, I too suffer very badly from mine as well.

 

@Steve G

I have read your post about your tinnitus becoming worse after a nap and you were asking if anybody new the reason for this. I have posted this before on a thread awhile back, here is what I found out about tinnitus and naps.

I read this on the internet that Someone had asked an otoneurologist about why does napping make tinnitus worse and I recall the answer was something along the lines when taking short naps it does not put us into REM sleep, which impacts on tinnitus... plus apparently cortisol levels rise on awakening not just in the mornings... not sure if this is the reason...

However I try not to nap...Because if I do nod off my tinnitus is way more deafening. Many tinnitus sufferers refer to toxic naps... for me they sure are...

 

@Star64

I have not heard the term "Toxic naps" before, but definitely experienced them. When I fall asleep with the TV on, at a lower moderate volume, and sleep long enough for a REM sleep, like over an hour, there are times when I wake up with the ear fullness and T spike for some hours- even though the TV volume is not at a dangerous level, and was totally fine with it while I was awake, and would not spike. If I have my earplugs in during the same event, which has been reproducible for me, the ears wake up just fine.

My theory is that during sleep, my ears are simply more vulnerable to damage from noise. If I fall asleep for 15 or 20 mins, my ears are fine, even with no earplugs in. Not sure if this fits your pattern, or if you try earplugs for those anticipated situations if it will help you.

 

@Digital Doc
I first learned the term "toxic naps" when many years ago I attended a few tinnitus information meetings which were held by a self help group here in my home town. So I think napping can be problematic for many of us with tinnitus. I have also read on other websites people asking why sleep can make things worse or for some reset their tinnitus to a lower level.

Thank you for sharing what works for you, I have never tried ear plugs maybe I should test this out. My pattern is if I nod off for say 15 to 20 minutes I will wake with louder tinnitus. If I fall asleep for a longer period of time I seem to wake to lower tinnitus however, it it like a lottery if it will stay low or increase to a deafening sound.

It has me puzzled, but listening to deafening tinnitus gets tiring, so it is hard to stay awake sometimes especially if I try to relax as I usually will dose off which has been problematic for me...

So unfortunately cat naps are toxic naps for me.

 

Yes, tinnitus and possible stress of the ringing can possibly make it hard to sleep. I agree, this issue can be a possibility for many people. If we are able to eventually fall asleep, how can one hear ringing? if there is an actual study on this, i'd love to see it.

 

Dont think you can hear it in your dreams. But i remember some times when i woke up i couldnt hear it or at least it was very low for a few seconds/minutes. Just until my brain started to work and i was fully awake.

 

Well I do.. in fact that's the only time I have it loud... it just takes hours and hours to diminish after I wake up. But it will 50% lower within 5 seconds of me getting out of bed. It wakes me up over and over all night. I couldn't class my tinnitus as very loud I don't think... It's not louder than talking, not even more than wispering but I can hear it over a bus, the ocean.. anything because it's in my brain not my ear.

 

Mine will increase more and more the longer I stay asleep, but a 15 minute nap is long enough for it to raise enough to take several hours to come back to where it was pre nap... So it's for sure better to just stay awake... Coffee doesn't make mine worse, in fact it seems to make it less so that's an option for me. My Tinnitus is exactly the same as Steve's overnight... Electrical noise all over the brain. Exactly that describes it.