Does It Really Get Better?

I've had T for 6 months now and it's genuinely starting to ruin my life. I can't deal with it. I'm not at all close to habituating and I can hear it all the time. Getting to sleep is hell and I can't do anything now without hearing that dam ringing. Does it really get better? Because it doesn't seem like it's going to and I'm losing my mind.

 

For most it does and for some it doesn't. 6 months with T seems like forever but its shorter than the majority of the "its finally gone" stories I have heard. Try and stay positive, it might still go away. It is harder in the beginning.

 

I would see your doctor and let him know how tinnitus is making you feel and see what he can do for you regarding not sleeping.

Finding what works best for you to help you cope better can take time but you will feel better as you learn to cope with your sound and any unwanted feelings.

Sleeping tips.
Warm drink and bath.
Keep of computers winding down for bedtime.
Lavender on your pillow to relax you and distraction with the sense of smell.
Listening to natural sounds set below your tinnitus through the night.

If you can not sleep then you can try natural sleep aids or something stronger off your doctor.....lots of love glynis

 

It DOES get better. But it may happen beyond the limit of your patience.
If trying to fall asleep is hell, resort to natural sedatives. They help you fall asleep and for longer periods of time and they lower your anxiety and may lower the T level.
If none of the natural sedatives work, which I doubt, resort to allopathic ones. But do try to find what works for you.
I just can't believe there isn't anything out there that can help you fall asleep.
Not getting enough proper sleep alone makes anybody's life fall apart, and it does that much quicker for someone who has also to put up with T after he wakes up.
Not sleeping enough destroys mental health for all people, whether they have T or not.
And the great part of the healing of any part of the body, including the auditory system, takes place during sleep.

 

It might sound a little naive but could you advise me on some natural sedatives?

Thank you everyone else for your advice and words, it's much appreciated.

 

I was a mess at 6 months, for sure.

The best things you can do for sleep are: daily exercise, good diet, 15 mins of yoga/meditation 2x a day. If you do all that stuff like clockwork for a few weeks, you will probably be sleeping fine at that point. Drugs are a shortcut, but pretty much anything they give you as a sleep aid has some risk of making your T worse; even if it's a small risk, I wouldn't go down that road until you're completely convinced there's no alernative.

Over the counter stuff that people have some success with include melatonin, magnesium and Valerian extract. Note that Valerian is very similar to benzo drugs, and has caused withdrawal (seizures) in some rare cases.

Marijuana works very well, indica strains in particular, but that may not be an option depending on where you live.

 

A product that works for me is the Italian "Sedivitax".
http://www.aboca.com/en/our-products/sedivitax
I use that capsules, not the drops. Two capsules of those taken together can take me from the deepest misery/anxiety/depression and highest T spike, after the induced sleep, into a whole different realm. I wake up into a different world, as a different person.
Cannot stress enough how important sleep is for life/health/mood and how destroying the lack of sleep is.
Sedivitax is just an example.
Another one is "Persedon for day" from Slovenia (calming effects without even making you sleepy), but I haven't found a site in English for it.
Or Persen.
Or Sedatifi PC, from Boiron, France
http://www.boiron.be/Produits/Medicaments-homeopathiques/Sedatif-PC.aspx

Look at the ingredients of Sedivitax and i am sure you will find a product in your country that contains them.

The much talked about on this forum Melatonin didn't help me that much, but that is just me. "5-HTP" didn't help me as promptly as Sedivitax either.
What works for one may not work for another, and vice-versa.
You just have to find what helps YOUR nervous system. There is something for you that will work, I am sure, as you are not an alien, with a nervous system so different, that it doesn't respond to any product.

Just try different sedatives that you can find in pharmacies or stores that sell natural meds.
Good luck in searching the best one for you. May you find it after trying just a few of them.

 

I see linearb's advice is to not take anything, not even something made from plants. Pure Valerian was not good for me, I confirm, I got sick after a few capsules, but in small amounts AND combined with other plants (like it is in Seditivitax, for example, but also other products), it's a whole different story, contributes in a good way to the synergistic effect that the plants have when used together.
He advices you to exercise and meditate and eat healthy instead. Of course that is preferable, to give firstly your body the chance to show how it can help itself, cause it can, when put in the best conditions, the best lifestyle, but the applicability of those advices depends on how you are.
In my case, a few months after my T started, I was still so bad that I couldn't even stand up after a sleepless night, I know how it is to not sleep even for a minute in three weeks, sleep was replaced by perods of agony, I had to be dressed by a family member when I had an appointment to the doctor, cause I wasn't able to do it myself, and at the doctor I was laying on a few chairs while waiting, cause even sitting vertically on a chair was impossible, drained of energy as I was. So back then the advice to exercise or meditate wasn't applicable for me. But that was MY case. If you are not as bad as I was then, I would also say to take the route recommended by him. Preferable, if applicable. The power of self healing must never be forgotten/disregarded, but tried first, if the situation is not too bad.
Swimming does wonders too, also long walks, fresh air, sun.
I haven't tried saunas since I got sick, but it's possible that they help too.
You will see.

If you smoke or drink coffee or alcohol you should stop those habits gradually, they are stimulants, so not good for nervous system. Stopping them suddenly is stressful or impossible, as you know, if you are using them. Some people use alcohol/cigarettes to help them cope living with T, but all those are actually "enemies" disguised in "friends", so quitting them slowly is the thing to do.

 

I agree to this principle, that before giving the brain substances from a bottle to help it fall asleep, it's preferable to help your body produce calming substances itself. Exercising has a calming effect, lowers adrenaline, induces a healthy tiredness and therefore a healthy sleep.
The problem with using any external substances to help your brain fall asleep/calm down is that there is a risk that the brain will start to believe there are plenty of calming substances, so it will produce them even less. So, if you can, try linearb's route first. If you are too tired, you may use sedatives for a short while, until you get from the induced sleep enough energy to exercise, and after that start exercising.

 

To be honest, every coin has two sides. And T is just too whimsical.

 

For some people, yes. Some people are able to habituate while others can't. I can only speculate that the reasons for this are varied... Some people genuinely have it worse than others. Some people have other factors apart from tinnitus that make hsbituating difficult or even impossible, etc.

If it's been six months I would suggest trying to find a habituation protocol that can help facilitate habituation. Other than that, I know some people have tried drugs like Trobalt with success. Though getting some might not be easy.

 

I think my problem is that habituation for me is that it's really hard to hear it. I know that sounds great but what it is for me is like when I DO hear it it's freaking loud. I can't hear it if I want and then turn it off when I want.

That being said it isn't GONE when I habituate. It's very hard to explain. It's still there loud as ever. I don't know how to explain it.

Some people's habituations are like that. It isn't that the volume goes down ..they have to concentrate really hard to hear it. That is how it is for me. But then I think it's gone and then I hear it and bring it all back and can't get to that point again. It has happened like 2x and I think it all went away.