Habituate...

Hello can you please send me one, I have a hard time falling asleep, I take sleeping pills and they make me feel dizzy ( Vertigo) and crazy the next day, not sure if this happens when you have T..much appreciated.Thanks

 

Hello, I re-sent my reply to you from Thursday. Did you receive it??

Jeff

 

I've gotten used to my T, so I don't take sleep meds as often as I did a few months ago. But when I do, I take Remeron. It's potent, non-addictive, and has no severe side-effects aside from drowsiness. Another thing you need to know is that T is affected by mood. I've been where you are: strung-out from lack of sleep and stuck in a loop of fretting over the T and making it worse. To help manage my stress, I was prescribed Clonazepam. It works but is quite addictive, talk to people on the 'Clonazepam' thread for more info. Good luck and take it easy.

 

I didn't receive it. Please re-send.

 

OK, I am officially confused. Alex are you also alifalijohn?? That's who I replied to. I don't believe you are, because you and I have had conversations in the past. & I believe this is someone else. I'm happy to share with you what I replied to them but it sounds like you're got your sleep down pretty good now. Just let me know

 

I did take Atavan, but it made wobbly and lightheaded the next day, also took sleeping pills ..same thing..do you get lightheaded and wobbly from the t..let me know thanks, trying to figure out things..keep intouch

 

No, the T hasn't caused me any balance problems yet.

 

I'm not Alifalijohn, and I'm still keen on reading what you have to offer.

 

Thanks for the info.Stay strong!

 

Sure thing Alex, I will forward my response to Alex to you shortly. It may be of some help, or not. Most of it you have probably heard already.

Hope you are well!!

 

Here you go......

Hey alifalijohn, So sorry to hear of your struggles! I totally get where you are at! It SUCKS!! You are a little over a month in, and that's a bad time. I am glad you reached out to me. BTW, I am by no means an expert, all I can share with you is what worked for me.

Early on, like where you are at, meds played a big role in helping me sleep! Problem was, it took awhile to find the right med for me. And I have heard that from many others. Everyone responds differently to different meds. Find a good psychiatrist that is familiar with T, and with whom you feel comfortable. Be very honest about what you are thinking and feeling, and about any and all other meds/drugs you are using. Work with your psych to find the right med/meds to get ou stabilized and get your sleep back. Out of all the meds I tried, Remeron (mirtazapine) worked the best. I still occasionally use. It got me to sleep, and I most often didn't wake up groggy or "hung over".

Beyond meds (or in addition to), you need to find ways to get naturally tired. Exercise is the best way. I know it seems almost impossible to think about exercising because of your sleep deprivation and depression, but you have to push thru that. Start even with just walking or treadmill/elliptical for 30 minutes or so. Whatever works for you, but get your body tired!!

Masking: experiment with different ways to mask the noise of your T as you try to fall asleep. Super important!! My T is extremely high pitch and volume. So it took me awhile to find the right masking. White noise machines work for many folks. Hunt around here on TT, search "masking" and you will find alot of good suggestions and even some downloadable masking devices. In the end listening to traditional Chinese Pan Flute Music (on Pandora) is what worked/works for me.

Breathing exercises & stretching. Just prior to laying down to fall asleep (which you must convince yourself you WILL!), take some dedicated, relaxed time to do some deep, deliberate breathing exercises (you can find plenty of styles online), in conjunction with some slow solid body stretching. "Prepare" your mind and body for sleep. This really works, but you have to be in the right frame of mind first.

Your (and my previous) anxiety/depression is a result of our limbic system interpreting the perceived noise in our heads as a threat. I know it sounds near impossible, but we need to reassure "ourselves" our brain that, while out T is a nuisance, it will not harm or kill us!! During your breathing and stretching, and even meditating, we need to be focusing one that one goal. Reassuring our minds that the T is just a pest and not an Ogre!! You can do it!!

These are the general steps I took to get myself into a healthy sleep pattern. And take what you can at first! As I practiced these things daily/nightly, I started getting 4-5 straight hours, then after awhile 5-6 hours etc... our bodies are amazingly adaptive, and you will find you are able to operate OK with less than 8 hours a night.

I hope this helps!! As I mentioned earlier, spend time here on TT exploring around. There is so much good information and so many great people!!

Peace to you!!!

 

I have T for 24 years. I have had a few relapses and it makes me mad. I had a good run the last ten years. Now it is back again. I found from past experience is to take prozac, xanax, and ambien to sleep. It helped me last time. Does anyone of any thoughts to my approach? I'm opened to anything. I have habituated before and will do it again. Just takes time.
Thanks for being here!

 

Hi Jeff, your story is good for me to read. Because I am still struggling after 5 months.
I hope so I will ever habituate also. But it's difficult to believe. I loved the sound of silence so much....
I am still very sad. Not afraid anymore of the loud noises in my head, but sad because my life is changed so much. I am a bit Lucky because one day in a week I have a complete silence day! And I love that because it's so wunderfull to hear again what silence is. At the other hand it's difficult, because the other day the sounds are back... but I am trying to life with the fluctuating (is that good English?) of tinnitus. In the beginning I had hope when there was a silence day. I thought... yes... it's quiet... now i am healing, it will stop, i will recover....
But after 5 months now, I know it will stay. But eventhough I consider myself as Lucky because one day a week I can 'hear' what silence is/was....

Best regards from city of Utrecht (also known als The Venice of the Netherlands)
x

 

Hi Gabrielle!!

Thanks for the message, and yes, your message is excellent!! The 5-6 month mark is a tough one for many people (myself included!). I am very glad to hear that you are not afraid of the "noise" any longer!! That's good! It means your brain and lymbic system are adjusting to the T. It also means, hopefully, that anxiety is subsiding. I understand the sadness you feel, and the sense of loss. The life you (and I had) once had is gone, it's changed. And it is natural to mourn that. BUT, only for a little while!!! You can camp out there for a little while, but don't build your house there!!

You will continue to habituate, and you will begin to get more and more of your life back!! But you must be determined!! You have to really want it! I am glad my post gave you some encouragement. Because every word was/is true!! I still have my T, but I am living again!! I have joy and happiness and fulfillment. And you WILL too!!

I am interested, how is it that you get one day a week of silence???

Best from San Diego "America's Finest City"!!!

 

Hi Jeff, your latest reply above here is also very nice for me to read. Your words are making me bit of calm and are giving me faith.

About the silence-day ones a week... yeay, it's strange isn't it? But I kept a journal from the onset, May 3th 2014.
I wrote what I did, what I eat, etc. to see if there is a pattern.
I also wrote: very loud / loud / not so loud / silence.

And so I can see in the journal (and ofcourse I know it also without that journal), that every week had/has a silence day. Not in the morning, every day I wake up... it's there. But one day a week it's very soft... and sometime within half an hour.... it's completly quiet!! Pure silence.... no sounds at all.... no iiiiiiiiiieeeeeee, and no sssssssssshhhhhh. Nothing at all....!!!!! Most of the time when I have a day like that... it will lest for the whole day and evening too!
I am sooo glad that I have a silence day... it's hard because in the beginning I thought the T will be gone... it gave me hope. But now I know it will be a part of my life, and a silence day is not giving me hope anymore. I just enjoy it. Eventhough I know the next morning it will be back.

There is not really a pattern in that silence days. It can be a thuesday, it can be a fryday, it can be a sunday or saturday...I quess its just fluctuating like otheres have bad days and good days... and I have that miracle silences days too... but also one day a week.... just a few times two days a week.......

Thanks again Jeff for all of your kind and support words

 

I had already habituated to my t and i wss so confident and my dumb ass went out to eat to a loud foot ball texans game and boy when i went back 5o the room i felt that volume turned up loud again, im trying to cope with it and habituate all over again, my ears still feel very sensetive and i can hear it louder but lime jeff said, we will habituate and im gonna do it, thanks for the good advise and i feel for all the new comers, God bless and help us, we will make it!

 

Raymundo, keep up the positive attitude!! That goes a long way towards helping with habituation bro!! Life's too short to let T bring you (us) down!! I wish you success and peace!!

Best,

Jeff

 

Very interesting Gabrielle! Definitely enjoy those silent moments and days!!! Take good care, have some fun and I wish you peace and rest!!