Losing Hope

I have had severe Tinnitus for six years. I have spent a great deal of money seeking relief from this insidious noise. I try to stay positive but habituation is not happening. I need 8 Immovane just to get 4 hours sleep which is not even sleep. My question is how can I ever get sleep without drugging myself unconscious? I recently tried expense hearing aids with a masker and my T got worse.

 

You stated that your T is "severe." I define "severe" T as being above and worse than the normal "loud" level that I live with most of the time. For me, it's not possible to sleep well without medication with severe T. When I was having the same problem it took an combination of an antidepressant and 3mg of Melatonin for me to be able to sleep through the night again. There are other meds that have been helpful for some of the other forum members. Hopefully. there will be some additional useful info posted soon.

 

Try not to take Immovane on a daily basis as it tends to loose its effect over time. Have a look at the
Retigabine (Trobalt, Potiga) thread in the treatments section.
Here is great progress being made by experimenting with certain drugs. Not to mention other serious drugs which are about to be developed.

Hold out, I would say at 2020 we should have more tools, not the cure maybe but at least decent tools to find relief.

All best

 

Hey there, @loosse up. You will find lots of company on this site; many of us struggle with sleep, me included.

My first question is: Did you have sleep problems before tinnitus? Or did they come immediately following tinnitus? I had been struggling with insomnia for years prior to tinnitus, which then really kicked it into high gear. My insomnia probably is related to neurological problems I developed following a stroke and cerebral bleed in 1999. I have accepted the fact that I probably never will be able to sleep again without some kind of assistance, be it a natural supplement or a medication.

Sleep problems seem to come in two major forms: those related to your brain in some way, and those related to your respiratory function (ie, the sleep apnea variety). I went through the whole sleep study thing and found I had only mild apnea. The c-pap machine did nothing but make me miserable. Still, a sleep study might not be a bad idea to rule out that line of sleep problems.

It wasn't until I came down with tinnitus that I learned what a large role anxiety plays in insomnia. Often, doctors will couple a sleep med with a very low dose of an anti-anxiety drug, like valium or xanax. This helped me.

And there are many sleep medications to chose from. If you are getting only four hours sleep on a very large dose, its probably time to try another med. Problem with most sleep drugs is your body can build up a tolerance. Ones that have worked well for people here include: Remeron, Lunesta, trazadone. I primarily take Rozerem, which is pharmaceutical grade melatonin and therefore much less likely to cause dependence. But there are times when the Rozerem just stops working so I have to go back to Lunesta for a bit, then return to Rozerem. Important, though: Everyone is different. What works for me may not work for you. These drugs tinker with your brain chemistry so use them with care, and under the supervision of a doc who knows what he/she is doing.

Natural supplements that are effective include valerian root, melatonin, trypothan and camomille tea. Be careful with melatonin, though; it's a hormone and pretty powerful stuff. You really shouldn't take more than 3 mg a night. They sell it in 10 mg tablets, among other doses, why I don't know.

Assume you already have tried all the proper sleep hygiene stuff: no TV in your bedroom, no heavy meals or caffeine before bedtime, careful with the alcohol before sleep, sleeping and waking at the same time every night, keep your room dark and cold, use your bedroom only for sleep, etc. Plenty of info on this on the web.

White noise also is helpful. I personally use a pillow that you can plug into a iPhone or white noise device. http://www.soundpillow.com. But there are many apps or white noise devices that can help with sleep. Even just running a fan can work.

As @jimH said, lots of talk here at TT about sleep. Here is one thread but there is many. Just go the search field and look around.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-first-night-without-sleep.1951/#post-61379

Good luck and sweet dreams soon, I hope.

 

That is a very detail write up on sleep issue by LadyDi. Thanks. I wish I had seen your post when I struggled with my sleep during the worst time. I simply couldn't sleep on my own and had to depend on sleeping pills. I honestly don't remember what names they were. The doctor just said use it when required and they shouldn't be addictive. They did a good job. For me some benzos before bed time helped calm the nerve. I also masked the T with nature sounds using CD player and ipod. I wished I had a sound pillow. Before I got the ipod set up, I even tried to sleep with the shower turned on whole night. I just used my foldable cot bed and slept right by the shower. I also used hearing aids and maskers and didn't like them nor did they help me. Loosse, hope you find something which will help you. Don't lose hope. I agree that some of the newer drugs are promising. At least we know the pharmaceutical world didn't abandon us. Who know what they can come out in 5-10 years. So hang in there. Have you tried some treatments like TRT & CBT yet? The doctors in the Doctor's Corner are specialized in those treatments. Perhaps you can ask them some questions and see if the treatments are right for you.

 

Thank you all for your replies.i have tried most everything discussed. Sleep hygiene is a joke for me. I have tried other medications like trazadone. My insomnia was there before the T but it is now beyond anything I struggled with before. Why is long term Melatonin use bad? I have had two sleep studies but no results from them. I moved to a new city where it is impossible to get a primary car doctor. I have to go a clinic. My panic is that no walk in clinic is going to perscribe me the sleeping pills I need. This is creates anxiety which of course keeps the T at an insane. Level.

 

Remeron/Mirtazapine is a non-addictive AD. 90 minutes after taking I am so tired, I fall asleep for 7-8 hours.

 

I have spent time on almost all of the above. I have done TRT twice I was a CBT instructor, meditation, The only thing the tgot me sleep was immovane (Ambien, Lunesta all the same drug). Remerom helped me gain 40 lbs. This is why I feel at the end, There have been naturopaths, chiropractors, dentists, audiologists, psychiatrists, quack cures on the net, hearing aids etc etc etc. I had to quit my job due to the T, I have lost friends because of numerous mis-understandings and I guess people's inability to get it, most people don't. The only thing I have not tried is medical maijuana and I afraid to try that due to the paranoia it used to give me years ago.

 

You can give it a shot, but I can personally tell you that for me it does nothing but make the ringing worse.. I use to smoke quite often, particularly for my insomnia and and I loved it because it knocked me right out and I'd sleep like a baby through the night..

Now it all it does is just make the ringing worse, it really blows... especially since I relied heavily on it for my sleep. Every person is different though.. in the short 10 days that I've had this I've been doing a lot of reading. From what I can tell for some people it actually does help, to the extent where they don't even notice their tinnitus.. then there are others like me, for which is just makes it excruciatingly loud.

 

I used to smoke a lot as well, i'm starting to think i also got insomnia, since i've always have had hard times getting into sleep, and T. for sure doesn't help it out. I smoked for many years, and really helped me sleep, but now if i smoke i get a massive spike in my T. - it like increases 100%

On-topic: Sadly i don't think smoking will do anything good, because of the increase in the T.

You actually do sleep much better, but if you get anxious i don't think it will do any good.

 

Yep, your in my exact same situation.. I've completely stopped smoking because it makes my T unbearable.. Mine is high pitched as it is, so it tends to cut through most everything I listen to.. When I smoke, its just absolutely impossible to deal with..