Maybe Success Comes in Small Steps

Just thought I share this. I started experiencing Tinnitus in my left ear after a loud concert on 12/31/17 (so just 16 days ago). Mostly I'm having trouble sleeping, the high pitch in my right ear keeps me awake. With sleeping pills I can fall asleep but I tend to wake up after about 3 hours and then cannot fall back to sleep again. I have a white noise sound generator that I've used for years as I'm a light sleeper, and it wasn't helping with my Tinnitus. HOWEVER, last night I placed the noise generator right under my pillow so my left ear was basically on top of it. It worked fantastic. When I woke up, at first I though my Tinnitus was completely gone. That feeling lasted probably 30 minutes. It's come back now to how it was before (4 hours later), but placing that sound machine under my pillow REALLY helped (sorry for the capital letters, but getting sleep has been difficult for me.). I bought the sound machine at a "Brookstone" store about a decade ago, there's no model or such on the unit. I've also just ordered a Sangean PS-300 Pillow Speaker from Amazon, so I can use that as my speaker instead of the sound machine box. Bottom line, a white noise generator under my pillow really helped me get some sleep.

 

Hey I would like to congratulate you on your first step to succes. Do mind to be cautious about white noise generators, they tend to make my T louder but might not be the case for you. Though you had 30 minutes of silence, was it real silence? Did you plug your ears to check it?

Anyway I hope that 30 minutes of silence becomes hours days weeks and hopefully years for you.

 

Yes, I did plug my ears. I really had to concentrate to hear the tinnitus (in my case, a very high pitch). I was quite excited by it all. The tinnitus did return, but now I feel I have a good option for sleeping.

 

Off topic, but I see a lot of threads where people are talking about T and M and H or something like that. What do those letters stand for?

 

T is tinnitus m is meniere disease h is hyperacusis. Acronyms/shortcuts

 

Thanks

 

Yes..I now have a small blue tooth speaker I put under my pillow..it was the best thing I ever did to help me with this condition! Sometimes I listen to stories or sleep hypnosis, (helps distract me), or radio or documentaries, (again can't be too interesting..lol..but I discovered Alan Watts, and not only does he have interesting things to say, his voice is soothing! sometimes I listen to soft music, or meditation apps, or soft isochronic tones or ambient drone or chanting, or tibetan bowls or lucid dreaming music.....all off of youtube. I love exploring the "moment" when you fall asleep.
Not only has this been the best coping mechanism, it has become enjoyable where I look forward to going to bed, where before I dreaded it. It's weird to think that without t, I would have never known this world.

 

Thanks for sharing. What model of Bluetooth speaker did you purchase? And do you recommend that one for others?

 

I had bought a few "pillow" speakers, but they were never loud enough..or clear enough..and the cables seemed too short and flimsy..so then I had the brainstorm for a bluetooth speaker..better sound and no wires! .....so I spent a few days looking for the flattest one and found that the Aud Mini by iLuv worked well! Not completely flat, but I don't feel it under my pillow! AND most of all...it's cheap!! But..only lasts for 4 hours, so ended up buying an extra long usb cable, but at least it's nice and long and strong! I was considering a speaker called UE Roll. Has longer life span between charges, and some other neat features but more expensive. I still might get a UE though one day...one of the features is being able to stream to 2 of the speakers from one device!

 

Do you still have the links for any of your favorite YouTube audios? I don't think I'd be able to fall asleep to someone speaking, I'd be focusing on listening to him, but the meditation apps, isochronic tones, chanting, etc. sounds like something I'd like to try.

 

Yes..I have that problem too if the talking is too interesting...but usually I'm sleepy enough to still fall asleep.
What I personally liked about the talking ones, is they distracted me from all the horrible sad thoughts I was having about t. Thankfully, the scary thoughts about t have calmed down, b/c I am getting quite habituated to mine, plus it has become quieter..(or maybe that's what habituation does..?) Having this condition is quite the mind trip!

Lately, I am really enjoying falling asleep to ambient drone b/c it takes me away to beautiful places.
Oh, I should mention I have a "noise app" on my phone which I play crickets in the background of anything I listen to, as crickets completely hide my t. Then I listen to the music and drift away..

Here are some of my favourites....I have a preference towards darker drone music.. which is odd, b/c I find them peaceful and uplifting, not scary...lol

Playlist: Brainwave Anxiety Relief

Playlist: jonnie black illusion of free will

Playlist: Kalawna Biggs

Playlist: Deuter Nada 2

Playlist: Hypersleep MK2 Relaxing Sleep

We all have personal tastes..so when you go to these, just click on the recommended ones on the side and you can explore hundreds of videos.

 

Thanks for the youtube links

 

I can advise the app Soundpillow. Advantage is that you don't hear it loop, and you can make your ideal mix.