Natural Sleep Solutions

I have had tinnitus for about a month which has greatly impacted the quality of my sleep. After much research on this forum and the web I took my first 15mg Remeron last Friday night and woke up Saturday morning with roaring tinnitus. Luckily my tinnitus sound reduced steadily over the weekend and this morning it was back to normal.

I went to my GP this morning and explained nicely that in my opinion the medical profession does not fully understand the potential that medications in wide use have for very negative impacts on tinnitus. I told him I wanted to cure my insomnia using natural methods. He referred me to a clinical phycologist who specializes in sleep disorders without using medications.

At the moment I walk 4 miles per day and take one 3mg melatonin and eat one banana one hour before bedtime. I have yet to experience any benefit from this routine.

I would be greatly interested in other forum members experiences at improving their sleep problems using natural methods that have no risk of making the tinnitus worse.

I would greatly appreciate any feedback.

 

Hi Dubinvero, i take two 3mg melatonin, and put my masking sound on of heavy rain fall, i usually sleep 5hrs, it's not enough sleep but a few weeks ago i was only getting 2 hrs and i really was getting ill because of it!!!

 

You're only a month in so sleep will be tough right now....but it will gradually improve. I took Melatonin for a couple of months and I think it helped me. I also walked a lot and that helped tire me out so I could sleep. So you're on the right track. Stay the course and it will get better!

 

Erik,

Thanks for replying to both of my active threads.

Do you currently get by without taking any medications.? I know the way I felt after 30 minutes of taking the 15mg Remeron that I was as relaxed as I had been since I first experienced Tinnitus. However, after a good nights sleep, I awoke the next morning with the loudest tinnitus I have ever experienced.

I am hoping to learn how to better control and ideally eliminate my anxiety. I believe the more anxiety and stress I feel the louder my tinnitus seems to be.

Do you find that your tinnitus follows any predictable patterns? e.g quiet when you awake but getting louder through the day. Have you been able to identify diet issues that predictably effect the level of your tinnitus?

I am using an excellent IOS app named mySymtoms to track my food and drink intake and the subsequent symptoms. So far my tinnitus appears to worsen after spicy food and meals with a lot of cheese such as pizza or lasagna. I have not yet noted anything that seems to reduce the sound.

Erik, I greatly appreciate your advice and support.

 

Yes, there is no doubt in my mind that if one is highly anxious and stressed, T will be louder. Mine is usually lower in the morning and increases later in the day, however I do have days where it starts loud and is loud all day and days where it starts very low and stays very low all day. In the end, I just treat each day the same. I go about my day and try to pay as little attention to T as possible. Of course, early on in your T journey, this is easier said than do and you may find yourself focusing on it all the time or most the time. This is normal. We all go thru this phase. You will find in time, this changes. Your brain changes, you change and in time you pay less and less attention to it as you get back to life.

Try not to over analyze and predict patterns for your T. Most people do it because it is hard to avoid early on. as As time goes by you realize it is not worth it trying to predict a pattern for your T. Trying to figure out which things to drink or eat or not to drink and eat, whether or not to exercise...all that becomes counter-productive because in the end most people cannot accurately predict their T and it makes you focus on it more. Soon as you think you got it figured out, it turns out not to be true. The goal is to do what you can not to focus on it. For me, in the beginning, everything seemed to effect my T, coffee, tea, spicy foods, alcohol, sodium, fried foods, too much bread, going the the gym...etc...as soon as I ignored all that, it became less and less of an issue. And eventually no issue at all. I drink a couple cups of coffee a day, no problems at all. I had thai food yesterday and it was tasty.

 

You give me hope Eric! I had a good day Sunday but a horrible screech yesterday...wondering if it was the glazed donut I had!! But other days I eat sweets with no problem. Thanks!

 

Erik,

Thanks for your very thoughtful response. I need to ask you again, do you take any medications to reduce anxiety or slow your brain activity so you have a better chance to sleep. As you know, I am currently committed to try to sleep without any medications. My sleep is very poor. Is this an early on phenomenon that improves with time.?

Do you use masking sounds to help with sleep. If yes do you use an earbud or loudspeaker or hearing aid.? Do you try to completely mask the tinnitus or match it in volume or something less?

As always I greatly appreciate your advice and support.

 

I do not currently take any meds. I have used Ativan (Lorazepam) to help with anxiety for a few weeks. It helps you too sleep that's for sure.

I currently use a Marpac Dohm white noise machine in the bedroom which I run 24/7. I don't think I really need it any longer to sleep but now it is a habit and it seems too quiet without it so I keep it on. It doesn't fully mask my T but gives my brain enough distraction. In the past I have also use apps on my iPad -Relax Melodies and I would keep it running all night long while placing the ipad near my bed or under my pillow.