New to This — Just Starting on the Tinnitus Road

Hi - Ive just 'accepted' that I have this - been wondering what the noise is I hear for a number of months - put it down to a new house maybe sounds within the home but when my husband couldn't hear this continuous high tone - it began to sink in - plucked up courage went to the docs and he has referred me. Now its really real....... now I don't sleep although2 weeks ago I could now its official I cant. Back to the docs after nights and nights of hardly any sleep looking and feeling like a zombie - broke down crying - she gave me some sleeping pills - Ive now had 2 nights of some but a bit broken sleep - also invested in the app for the phone for white noise - that helps - tonight will be no sleeping tablets just the background noise, fingers crossed ! Im waiting to see the ENT docs but until then researching and trying to find out as much as I can. I will read the post with interest and hope to find lots of help advice and Im sure support on here - any tips for someone new to this road I find myself on ? Cher69

 

Hey Cher - be strong.... It sucks for a start but you will pull through. I've had it for 15 years now. I was told there's no cure so didn't do much about it until a few years had passed. I never used white noise or sleeping pills as I managed to get used to it. We're all different though and I reckon get as much help as u can as soon as u can...always feels good knowing that you have something planned to try and help - a path ahead if u like...

Chin up!
Al

 

Cher, it sounds like T didn't disrupt your sleep until you were officially diagnosed. So it's not the sound that's eating you. It's the notion that you have an affliction with a name attached. Remember, just as your fingers get callouses in response to friction, your mind will adapt to the new ringtone and move it to the background of your life along with the air conditioner, refrigerator, distant cars, planes etc. Just another layer in the soundtrack.

 

Hi thanks for messages - I wish I could turn back the clock and not go to the doctors - I need help with sleeping how do you guys manage ! I guess Im at the beginning of accepting this and returning my brain - I am a worrier so Im probably stressed up. Yesterday busy day work, home treated my self to a little drink in the pub with hubby after dog walking - had to wait up for eldest daughter to return from the cinema - I was so tired sitting on the sofa my head was nodding - off to bed - background noise to help - fell asleep - woke up 1.5 hours later or there abouts - been awake since 1am ! The noise distraction started to annoy me - changed it to wave noises tried to relax - I felt so nervous I had knots in my tummy as I lay there trying to coax myself to sleep like it was a big test - the previous 2 nights I had sleeping tablets from the doc but she said not to take more than 3 nights so I stopped on the third night to see if I needed them - I was sure I would sleep ! I was so sleepy last night but then after I woke up my mind wouldn't switch off - the T I hear changed from a single tone to annoying static like buzz - is this normal for people in your experiences to have this panic almost over sleeping ? much love Cher

 

Treat the anxiety!

 

Im now on an antidepressant from the Docs on day 3 - he also topped up my sleeping tablets for a few days still within safe limits worked one night used a relaxation hypnosis app to relax and off I went into deep sleep - woke approx. 2am but went back off - FAB next day felt great - last night same routine slept till2 am woke up and the buzzing got more and more intense nothing could distract me from it - tried to listed to relaxation thing again nope still awake - today feel like rubbish. Im wondering if I will ever get the old me back my children are brilliant and I feel they have lost their Mum as I couldn't get up to make them breakfast - they are old enough to sort themselves out but I felt so bad not having the motivation to get up and see them off to school

Im at the ENT tomorrow - see what he thinks - through the day it easy enough for me to distract from the noise I don't think its as bad as some on hear suffer with - but I want to sleep in the night my anxiety builds and last night the feeling of nervous in my tummy doubled.

Will the anti'd will working now ? I feel fairly down today after struggling to sleep - I have no more sleeping tablets now praying tonight I will drop off and stay asleep

xx

 

Here's what got me out of your funk and back to the old "me" despite an acute bout with anxiety/depression, worse than yours I think, related to T:

1. Long-term solution was Zoloft, though it took about three weeks to do anything beneficial and it was a bumpy ride on the way to that plateau, including a different sleep pattern. Well worth the wait, however. Also, once my body became acclimated to the drug, I boosted the dose at least three times in little increments until I hit a good groove, then waited about eight months, and tapered off VERY slowly over the next four months.
2. Short-term solution was not a sleeping pill per se. It was Lorazepam, just enough to calm the nerves and let me sleep. I did .25 or sometimes .5 at bedtime. It didn't work every night, but most nights. Also, if you're calmer during the day, can you get a nap to clear your head?

When you wake in the middle of the night, or after a nap, the T is likely louder. It's intimidating at first, but time is on your side, and the meds will help restore your ability to think about normal things instead of dragging the T to the fore during the night. You'll start having many more good nights than bad, and even he bad nights won't rattle your confidence because you'll feel yourself turning the corner in general.

On a side note, are you going through a stressful period in general, aside from this psychological wrestling match with T? If so, it's sure to weigh in. Also, are you taking the antidepressant in the morning or night? For some people, it acts as a sleeping pill and should be taken an hour or so before bedtime. Others get a little hyper and should take them in the a.m.

 

When something rubs your flesh, you develop a callous. Well, T requires a callous on your brain, and you'll get one with time. Meanwhile, continue treating the anxiety. It's your primary obstacle, more important than the T itself, because it slows the formation of that callous.

 

Sorry to hear about your T, I'm taking ' an Shen Bu Xin Wan ' at night time to sleep. It's a traditional Chinese medicines, consists of 12 herbs and has no side effects.

 

Do you find the Shen Bu Xin Wan ' at night time helps you to sleep? I'm taking 3 homeopathic passa flora type tabs + 3 tranquilite herbal tabs+ 1 "deep sleep" designer sleep tab + Mag tissue salt tab. I still wake up, prob after 3, sometimes 4, sometimes 5 hrs. And then try and rest as much as possible, drifting in and out of sleep until then. Still getting up dog tired. T obviously loud. What i would do for a solid nights rest.

 

@SteveToHeal , sorry I didn't see your post before. Yes Shen Bu most certainly helps to sleep, I took it for a very long time, now I take magnesium citrate and camomile tea to sleep.

 

Cher
Welcome to the group; lot of good folks here (and good advice). It's good to hear you are accepting your condition (that is a real turning point). I've had severe and invasive T for a year now and am managing just fine (now). Like you, I didn't sleep for weeks, I ended up with 2x nervous break-downs (or at least I couldn't stop shaking).

I couldn't agree more with folk's comments about the anxiety; I finally realized the noise didn't bother me as much as the idea that I couldn't do anything about it (or so I thought). T is tied in/connected to your central autonomic nervous system, emotional seed, memory and hearing. Bust up or diminish any of those components where the nueral-network/pathways that have mapped out your T and you will start taking it down. The obvious starting point is addressing the anxiety cause that has a lot to do with your CNS and emotional seed (it's a tough one). But over time, you just get better at it. I never considered myself an 'anxious' person until I really starting trying to chill out (I was a stress ball).

Learning to chill out under duress is ALWAYS a good thing; it just takes time and patience. I accepted mine fairly early on too; however, I've just recently achieved an "I could careless about my T" attitude (better than ever now; but it's taken the better part of a year for me to get there); perhaps you can get there faster.

Mark