Now Able to Sleep with Tinnitus — TIP: Do Not Completely Mask Your Tinnitus While Sleeping

I think it all started in a bar where I was exposed to loud thumping music. I couldn't realize it till I heard some whooshing sound in my ears when going to sleep that night. I thought the sound would go away and that I would be able to sleep. However, the sound persisted after the next day, which caused a lot of anxiety as I couldn't figure out why it was happening. I didn't connect the dots that it might be the music.

Anyways, a huge mistake I did was, in order to sleep well and not hear the whooshing noise, I played music in my room all night - music Google suggested when I searched online on "how to sleep well with noise in my ears". After a few days, this music caused my whooshing sound to become a ringing noise, which caused lot of anxiety. All hell broke loose. I really thought something was wrong with my head/brain. I had a 1 year old and was deeply worried about my family. I wasn't able to sleep well, God knows how many days. I was drained is an understatement. I was deeply worried and anxious. I went to an ear doctor who said I had lost some hearing in my ears and that I will get used to the ringing within 6 months. His assurance didn't help.

However, something that helped me in these tough tried times were deep breathing exercises for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the night. I was able to sleep at least 4-5 hours in the night, sometimes 6-7 hours, although not continuous. I was praying to God for help. I went to a chiropractor and tried everything else to treat it.

The noise in ears cause lot of anxiousness. If we can manage to convince ourselves that nothing bad is going to happen, 90% of the battle is solved. But it is definitely not easy to manage it when we are not sleeping properly and you hear it every single second. It's very hard to get to that ACCEPTANCE stage, which is the most important stage. If not for GOD who sent me to a hearing clinic and the lady who saw me, I probably wouldn't be writing this post now.

Most ridiculous thing I have been doing is trying to suppress the ringing noise in my ears - I was playing the tinnitus masking music constantly for a sound sleep during the night. In my case, this was making my condition worse. The lady who I talked to has mentioned that I was DOING this WRONG. She told me the tinnitus masking music in my ears during sleep should NEVER DOMINATE the ringing noise in my ear as my BRAIN still perceives this noise as a THREAT. She asked me to reduce the tinnitus masking music to below the ringing noise level in my ears.

Mannn... Guysss... it's hard to believe that by the 2nd day there was terrific improvement in my sleep and my routine. By the 3rd day I didn't play any music during sleep. From 4th day onwards I became 100% normal. It's like MAGIC.

I still have constant ringing in my ears every day and every second but my brain accepted that it is not a threat anymore. It's a nightmare that I overcame with the help of good people and God.

I wrote this lengthy article in hopes that someone will not be doing the same mistake as I did. Please share with other people on Tinnitus Talk about the importance of music/masking volume level that needs to be used while sleeping. I hope the suggestion given to me will help others who is suffering from tinnitus.

 

Hmm, yet another endorsement for sound enrichment. I guess this is a strategy I need to attempt more seriously.

Personally, I default towards masking. This is mostly because I find the noise to be uncomfortable when audible for too long. I'm not even sure I perceive it as a threat; it's just unpleasant to hear. Maybe this is one in the same? I don't know. The brain is complicated.

The few attempts I have made in terms of using enrichment haven't yielded much success, though I do have my nighttime noise much quieter than it was at the start. Perhaps I am on my way towards properly using enrichment, but I can't help that there are nights where it's just too piercing. I've had a couple quite recently, actually. I'm really not sure what else to do then besides try to mask it. It's really hard to sleep when you've got something screaming in your ears.

At any rate, thank you for sharing your story. It gives me more to consider as I continue to evaluate my sleeping issues. God bless!

 

Clearly MAGIC.

 

I only masked for sleeping in the first weeks. After that I never masked again. In my case the trouble with sleeping was caused by the adrenaline produced whenever I hear my tinnitus. Gradually the emotional / anxious reaction decreased and so did the adrenaline. At this stage I started to getting better sleep. It took maybe 3 or 4 months to get back to normal sleeping. So I still hear my tinnitus but it does not interfere with my sleeping at all. Nowadays most of the time I am not even aware of the tinnitus when I read in bed before sleeping.

 

How loud is your ringing? Can you hear only hear it in a quiet room? How about with ambient noise around you? Outside? Over road noise while driving in the car? Do you hear it over the tv? How about over the shower?

I hear mine over everything but the shower. I no longer perceive the sound as a threat. But I can't magically fall asleep until I'm dead tired. It's just too loud.

 

I can hear the tinnitus in quiet room. Depends on the volume of ambient noise & my concentration on the tinnitus. If I am constantly checking if I hear the tinnitus noise, maybe I need to have low-medium or medium volume. If I don't concentrate on the tinnitus, I don't hear it on medium volume but may be low volume.

I definitely don't heart it while driving or watching TV.

I really wish it goes away for you and becomes non existent.

 

I agree with this. The times I've made the most progress in handling my tinnitus was when I just let myself hear it.

 

In that case you may like this short 'tinnitus-centered' meditation video:

Tinnitus habituation - guided meditation...

Disclaimer: I've only just started (allowing myself to fully hear/'embrace') it.

 

I can't even mask my tinnitus. I used to put on podcasts and stuff but I would get frustrated either because I couldn't hear stuff clearly enough or I would be preoccupied comparing it to my tinnitus. So one day I just sort of stopped using any masking to sleep and now just tough it out.

 

The times that I've made the most progress handling my tinnitus was when I was not handling my tinnitus.

 

My humblest apologies, but in spite of many prodigious efforts I cannot swallow the Kool-aid and internalize this Zen malarkey about best handling my tinnitus when I was not handling it.

It's the sort of claptrap that would have been espoused by Julian Cowan Hill.

 

I’ve been masking for a year now. I still can’t handle my tinnitus.

Am I too late to stop masking now?

 

It’s never too late for anything! I’ve read several post of people who only reach habituation after 2 years, some even later.

I agree that the best progress Ive made was when I stopped masking about 4 weeks ago.

Try to relax and not fear/get frustrated with the noise. That’s what I’m trying to do. It appears to be working (touch wood).

 

I have (very) loud humming (hear it over everything in my daily life too) and high pitched shrieking.

Despite the humming being very loud, it takes very little volume to completely stop it (not mask it, STOP it).

I masked for 12 months during sleep, now since 5 months I'm sleeping in total silence again, allowing the insane loud humming to be with me in my sleep.

It took me a while but I'm actually able to sleep with it, god knows how I do it.
One thing I do know is that it seemed like the 12 months that I was masking I was basically running away from the tinnitus 24/7... I got tired of running.

I'm hoping that, in time, my brain will manage to disassociate from the loud noise, but I really don't know if that is every going to happen. There are days where I just lie in bed for 5 hours straight feeling absolutely disgusted, BUT I am so proud of myself that I manage to sleep in a totally silent room, something I never imagined possible.

I really think allowing to hear the tinnitus is the only way to desensitisation. Yes, it will probably require a X year investment, but better that than what I tried before, the running and hiding and feeling anxious all the time.