Sleeping

Dear all,

I can't sleep, sometimes even the sleeping meds don't work because my tinnitus is so loud!
How do you get to sleep with severe/loud tinnitus?
I just can't imagine that sleeping with loud tinnitus is possible.

 

Are you using any masking sounds? If your T is high-pitched, the sounds of crickets might work... Also, keep trying different sleeping pills and sedatives. Eventually you will find something that works. Make sure you take melatonin (which might even be treating T)...

After every sleepless night, it ought to get easier to fall asleep...

 

Hi @MJv,
A low dose Nortryptaline or Amitryptaline will help you sleep and better for long term use instead of sleeping tablets.
My tinnitus is in both ears and sever and it helps me sleep better.

Love glynis

 

I used Amitryptaline (10 mg) + melatonin (0.5 g), and it worked.

 

@glynis @Bill Bauer
It's Nortriptyline and Amitriptyline, learn to spell

 

I can't even sleep with 3 sleeping tablets. I have tried different ones.
The loudness is to overwhelming

 

You need to get regular exercise during the day. Could be a brisk walk.

Then you need to shut off all blue light around sundown. I recommend downloading f.lux for your computer and Blue Light Filter: Night Mode app for smart phone, and getting some of those salt lamps or at the very least lower frequency light bulbs. Blue Light prevents your body from making melatonin.

Have some chamomile tea around bedtime. Calm yourself down and read a book, surf the web, watch some shows. I have some chamomile scents that i also inhale and some of that oil that you rub on your chest.

Then about 20-30 minutes before bed have 3mg melatonin. And head to sleep.

If you are really really really having problems, i suggest seeing your doctors about remeron. It helps you sleep really well and has very limited side effects. I chop my remeron into 1/4ths so the nights i need a little extra sleep i just have 3.75 mg remeron and it knocks me to sleep.

 

My tinnitus is a set of very high pitched tones which I can hear over 95% of environmental sounds, including loud stuff like my motorcycle engine.

I've learned to sleep just fine, with no masking, often even wearing earplugs.

It took a long time. The things that were most specifically helpful were: regular vigorous exercise, daily sitting meditation, listening to guided body scan meditations at night right before bed for several months, CBT techniques.

I am not suggesting that this will work for everyone, or that my tinnitus is worse than anyone else. But, in my case, it was possible.

Having tinnitus is a pain in the neck. Having tinnitus on top of massive insomnia and resulting anxiety, cortisol regulation problems and depression is another beast entirely.

 

@ebbie,
Learn some manners please..there is a right way and wrong way to point something out... especially if would like advice too!
Love glynis

 

@MJv,
Nortriptyline and Amitriptyline can reduce tinnitus by calming down missfireing signals for some people and help anxiety and relax you into a good night's sleep.

Love glynis

 

I'm on my third Week of Notrypytline and my Tone got some reduction today. Also i could fall asleep yesterday without any masking sounds. I hope, that will give u some hopeful thoughts.

also i could hear the sound over everything, it was like the sound was sliding above the background sound. First i thought, that this was Hyperacusis, but it's not. And the sleeping pills were also not efficient for me, so i feel your struggle. It|s really bad for the T not to sleep

 

Thank you all for your replies. It's so devastating at the moment. Nothing helps

 

They both seem to cause bad dry mouth, otherwise I would continue them.

 

Are you taking Zolpidem? I was taking it pre-tinnitus so don't think it caused my noise. One 10mg tablet still knocks me out. I tried several times to get off of them.

 

Sorry...you are not alone in this situation. Back in the day I was prescribed just about every sleeping medication available and each one made my sleep even worse. I never got into a deep sleep. Drove me nuts too!!

I still struggle with sleep but after so many years I am used to a pattern. And using techniques like meditation and soothing sounds seems to help. I can sleep for about four/five hours deeply than I wake up to the loud screeching in my brain. It really does not distress me as much a decade later though. Just frustrating for the most part.

Lots of good advice here. I also keep very busy with exercise like running every day. It helps to take up a task of some sort like painting a room or gardening. Just keep busy busy during the day.

I know may not help you right now. But life gets so much better with time.

 

Does it really matter?

 

@MJv
Melatonin worked one night in the beginning. Ativan worked for a while. 10mg Ambien worked for one night, then did nothing. I feel your pain and understand. It's a struggle. I can take those, not at once of course and lay there all night and not fall asleep. It was only when I started not to care if I got any sleep when I started to get some sleep. I also have some beers after work and for some reason I can fall asleep with that and not all these pills.

 

I'm same way, 5 hours 6 if I'm lucky then wake up and can't go back to sleep.

 

I can honestly say ,when my doctor said he was taking me off sleeping tablets after using them for 6 weeks with two days a week off them I thought he was making a mistake and thought how will I sleep.
He put me on a low AD as could be for long term use and not adictive.
I sleep fine most nights even with my tinnitus and it helped my tinnitus also.

Love glynis

 

Nothing works for me. I have become resistant to sleeping meds.
My dr doesn't know what to do, so I am in a big mess now

 

@MJv,
Are you on a AD if you don't mind me asking?
A low dose of Amitriptyline 20mg or Nortryptaline 50mg or Mirtazepine 20-30mg can really help sleep and better than sleeping tablets.
If you are on one that does not help sleep like venlafaxine a low dose of the other can be added by your doctor.
I know your suffering and we are all here for you.
Let's hope you find what works best for you soon.
Love glynis

 

Not to go in to different meds to use, but i can relate @MJv. In the beginning i couldn't sleep with out sleeping pills and after a while i got resistant to several brand in Sweden. The pills was my "secure spot" that gave me that assurance to get some relaxation, and when that didn't work i had very hard to get any sleep. Until i started with meditation and starting to rethink my situation through using training, meditation (as already mention), enviroment sounds etc.

After that i stopped with all pills and focused on external solutions only. I was my option and will not work for anyone but both having T and not being sure to gain the benefits from the meds would work, that would leave me with the side effects only in worst cases.

/F

 

I listen to Healing sounds of nature on Pandora one hour befor bed time. Also exercise one hour per day weight training and cardio. One half hour befor bed take .5 valium that puts me out for the night in about 15 to 20 minutes. I play cricket and frog sounds that kind of blends with my T from youtube all night. This works well for me. I take no meds in the day...

 

In my first 60 days with this condition, I had a lot of sleep difficulty. I used Xanax and Mirtazapine to help sleep. Xanax will get you to sleep, but it has a short half life, and won't keep you Asleep all night. Mirt works well, but it can make you into a zombie the next day, but you do get used to it. When I first started taking Mirt, I didn't care. I was just so happy to be sleeping through 8 hrs. I didn't care how sluggish I felt when I woke up. It was welcome. Melatonin is great for putting you to sleep, but it's not good at keeping you asleep. Masking noises help to distract and reduce the chance that you will awake and hear only your T, which can be alarming when the condition is new. I wish you the best and peaceful sleep. Trebor.

 

Hi Jake we seem to have the same sleep patterns. Once in a great while for no particular reason I will get 6 hours of deep sleep. That makes a huge difference for my entire day. I have learned to really enjoy the good days!

For years now during my morning runs I listen to my own music therapy. Same songs over and over. I have a process that is hard to explain. Each time I listen to the same song I will search for a certain tone or instrument and focus on it. At night those songs are ingrained in my thoughts and sometimes tame down the brain tinnitus.

 

@MJv Have you ever considered cannabis or cannabis related products? If you can get a CBD oil/balm/spray this can help you sleep. They are very low in THC which is the psychoactive component, so you don't get "high" and there is no associated anxiety/paranoia. CBD products are like a super potent version of chamomile or valerian root. Not sure where you're located but this is potentially an avenue worth looking into.

Regular cannabis that is smoked or vaped can help make you drowsy and sleep soundly, but you have to be in the right state of mind, otherwise you'll probably feel anxious and paranoid about your tinnitus.

 

Yeah after a 6 hour night it's good isn't It . Brain t is hard, probably the hardest in my opinion. It works same way for me to, no reason what so ever I'll sleep good, even if I was bad.

 

Being in the right state of mind is crucial when doing this.

 

Those don't do anything. If you inhale or ingest CBD via vaporizing or ingesting an oil, this will help with sleep.

Another question, have you tried alcohol?

 

You're contradicting yourself in your comment. So did CBD oil work for you? I'm currently trying CBD isolate and not sure if it's working yet. I probably need to increase my dosage.