Tinnitus Cycles Connected to Mood Cycles?

[Marlino]

I'm still trying to figure out the cycles of my T.

One new idea is, that it might be related to unconscious mood cycles.

One observation is that on a spike day I feel like having slept very poorly without apparent reason. As after sever nightmares or so. But I cannot remember. Its just that I wake up tensed,even if t spike didn't start yet.

Another observation is that I might be a litte aggressive or obsessed the 2 or 3 days before t spike. This I had periodically for years before t and was not really an issue before, since I could handle it.

This is just speculation.
Anybody having similar thoughts or understand this better?

 

[Marlino]

@JasonP

I remember you wrote something about your mood swings. I have them as well as long as i can remember. They felt always a litte strange bu were no big issue mostly.

Now Im wondering if those mood swings have an impact on tinnitus loudness. Do you see any relationship?

It might be trivial to ask so. But for me its really different, because I was convinced so far my mood swings follow the tinnitus and not vice versa.

 

[Kste Adams]

I suspect mood swings and tinnitus affect each other, at least until you habituate. Loud tinnitus --> less sleep --> fear, anxiety, depression, etc. --> less ability to cope with anything, including tinnitus --> less sleep --> louder tinnitus.

I also think that this is too simple an explanation. The brain is such a complex organ and there is so much going on in there that we're not even aware of. It's very possible that there are underlying physical processes in the brain that can affect both mood and neurological conditions such as tinnitus - that is, both mood swings and tinnitus are symptoms of other things.

Given the complexity of the brain, I'd say there is both correlation and causation going on. However, I'm not a doctor, my opinion is based on personal experience and learning as much as I can about tinnitus.

 

[LukeYoung]

Anxiety and stress plus being tired really set my tinnitus off. So i do believe moods can affect T.
Diet doesn't seem to be an issue for me like it is for some users on here.

 

[Marlino]

Anxiety and stress plus being tired really set my tinnitus off. So i do believe moods can affect T.
Diet doesn't seem to be an issue for me like it is for some users on here.

The thing is, that I don't see a direct connection between lack of sleep, stress or food to my T loudness.
Since my T loudness varies so much, between not much of a problem to suicidal, I really look desperately for any hint to get some control. This mood swing issue I mentioned above is feeling like the a modest version of bipolar. I was so used to it and compensated it very well. No issue, maybe its even normal. Who knows...
But now I'm double checking everything...

 

[JasonP]

@JasonP

I remember you wrote something about your mood swings. I have them as well as long as i can remember. They felt always a litte strange bu were no big issue mostly.

Now Im wondering if those mood swings have an impact on tinnitus loudness. Do you see any relationship?

It might be trivial to ask so. But for me its really different, because I was convinced so far my mood swings follow the tinnitus and not vice versa.

I wonder if you could try a small amount of melatonin at the same time each day before bedtime and see if that would do something. Maybe some kind of effect on the circadian rhythm.

 

[Marlino]

I wonder if you could try a small amount of melatonin at the same time each day before bedtime and see if that would do something.

Currently I try Amitriptylin and don't want to add another drug. But I tried melatonin before without success. Also its not circadian cycle, but rather 5-10days or so.

Since amitriptylin is quite strong and universal working, I expect some impact on my T if its somehow related to mood, unconscious tension or another general brain state.

Anyhow, until now it just makes me tired and didn't help at all. But it probably needs more time to kick in.

 

[linearb]

when my mood cycle is at a high point I generally don't care about my T very much, and when I feel the worst it tends to be excruciating... but I wouldn't say that the actual tinnitus changes very much, it's all perception and reaction for me.