Tinnitus and sleep

[Joeb17]

It has been 10 nights now have had only about 8 hours sleep I am so tired but when I try to sleep it’s like the T says let’s make it louder.my gp will not give me any thing as one of my meds is to make me sleep.i have sounds playing in my pillow I take herbal tea before I go to bed they work when my T is lower but when it is so loud I just can’t sleep.it makes me feel so ill I end up getting a cold I get eye infections it makes me feel so down I just feel like I can’t go on any longer

[TinnitusUKPat Partner]

Hi Joe.

I'm really sorry to hear that you're having such a rough time. It seems that you are doing all of the best things that you can to minimise the impact of your tinnitus, but you're still clearly finding it tough to get through this recent tinnitus episode?

Can you identify anything which has happened recently which might have prompted your tinnitus to be louder and preventing you from getting the rest you want? Any illness, traumatic experiences or low mood which might have a relationship?

I'm sure that folks can respond with their own experiences of sleepless nights and tinnitus flaring up in response.

We've got a section on the website which has some advice on sleep disturbance - tinnitus.org.uk/tinnitus-an... - which might be worth taking a look at.

[Joeb17 in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

Thanks my mental heath got worse last year have had a voice in my head telling me what to do didn’t seek help.but had to the other week as things got out of control .since then have had phone call from my gp he is referring me back to the mental health team also referring me the have a memory test.i know a lot of it is the T causing the problems I have had mine over 5 years now I can’t remember when it started it’s in both ears 24/7 but mine don’t stay at the same sound or tone it’s like someone playing with the sound control.i can be watching tv listening to music it will get to a stage when I am not so much awere of it when suddenly it might be one ear or both the tone or volume or sound will change and then there it is taking over.i have people ask me if I have tried this or that and I say yes but if it something I have not tried I give it a go.im not a quitter but when my T is really bad it’s so hard to not quit.i have to go for a blood test before I have my memory test so now I’m getting stressed out about going as I suffer from agrophobia and have panic attacks and now my T is through the roof so now I am fighting the T and fighting the voice in my head.

[Happyrosie]

Oh Joe I’m so sorry you are having a rough time. You seem to be doing a lot to help yourself.

Are you able to exercise in the open air? The sounds of the trees and the birds might be a little bit louder than the T, and the exercise might make you more tired so that you can sleep better.

[GarryOKeeffe]

Hi Joeb17

I feel your pain as I'm in the same situation, my tinnitus became extremely loud about 4 months ago, and is still as load if not loader. I too was struggling to sleep. My GP gave me dyasapan ( I can't spell that). But I don't want to take drugs.

I used self hypnosis for deep sleep from that I found on the internet. Just used my phone and a set of head phones. I don't think hypnosis works but listening to the talk and gentle music certainly help me. I was asleep within 10 minutes. After a couple of weeks I could get to sleep without the talk. But I would wake up during the night, so I plugged the phone back in.

Now I can sleep without the hypnosis and generally sleep very well even though the tinnitus is just as load but I find I can ignore it.

I hope this helps

[angiebaby6812]

Hi Joe. I was like you to start with listening to the constant pulsing 24/7 and thought I would never sleep. Then I just started to ignore it. I think all the different methods like sound etc seemed to make me focus on it being too much of a problem,so now I just try and relax not use any method and ignore it,and it works.

[Joeb17 in reply to angiebaby6812]

Thanks for your reply I have tried what you said sometimes it work other times it doesn’t mine wakes me up it always seems to be around 2.30 it’s like my T is a alarm clock I have tried going to bed at all different times but come to 2.30 there it is I’m fully awake and have to get up.i have a voice in my head this is being looked into.so I have my T and this voice in my head is not helping.

[angiebaby6812 in reply to Joeb17]

Good luck Joe,I hope you find something or someone who can help you.

[Destructor]

Hi.

The only thing I've found help me get any amount of sleep is taking Night Nurse. Obviously you shouldn't take this with other sleep meds but I found sleep meds no help at all and doctors were very reluctant to let me even try any in the first place. I don't know about others but maybe I'm more sensitive to sound and as such cannot listen to music or other sounds to get to sleep. In the daytime I can listen to music. I've found country music really easy to listen to but use an amazon echo. Rarely now will I put anything in my ears or even over ear earphobes as I find it sets my PT off. You can't take night nurse for more than 3 nights and I don't feel too dopey the next morning. It may be worth trying just to get some sleep. I've found that when my PT has been a lot lower the constant lack of sleep over the previous nights has been enough to still wake me up after 3 hours or even 1 hour. Hoping my bodyclock will reset itself in time to try and get some normality back.