Hi,
I have been very noise sensitive for decades. Office radios and neighbours' noise severely stress me out and I have always used ear plugs to drown out environmental noise when I sleep.
But now I developed tinnitus due to high frequency hearing loss in November, I am getting 2 hours sleep per night.
Have tried Relief, White Noise and Starkey Relax apps without success.
I can't believe this is happening. Desperate for some help.
x
Hi Carl,
I'm sorry to read that you are experiencing high frequency hearing loss. It's a positive sign that this has been diagnosed - it opens up some avenues for treating this condition and this may also help you in managing your tinnitus. I know at the moment that it might not seem like this.
The extent of your hearing loss may dictate whether or not you are a good candidate for hearing aids. Most immediately, they will help with augmenting the hearing that you have.
In being able to hear more, and pick up on sounds you may not have realised that you were losing access to, you are feeding your mind with stimulation and taking away energy and attention which might otherwise have been directed towards tinnitus.
If you are able to, I think that it would be worth discussing with an audiologist how hearing aids could help with your tinnitus and see if you want to trial them.
It isn't unusual for sleep deprivation to increase our perception of tinnitus - tiredness can lead to an increase in the level of stress hormones which our body releases, which can in turn make a symptom like tinnitus seem much more intrusive.
We do have some guides on our website which may help with some of the difficulties that you have raised in your post:
tinnitus.org.uk/tinnitus-an...
tinnitus.org.uk/tinnitus-an...
tinnitus.org.uk/hearing-aid...
With best wishes
Pat
BTA Forum Moderator
Thanks, Pat.
I really appreciate the links.
I saw a hospital audiologist last Friday and they diagnosed my high frequency hearing loss. However my hearing at other frequencies is still very good, so she advised me that a hearing aid would not be suitable for me. She told me that mindfulness was the best way forward for me, but seeing as I've spent a lifetime unsuccessfully trying to ignore peripheral noises with zero success, my prospects seem slim to me. The white noise apps haven't been any use. If I put my ear plugs in, the tinnitus is deafening. With them out, I can't block out the tinnitus or traffic noise from outside or the banging from my neighbours.
I am totally drained of energy. More tired than ever, but unable to sleep.
More than anything, I'm scared.
Fear and the attention which can come with it do tend to make tinnitus worse. I can understand why the audiologist might mention mindfulness in a situation where hearing loss isn't felt to benefit from hearing aids - have they made any recommendations about how you might pursue mindfulness practices?
Maybe the key to the situation is one phrase that you use - 'I can't block out the tinnitus'. Do you need to? Is that urge to fight against it sustaining it to some extent? It's normal to be worried or anxious about tinnitus, but trying to mask it entirely doesn't help people to habituate to the sound, if that is indeed an aim that you have.
It's easy for tinnitus to become an enemy - something we struggle against - but that may give it more power and control over your life than it needs to have.
There is a webinar on our online shop discussing mindfulness for tinnitus which you can purchase - tinnitus.org.uk/shop/webina... - if you're interested in following your audiologist's recommendation.
Thanks again, Pat. You're a star! The audiologist has booked me into a "Tinnitus" session at the hospital in January. And I will have an ENT appointment there soon. I will certainly purchase the webinar.
Yes, all my life, I have magnified external noises out of all proportion and granted them huge power over me. I feel my chest tightening and heart racing when the neighbours bang their music on through the wall.
I would dearly love to develop mindfulness. I will let you know how I get on. x
just to say, CarlL, that the reply from BTAPat is the expert’s view - the BTA is, as far as I can see, the world’s best and most comprehensive charity in this field.
A book you could read is “Tinnitus: from Tyrant to Friend” by Julian Cowan Hill.
Mindfulness might be hard to learn - but then so is any new skill. Maybe start off with breathing techniques to calm you.
Thanks, Rosie. I'll check the book out and focus on my breathing. I've been trying to breathe through my nose for 4 seconds, then hold it from 7 seconds and breathe out through my mouth for 8 seconds. x
that’s the sort of thing, absolutely. Personally if I were starting out on a breathing exercise and if I had not done it before I would do 4,4,4 or 6,6,6 first then progress to the more complicated ones after a week or so.
Another good one, with eyes closed, is
Breathe in for four moving your eyes (which are closed) up to top left corner, hold breath for four while you move eyes to top right, breathe out for four to bottom right, hold breath for out for four while you move them across to bottom left.
Again, these breathing techniques are a skill you have to practice just as if you were learning a new sport or a new language. The book recommends you find a therapist to help - just like you’d have a coach or a tutor.
Thanks, Rosie. Yes, that makes good sense. It's a lot more manageable with equal numbered breathing phases. I will definitely try the eye movements too.
Hi CarlL, sorry to hear you are struggling, I can totally empathise as I just couldn't sleep for months when I first had T. I can now say I can sleep well and in fact I am managing my T so well I am back to sleeping with ear plugs so the only sound I can hear is my T (I am at point in my management journey that my T no longer invokes a flight/flight emotional reaction, I habituate and can live well with my T). Below is something I have posted before on what I put into place to help me take back my sleep from my T.
• I used a sound generator app (I used ReSound Relief but plenty of others out there). I mixed sounds that (1) I found pleasant and (2) mapped well to my T. Audiologists tell us to map the volume of the sound to just below the volume of your T. As time went on and I felt more 'positive' towards my T I slowly reduced volume until I no longer needed the sound generator.I tried to use positive reinforcement in relation to the sound from the generator app. The sound I had chosen was beach, waves, and rain, when I would go to sleep, I would listen to the sound and think of lovely holidays I have had walking on the beach. As T creates such a negative emotional reaction, these types of thoughts allowed me to calm down and think about something other than my T
• When I was lying in bed if I felt stressed and my mind was focused on my T I would follow a progressive muscle relaxation. I found this very calming and did take my mind off my T
• I used BTA support group to help me learn more about T and techniques to move towards living well with T. As I learnt more and managed to reduce the negative emotional reaction to my T I would even say 'hello' to my T when I first settled down to sleep. The reason I did this is I found when I was stressed by my T it was always at the forefront of my mind so I found that if I said hello to it then (1) I had acknowledged it and my mind could move on to something else (2) by saying hello I was reducing my fight/flight reaction to it and this helped me to 'normalise' it for me.
• I understood I was in a heightened emotional state (fight/flight) due to my T. Therefore, I put in place some management techniques in the day to shift how I thought/felt about my T (I used the evidence based techniques I learnt on the BTA website and webinars) and this helped me feel a little calmer at night.
• I tried to make sure I was physically tired, so I ensured I did some exercise in the day to healthy tire myself out to help aid sleep.
• I tried to follow a good sleep hygiene pattern (maintain a regular sleep routine, avoid daytime naps, don't watch TV or use the computer in bed, no caffeine after 18:00 and as I am a clock watcher I put the alarm clock out of sight so I wasn’t constantly looking at it.
It took me quite a while to get into a better sleep pattern but as I said I can now sleep with my new sound of silence. The BTA has some excellent resources on sleep tinnitus.org.uk/tinnitus-an... and has good links to products such as sound pillows, headbands, etc. In the above link the vicious cycle graphic really highlights how the fight/flight reaction to our T inhibits our sleep. I found by practicing other distraction and behavioural techniques in the day I slowly shifted how I thought about my T (I saw it as less of a threat which took its power away) and in combination with the things I did at night I slowly got back to normal sleep patterns.
I hope the above may help in some small way. Take care
Wow, thank you so much for your lovely response. I have made several notes from that and will give them all a try. If I can eventually get back to your situation with using ear plugs to sleep again, it will be bliss.
To be honest, this is still terrifying me, but I'll keep thinking positive thoughts and relaxing my mind and body.
I have been tracking my nightly sleep amounts, so if I put my alarm clock out of sight, I think that I'll be putting less pressure on myself to get sufficient time asleep.
I've been going to bed 2 or 3 hours early, so that if I can't get off in the first several hours, I'm not actually late. But I am missing out on so much of my life. But nothing feels better than having good energy.
Thanks again.
👍
Np, when you say 'this is still terrifying me, but I'll keep thinking positive thoughts and relaxing my mind and body', I think this is key. You are allowed to feel anxious as you are in fight or flight mode, thinking positive was the way that help me out of this type of feeling. I was not positive for the sake of it or rose tinted glasses. I used CBT techniques to help ground myself in that I am following evidence based techniques which have worked for others with the condition. Yes, it does take time and energy but for me by keeping at these techniques things slowly began to change and I had longer periods of sleep. Yes, I had bad nights, yes sometimes not as long as I would like but one important thing I learnt was to celebrate every success, not only does this keep positivity but also when I don't have a good night I can reflect on the mini celebrations and see that I was making progress (moving forward towards my goal). Shifting how we think and feel takes time but for me by using these techniques for sleep and then using reframing positive CBT techniques when I was feeling anxious or down helped me stick with and take back control from my T. I wish you every success and don't forget to 'be kind to yourself' on your journey, it is hard and does take time but if you have a plan and you stick to it I am sure you will improve your situation.
Hope this helps in some small way, stay safe
Thank you very much. I think CBT could be a massive help to me dealing with tinnitus and with me combating the large stress I've suffered with neighbours' and workplace noise pollution in general for most of my life. I will pursue it for sure.
CBT was the cornerstone of my management plan as whenever I had anxiety or low mood from my T I had a prepared techniques to Pause, Reflect and Reframe any unhelpful thoughts/feelings. This reduced anxiety around my T and helped me feel more positive I was starting to manage my T. Best of luck, stay safe
Thank you. Much appreciated.
Thank you so much. I tried Nytol and it didn't really help very much. I live in a semi-detached house and sleep in the small bedroom away from the neighbour's adjoining wall to minimise their noise's effect on me. They have a young kid that bangs on their wooden floor for hours every night, not maliciously, but the bangs are harder to block out than a constant noise. So I retreat to my kitchen, away from the noise and put my noise-cancelling headphones on, as I can still hear the bangs from there. My tinnitus was very loud last night. I keep getting off for an hour then waking up and struggling to get back off for 30-40 minutes. So depressing when I wake up from a nice dream and the noise comes back again. I used to love dozing at the end of a nights sleep for 10-20 minutes extra, but this is impossible now. I'm still in a bit of shock, can't accept or believe that it's happening to me. I called 111 on Monday and they got me to call the mental health crisis self referral line who recommended that I try promethazine to help with my anxiety. I will definitely explore the Kokoon earplugs. Hope to goodness they help. And very, very good luck to you too! x
Hi, I’ve also developed noise sensitive tinnitus in both ears now (only had it in my right ear but after my MRI scan a month ago it’s developed in my left ear 😩) loud noises etc drive me crazy as it sends my tinnitus into overdrive.
I’m booked in to trial hearing aids, perhaps this can help I hope. Have you seen a ENT? Maybe they can refer you to an Audiologist who can assess the amount of hearing loss you have due to the tinnitus and suggest treatments.
I’ve started taking Vitamin b12 and Ginko Biloba and it seems to have lessened the intensity of the tinnitus in one ear but it’s still early days, but being hopeful.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for your kind message and good luck with your tinnitus. I saw an audiologist recently and they advised me that I have mild to medium high frequency hearing loss in both ears. But my other hearing is fine, so a hearing aid will not be suitable for me.
I've also started taking Tinnaway - which has gingko biloba in it - and recently I have been getting more sleep.
The audiologist advised me that my noise sensitivity was making my tinnitus worse as I have blocked out noises with noise cancelling headphones for years.
They recommended that I play my podcasts all night every night and when I zone the podcasts out, I will zone the tinnitus out too.
Thanks again and good luck! 😀
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