Tinnitus sound on waking up

[bantams]

Could anyone please explain why that every morning when I wake up my T is at a high volume as soon has I open my eyes, how is it possible for your brain to focus on your T when you are asleep. Luckily I do manage to get 7/8 hours sleep every night.

[Ray200]

I get that too. Profound on waking, but will subside as day goes on. But it will 'come home for the day' around 6pm. I've had success with Gingko though. I have known waking and it's just not there from using it.

No longer the problem it used to be for me. It's joined traffic noise in that (I live on an A road and like my windows open) and I don't hear traffic noise as such.

[perlcoder]

Hi bantams,

I am not a doctor or scientist, but I have suffered from T for more than 20 years. As I (partially) understand it, unlike your vision, your hearing is never "off", not even when you sleep. That is a defence against predators, and the reason why a whisper will wake you. The brain has evolved to give it the highest priority. It is not just the "microphone" that is your physical hearing, but the whole mental apparatus of interpretation and (particularly in our case), emotion / anxiety that goes with it. In T sufferers that entire apparatus is, broken - perhaps in several ways, and one of those ways is that our T may not wake us, but it is woven into the fabric of the sleeping brain - the dreaming mind. All this is possible because our brains are multi-tasking, multi-layered marvels over which the conscious person often has little or no control, and they fail spectacularly with the same degree of sophistication.

Better explanations will probably come from better-informed people later.

[Happyrosie in reply to perlcoder]

Perlcoder, what a concise and helpful,explanation you’ve given - thank you.

[Parrcj in reply to perlcoder]

I love this response I have very often wondered the same thing. My T screams when waking also.

[noisynora in reply to perlcoder]

Thank you for your interpretation which makes perfect sense. I tend to forget how amazing our brains are especially when tinnitus is bad - first thing upon waking like our other sufferer, Bantams.

[Bluehazemax in reply to perlcoder]

That is so interesting. Mine is fairly quiet when I wake in the morning, but if I , say, nod off for a short time in front of the telly it’s screaming when I wake. I also feel really anxious and horrible on waking . Thankfully it usually subsides to it’s normal level fairly quickly. Sure has taken the joy out of napping though!!

[perlcoder in reply to Bluehazemax]

Yes, the daytime / evening nap - such a pleasant feature of normal life, will do that to me - to the extent that I avoid taking them. I have a bad cold at the moment and had a rough night with that as well as the usual T. I nodded off mid-afternoon and woke with the T going berserk.

[Kellythecat-74]

Are there any sounds in your bedroom or do you sleep in a silent room ? The advice with T has always been to never have silence . Most sufferers here use some sort of sound 24/7. Radio , radio headband , tv or fan, all on low volume. or an in ear headphone . I use the latter and there's no difference in the morning sound unless the earpiece has come out during the night. I just pop it back in and listen to the radio ,it soon goes back to normal.

[bantams in reply to Kellythecat-74]

Hi, No I don`t use any sounds in the bedroom, as I keep myself busy during the day to help me fall asleep at night so I have never thought of using any sounds in the bedroom, might be worth giving it a go to see if any differance, Thanks

[Kellythecat-74 in reply to bantams]

dont worry , these low/ background sounds will help you sleep . Maybe also try tinnitus sounds on you tube . waves, crickets etc. Just see if any can help ,it should do. I also fall asleep quickly .

[Beesmac]

Hello - I have the same problem, when I awake my tinnitus goes into overdrive. I have musical ear syndrome so my waking noise is rolling drums and undefined loud music. It does settle especially if I concentrate on other matters. I asked my Audiologist what caused this and she said it was hormones and other parts of your body and brain literally waking up! Whether true or not I couldn’t say but equally when I get into a nice warm bed at night with a totally quiet room and immerse myself in a good book, my noise slowly fades into the background. I don’t think we will ever truly understand what goes on with us but sadly we have to accept it. x

[PimplePopperfan]

When had my ENT appt I was told the perception of T is louder in the morning due to the lack of background noise during the night and early morning. There was a study about it but currently I believe it is the lack of noise why we hear it louder in the mornings. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[noisynora in reply to PimplePopperfan]

very good point. thank you!

[Pipster25]

I also have loud tinnitus on waking. My own theory is that while you are asleep your brain has actually switched off your tinnitus. I think it has to do this otherwise you would not ever get any sleep at all. When you wake up, your tinnitus returns along with your awareness of all other conscious stimuli. It may be that it is initially louder because your brain has not yet fully kicked into gear and made any attempt to turn your tinnitus off , as it has been mercifully resting in peace while you have slept. When it does kick into gear, your tinnitus reduces in intensity but does not go altogether of course, because as suffers we are above the tinnitus threshold which non sufferers are below. That’s my take on it. I have no medical evidence to back it up with. But worth a thought.

[Ruud1boy]

I heard a theory once that upon waking the body runs a kind of system check, to make sure things are working as they should be. When your brain happens upon whatever anomaly is causing your tinnitus, it pushes it to the front of your awareness.

[Thewarrenrabbits1950]

it’s a quiet time when you wake so your tinnitus is more noticeable. When you are in a noisy atmosphere T is less noticeable. I think blood pressure is also a factor and when you wake your bp is probably raised.