Anyone have similar experience with T ? Habituated but won't get sleep.

[avirata]

Hi people,I got wild Tinnitus after my pregnancy from last 4 years. Initial 1 or 2 years were very very stressful because I was getting weird , scary 7 to 8 different sounds changing 24*7.After some time my mind adjusted to know that these won't harm no matter how they going to increase decrease or change( took me 2+ years )

But main problem for me is my sleep.

I won't get irked by T I know they are just there but my mind just don't get into sleep

I am confused is this because of T or it is sleep related problem and doesn't have T influence? I will be actively lying in bed for 3 hours +. Even after I sleep also I won't be in deep sleep.

This sleep problem is torturing me from long time since this wild T started .

I wake up with lack of sleep almost each day which affects my whole day routine.

[vincentchan]

Good news from tinnitus cbt book

46

Living Well with Tinnitus

of the night, and achieving restorative sleep. About 70 per cent of patients seeking help for tinnitus report some form of sleep difficulty. But it is not clear whether the degree of sleep difficulty is related to the loudness or quality of the tinnitus of whether it is related to the psychological impact of the tinnitus

In a study conducted in our clinic in collaboration with the Universities of Nottingham and Cambridge, we assessed whether the loudness of tinnitus was related to sleep dis turbances (insomnia), based on data for 417 patients. The analysis showed that the loudness of tinnitus is only indirectly related to the severity of insomnia. In other words, louder tinnitus does not necessarily lead to more sleep disturbances The severity of insomnia depends on the amount of depression and annoyance caused by the tinnitus. The more depressed and annoyed a person becomes due to their tinnitus, the more sleep disturbances they tend to experience. According to the theory behind CBT, emotional disturbances such as feeling irritated or depressed are not directly due to hearing tinnitus but rather are the result of our thoughts about tinnitus and its impact on our behaviours. Therefore, in order to reduce tinnitus-related sleep disturbances, we need to manage our thoughts and behaviours. This is the aim of CBT for tinnitus as described in this book. Listening to music or background noise at night-time is an avoidance behaviour, and it does not address the key cause of the sleep disturbances, namely the tinnitus-related negative thoughts. In the chapters on treat ment, we discuss how to use CBT to sleep difficulties. manage tinnitus-induced

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[avirata in reply to vincentchan]

Your reply mentions CBT would be solution for T related sleep problems. Need to know more on CBT and how it works.

[vincentchan in reply to avirata]

Hahats

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Easy to use cbt to cope: From cbt tinnitus book... -

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2 Replies

From cbt tinnitus book

Just think B instead of A

244

Living Well with Tinnitus

1

A.

Tinnitus makes me feel tired, as I cannot sleep well at night. Tinnitus is a terrible disease with no cure!

B

I am lying down and con despite hearing tinnitus. This is the second best compared to a deep sleep. Resting helps to energise me. Even if there is no cure, I can still live well with tinnitus

2

A Tinnitus affects my sleep and concentration. Hence it reduces my efficiency. I can no longer be in control at my workplace.

B

I can concentrate on my tasles most of the time. I can do whatever I need to do despite the difficulties caused by tinnitus. This makes me feel strong.

3

A.Tinnitus invades every aspect of my life and makes me feel useless.

B.

Tinnitus is present most of the time and is a nuisance Regardless of tinnitus, I can do whatever I need to do. This makes me feel useful.

4. A I make lots of mistake coz of my t

B.

I can do most things as well and accurately as I used to before I had tinnitus. It may take me slightly longer to complete my tasks. It is OK to double check my work for accuracy. My performance is intact despite tinnitus.

5

A.

Tinnitus is like a fog that affects my performance.

B.

I can see, hear and think even when I hear tinnitus Loud and clearly.

[avirata in reply to vincentchan]

Thanks for the long answer and your time :)CBT stresses about habituation only but quite in indirect approach

It's not easy for quite wild Tinnitus where the loudness of them is more than the outside environment noises .

It's just difficult .

CBT worked very well until I had regular moderate T .

[vincentchan in reply to avirata]

Yes i know but thats what they are doing

They said the volume dont matter

[vincentchan in reply to avirata]

Thaat the theory its the core base of that book u can borrow from the liberary its the most effective way to treat tinnitus according to bta

[ToetappingPoet]

In addition to the CBT extracts provided by vincentchan, if you've been left with sleep issues, BBC Sounds still has all of the late Michael Moseley's podcasts about "sleep hygiene" (nothing to do with washing). Might be something there that would help.

[vincentchan in reply to ToetappingPoet]

Nth to do with washing , good sense of humor impressive

[tracyr01]

I know where you're coming from, I am finding it hard to sleep and also getting back to sleep during the night if I'm woken by my little one coming into my bed. I'm a bit annoyed about CBT being mentioned as it's like let's pretend there isn't a noise and then it'll go away..I've lived 45 years with no noise and have it 8 mths now and it's made a big negative impact on my life. If I'm very tired/sick the noise gets louder in both ears and I find it even harder to sleep or watch TV so how to relax and then get better? I've been managing with the white noise for going to sleep but sometimes it doesn't work and I have to put in earphones and try something else which means longer trying to get sleep while I fiddle with phone and earphones😔 I work 4.5 days as a computer tester and really finding it hard to keep going with the lack of sleep..there has to be some other help for tinnitus sufferers than white noise and sleeping pills? I've tried them and they make me feel rotten next day so exacerbate the tinnitus too..I've had hearing test all ok and ENT appt and said my sinus infections last year weren't the cause of the tinnitus but I didn't have it before then. I also do yoga once a week and swimming so am trying things to relax also but looks like I might need to take time off work which I don't want to do to be able to deal with the extreme tiredness and noise😥

[ToetappingPoet in reply to tracyr01]

If I was still working, I'm sure there would be days when I couldn't go in. I was a secondary school teacher. I've had to cancel evening voluntary work for now though. Experts seem to concur that coping strategies reap the best rewards in terms of rehabilitation as there's so little by way of cure, depending on the type and cause. I'm starting CBT with the NHS well being service this week, while I wait for diagnostic tests and ENT appointment. I bumped into someone who had successfully "habituated" mostly through a shift in his mindset, and that's the kind of help I'm hoping to get. CBT, if I've understood, isn't about pretending it's not there, it's about not allowing it to rule your life by changing your cognition of it. I'm going to give that my best shot, because I might be one of the people it works for . Just hoping I get an experienced and skilled practitioner!

[tracyr01 in reply to ToetappingPoet]

Thanks for replying to my post, hope CBT helps! I have another ENT appt tomorrow so hoping something might come out of that especially when it's private and costing 200 euro😏

[ToetappingPoet in reply to tracyr01]

Good luck!

[avirata in reply to ToetappingPoet]

Hello friend,One more time I wanna discuss here just to find helpful answers if any .

I am not bothered about T , I have accepted and I hardly get triggered by it but what makes me curious and anxious that I won't fall asleep in night even for hours.

I won't feel sleepy even though I don't mind that T is there . What kind of problem I have I am unaware my sleep problem is completely independent of T or not ? I just can't figure it out yet

[ToetappingPoet in reply to avirata]

Very strange. Sounds one you're an insomniac if you're not being kept awake by tinnitus. I'm not I'm any way qualified in that issue I'm afraid. My tinnitus is the sole reason for not being able to sleep. I'm sure your doctor can advise though. So sorry that you're not able to switch off. Must be v debilitating for you.

[avirata]

I was working as senior software tester earlier but lack of sleep affected my next day routine adversely so I left that stressful Job and looking something little simple which I could manage even with little sleep

[avirata]

I was on antidepressants for 1+ year which were given to make my sleep better but I didn't like that effect of the pills and also didn't wanna depend on them for long time , withdrew them .

[RicePudd1ng]

Hey! I'm new here, and weirdly (and crushingly) enough my awareness of my tinnitus increased just as I thought I was recovering from a bout of insomnia. But I'm hoping not to let this hinder my insomnia recovery too much as I think my tinnitus is relatively mild (compared to others I've read on this forum).

If T is fortunately not as big as a problem for you anymore and it's solely sleep you'd like to fix, I recommend looking at The Sleep Coach School on youtube, run by a lovely man named Coach Daniel. He uses principles of CBT-I for insomnia and ACT, fundamentally trying to reduce your anxieties around sleep and/or being awake at night. He veers slightly away from traditional CBT-I though in the sense that he recognises that methods such as keeping strict sleep diaries/sleep restriction might just add to your anxiety, so doesn't recommend you doing that. It might be that your T has left you with residual sleep anxiety that needs to be addressed.

[avirata]

Thanks. I will check that youtube channel.Just adding - my sleep issue started when my Tinnitus changed drastically post pregnancy. Still doing rounds to many doctors as my gut feeling is my Tinnitus is not worsened due to my hearing loss. It is something else that changed my mild T to raw T. Hoping to get solution one day ( wish that day could arrive soon)