How do you sleep with tinnitus?!
Question: I have really bad constant tinnitus (have for a few years now) and it makes it almost impossible to sleep these days without taking a sleeping pill (pharmaceutical or herbal)... of course I can't every night, so I sometimes am awake till early in the morning because I can't get to sleep until I am completely exhausted.. it's not good, does anyone have any ideas or tips? I do sleep with an air filter on for white noise, it used to work but now it keeps me awake. i'm so tired all the time, the ringing is really hard to deal with too.. i'd appreciate any tips at all.. thanks
Answers: I have really bad constant tinnitus (have for a few years now) and it makes it almost impossible to sleep these days without taking a sleeping pill (pharmaceutical or herbal)... of course I can't every night, so I sometimes am awake till early in the morning because I can't get to sleep until I am completely exhausted.. it's not good, does anyone have any ideas or tips? I do sleep with an air filter on for white noise, it used to work but now it keeps me awake. i'm so tired all the time, the ringing is really hard to deal with too.. i'd appreciate any tips at all.. thanks
Alright, so different frequencies of white noise function in different capacities......people with tinnitus all hear "something" but how they report that sound is different. Some people say what they hear is like grasshoppers, some like an engine in the other room, some like a high pitched whine, etc....those differences in report are difficult to explain, but here is the short version - your ears are sending a signal to the brain, and the brain is interpretting it as that sound....
So what you have to do is find another sound that tricks the brain into a processing loop - in other words, keep it busy.
I think white noise is the way to go - you just have to find another tone that will work for you. I know a lot of people who resort to CD's of special white noise for people with tinnitus (they are easy to find, google "tinnitus white noise cd") but the seniors that I work with find that the sound of water running (rain, thunderstorms, streams) help them a lot.
These are some of the ones that I like
http://www.amazon.com/Sounds-Earth-Count...
http://www.amazon.com/Day-Cape-Cod-Summe...
Here is selection just for people with tinnitus
http://www.amazon.com/White-Noise-Variet...
Finally, some of the doctors at the DMC are prescribing 50 mgs of zinc and gingko biloba for tinnitus. I dont know if its worth a shot - but you might want to ask your doctor about it (neither zinc nor gingko is appropriate for everyone)
Good Luck
i know that tinnitus comes from ears firing in the absence of sound. i get ringing in my ears alot due to chronic ear infections. when mine ring the only aid is noise. maybe try a radio on low volume, other type of background noise such as water (fishtank) etc. i use ear plugs at night also.
You should be treated for your tinnisitus. It is a common side effect of anemia(diagnosed with a blood test, treated with iron pills usually). It is also common from taking too much aspirin(stop taking aspirin,take tylenol or ibuprofen if you do unless prescribed then talk to your doc). It can also be due to nerve damage. See a doc!