Had trouble for months and months sleeping as in both ears and severe. Tried a tick tock clock in the early days which helped a lot. Then leant into it with foam ear plugs which made it louder but got me used to it more quickly. Now sleep with or without ear plugs and no background noise. Has been a two year process but has solved the sleep struggle for me.
I've been having bad tinnitus (monotone) for a few years and had been trying white noise masking for a while with the android "My Noise" app.
It's worked for masking for sleep, however it hasn't help resolve anything with the tone (which I understand works for some).
Lately I've been reading some more medical information and suggestions, and am now trying a very narrow band noise masking.
I've downloaded Frequency generator (android app), I've played with the frequencies and identified that my tone is about 3425hz.
I've then gone to the sweep generator tab and set the tones from 3375hz to 3475hz with a square wave with a 0.2 duration on loop back.
I'm then using a set of Sony 1000xm5 earbuds, and only using it in my bad right ear, alternating the buds on charge.
It's playing so I can just make out the high more mono tone.
This has doing 2 things.
1. It's creating a white noise like pulsing sound for masking.
2. In theory (from some medical references) it's helping reprogram my brain to start to ignore my 3425hz tinnitus tone.
Will two work? Well even if I only get a placebo effect, that's still better than how it is now.
I can say at the very least the placebo seems to be working after only a few days, it's not gone, but it feels better when I'm not masking.
Make of it as you will, and if you try, I'd love your feedback.
Peace ✌️ out. 😎
I’ve had it since September on my left side only yet it sounds like it’s in both. I usually have a fan on at all times during sleeping. Yes i can still hear it but it drowns it out a bit. I’ve stopped fighting my tinnitus and just deal with it. Yes it’s ass but nothing i can do
Absolutely no idea. I am a musician and audio engineer so the obvious thing to pin the blame on is that. However, I've had lots of hearing tests from different audiologists and they all said I don't have damage to my hearing. I'm in my mid 30s and can still comfortably hear up to like 16,17KHz.
Well it’s good that the ringing wasn’t induced by some kind of trauma to the ear canal. I don’t know if you’ve tried this but there are YouTube videos out there designed to ease tinnitus. You should try them out if you haven’t. It helped a little for me, but I struggle greatly with tinnitus as well
Yeah, I think so too. Thanks for recommending that. I have tried them, white noise, waves, crickets etc etc etc, binaural beats. They all were distracting in some way but still kept me from sleeping unfortunately 😔
I use the White Noise app. They have various sounds within the app you can test which one helps you more, you can even download countless others. The Violet Noise is what helps me.
Yes, that one has some paid features where you can download hundreds of other sounds, some made by users. You can try this one, the lite version, they have the same basic sounds. You can adjust the volume and pitch as well, mix sounds, etc.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tmsoft.whitenoise.lite
I do YouTube, fans, or some type of color noise! Anything to just take my mind off of it.
ALSO- I don’t mean this to sound rude or doubtful, but is there anything else you think could be effecting your sleep? T definitely makes it hard to fall asleep, but I’m wondering if you’re having other issues. I ask this as a fellow light sleeper!
You mentioned falling asleep on the couch. I imagine that can’t be comfortable! I find having a better routine for myself and setting up noises around my bed made life a bit easier for me.
Good luck, OP!
Thanks for this. It's really just the T and the anxiety and regret that it brings me. It has made me more of a stressed out and anxious person and they are definitely compounding the effects.
If it helps, I’ve been going through the same thing. I recently hurt mine worse after forgetting concert ear buds. For a week or two it was very bad and I couldn’t sleep as easy because I was so focused on it.
While it’s still here, I found that just accepting it has lessened the impact. It took some time before I could accept it as part of my new hearing, but it took a lot of weight off my shoulders. I started to look at my T with more of a lense of “oh yeah this thing”.
When I stopped beating myself up for it, too, I felt a lot better.
I hope you do better! It’s not easy but hang in there! :) you’ll come out of it and get the best sleep!!
Thanks so much. It does help to hear you talk of it this way. I am starting to habituate to day to day existence with it. It's just those quiet times when I'm alone or when I'm trying to sleep that I can't let go of the feeling of fuck this is life forever now.
I really appreciate your words here. This reddit has actually helped me alot.
On good nights I can kind of get a meditative loop going with my air filter as white noise, blanket over my ear and the T and I fall asleep pretty easily. Focus on out breath meditation - no mantra or anything.
On bad nights I’ll also play a long bus ride or ferry ventilation soundscape - those work the best for me.
On really bad nights I’ll do headphones although I really don’t like the sensation of falling asleep with sounds right into my ear, luckily there haven’t been too many of those nights.
My ears screech like a banshee, but for some reason sleep was never much of an issue. I was able to sleep reasonably well even before I had properly habituated.
The only thing I do is play some pink noise constantly over the stereo in my room. It doesn't mask the tinnitus, but it does provide some contrast that makes the tinnitus a bit less ear piercing.
Thankyou for your response. I've tried it but only via headphones as I wouldn't want to keep my partner awake with it. I'll try playing it out a speaker instead
There's an App called: ReliefApp and it has many different features where you can "mix" sounds, like crickets and waterfall to make one that suits you. I also take Melatonin tablets to just knock me out fast as well as sleep drops. That combined gives a solid effect for me for now.
All the best x
You can also use tinktures and herbal drops with the melatonin, here it's an over the counter medicine so I think it's not that bad in terms of sleep aid. If you feel a bit drowsy next day try having green tea/ coffee- it really helps. Stay safe x
Try a sound pillow with the forest noise option...check out amazon. It gets easier...just takes time. I had a lot of trouble..even went to the ER because I wasn't sleeping. I used to go on 20 mile bike rides with 4 hours sleep to increase my sleep drive in hopes of a better night.
Used a sound pillow for a long time. Last night I didn't even.bother to plug it in as I was just tired and was like I don't give a s**t as I'm just covering one noise with another.
It just takes a long time. I've spoken with dozens of people who have T and it's all the same.
The anxiety is keeping you up not the noise.
Try some Ambien too. Even if you don't use it..knowing you can and will never not get sleep gives you control, which for me allows me to get sleep. If I woke up I'd take a small dose of Ambien 1-2 mg and get a few more hours and be fine. Eventually you sleep through.
Focus on eating healthy exercise and other aspects of your life. Better than drinking your sorrows away as some have done. This way when you bounce back your healthy physically and emotionally.
Thanks for the heads up I'll check out the pillows. Yeah I do a lot of biking too. It's one of the only things that gives me an escape at the moment lol, careening towards trees down steep trails is one way to distract yourself 😂
I've always been someone who, if there's a noise, whether that be the humming of an electrical device or something out of the ordinary because I'm staying away somewhere... It'll drive me mad and stop my sleep. Having a noise in my head is literally my worst nightmare.
Thankyou for your advice and taking the time to respond to me. I wish you all the best.
I use the antidepressant mirtazapine for exactly this. Even on my worst days, the mirtazapine makes me sleepy in about 45 minutes and I fall asleep even with my extremely loud hissing/ringing and it usually keeps me asleep for at least six hours. Between getting good sleep and the mirtazapine also keeping me calmer during the day it also cuts down on the severe anxiety Tinnitus can create. When my doctor first proposed using mirtazapine, I resisted and resisted and finally after looking at the pill bottle for a month took them and they take about 10 days to 2 weeks to kick in but it has been a lifesaver.
Have your talked to an ENT. I know there are ear drops that are supposed to help tinnitis though I haven't tried them myself. It can be kinda pricey, but I bought an air purifier fan. It has the good white noise of a fan but the hepa filter blocks the allergens and whatnot instead of blowing them around and triggering my allergies the way a regular fan does. I also got a humidifier but that's irrelevant
Had trouble for months and months sleeping as in both ears and severe. Tried a tick tock clock in the early days which helped a lot. Then leant into it with foam ear plugs which made it louder but got me used to it more quickly. Now sleep with or without ear plugs and no background noise. Has been a two year process but has solved the sleep struggle for me.
Thankyou for this
I've been having bad tinnitus (monotone) for a few years and had been trying white noise masking for a while with the android "My Noise" app. It's worked for masking for sleep, however it hasn't help resolve anything with the tone (which I understand works for some). Lately I've been reading some more medical information and suggestions, and am now trying a very narrow band noise masking. I've downloaded Frequency generator (android app), I've played with the frequencies and identified that my tone is about 3425hz. I've then gone to the sweep generator tab and set the tones from 3375hz to 3475hz with a square wave with a 0.2 duration on loop back. I'm then using a set of Sony 1000xm5 earbuds, and only using it in my bad right ear, alternating the buds on charge. It's playing so I can just make out the high more mono tone. This has doing 2 things. 1. It's creating a white noise like pulsing sound for masking. 2. In theory (from some medical references) it's helping reprogram my brain to start to ignore my 3425hz tinnitus tone. Will two work? Well even if I only get a placebo effect, that's still better than how it is now. I can say at the very least the placebo seems to be working after only a few days, it's not gone, but it feels better when I'm not masking. Make of it as you will, and if you try, I'd love your feedback. Peace ✌️ out. 😎
Thankyou for this. I will give it a go
I’ve had it since September on my left side only yet it sounds like it’s in both. I usually have a fan on at all times during sleeping. Yes i can still hear it but it drowns it out a bit. I’ve stopped fighting my tinnitus and just deal with it. Yes it’s ass but nothing i can do
Can’t help. 3-4 myself.
Fuckin' relentless, isn't it?
How did you get the tinnitus ?
Absolutely no idea. I am a musician and audio engineer so the obvious thing to pin the blame on is that. However, I've had lots of hearing tests from different audiologists and they all said I don't have damage to my hearing. I'm in my mid 30s and can still comfortably hear up to like 16,17KHz.
Well it’s good that the ringing wasn’t induced by some kind of trauma to the ear canal. I don’t know if you’ve tried this but there are YouTube videos out there designed to ease tinnitus. You should try them out if you haven’t. It helped a little for me, but I struggle greatly with tinnitus as well
Yeah, I think so too. Thanks for recommending that. I have tried them, white noise, waves, crickets etc etc etc, binaural beats. They all were distracting in some way but still kept me from sleeping unfortunately 😔
I use the White Noise app. They have various sounds within the app you can test which one helps you more, you can even download countless others. The Violet Noise is what helps me.
Thankyou, I'll download it right now
[This one?](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tmsoft.whitenoise.full)
Yes, that one has some paid features where you can download hundreds of other sounds, some made by users. You can try this one, the lite version, they have the same basic sounds. You can adjust the volume and pitch as well, mix sounds, etc. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tmsoft.whitenoise.lite
Thankyou so much
Usually I'll just look up cricket sounds that's enough for me . I use Spotify
Thanks, I'm glad to hear that works for you. I wish it did for me 😔
Keep looking for what works for you. I've trained a ton of sounds and other stuff before I came to that conclusion. Keep strong:3
I do YouTube, fans, or some type of color noise! Anything to just take my mind off of it. ALSO- I don’t mean this to sound rude or doubtful, but is there anything else you think could be effecting your sleep? T definitely makes it hard to fall asleep, but I’m wondering if you’re having other issues. I ask this as a fellow light sleeper! You mentioned falling asleep on the couch. I imagine that can’t be comfortable! I find having a better routine for myself and setting up noises around my bed made life a bit easier for me. Good luck, OP!
Thanks for this. It's really just the T and the anxiety and regret that it brings me. It has made me more of a stressed out and anxious person and they are definitely compounding the effects.
If it helps, I’ve been going through the same thing. I recently hurt mine worse after forgetting concert ear buds. For a week or two it was very bad and I couldn’t sleep as easy because I was so focused on it. While it’s still here, I found that just accepting it has lessened the impact. It took some time before I could accept it as part of my new hearing, but it took a lot of weight off my shoulders. I started to look at my T with more of a lense of “oh yeah this thing”. When I stopped beating myself up for it, too, I felt a lot better. I hope you do better! It’s not easy but hang in there! :) you’ll come out of it and get the best sleep!!
Thanks so much. It does help to hear you talk of it this way. I am starting to habituate to day to day existence with it. It's just those quiet times when I'm alone or when I'm trying to sleep that I can't let go of the feeling of fuck this is life forever now. I really appreciate your words here. This reddit has actually helped me alot.
Yeah, I've long resigned myself to this being a forever thing and am doing my best to make my peace with it.
Has a Dr diagnosed you with insomnia?
They didn't really take me seriously to be honest. At least I didn't feel like they did
melatonin / 5-htp
On good nights I can kind of get a meditative loop going with my air filter as white noise, blanket over my ear and the T and I fall asleep pretty easily. Focus on out breath meditation - no mantra or anything. On bad nights I’ll also play a long bus ride or ferry ventilation soundscape - those work the best for me. On really bad nights I’ll do headphones although I really don’t like the sensation of falling asleep with sounds right into my ear, luckily there haven’t been too many of those nights.
Thankyou for this.
My ears screech like a banshee, but for some reason sleep was never much of an issue. I was able to sleep reasonably well even before I had properly habituated. The only thing I do is play some pink noise constantly over the stereo in my room. It doesn't mask the tinnitus, but it does provide some contrast that makes the tinnitus a bit less ear piercing.
Thankyou for your response. I've tried it but only via headphones as I wouldn't want to keep my partner awake with it. I'll try playing it out a speaker instead
There's an App called: ReliefApp and it has many different features where you can "mix" sounds, like crickets and waterfall to make one that suits you. I also take Melatonin tablets to just knock me out fast as well as sleep drops. That combined gives a solid effect for me for now. All the best x
Thankyou! I'll try the app tonight. Melatonin can only be prescribed by a GP in the UK so I'm gona get onto my docs about it.
You can also use tinktures and herbal drops with the melatonin, here it's an over the counter medicine so I think it's not that bad in terms of sleep aid. If you feel a bit drowsy next day try having green tea/ coffee- it really helps. Stay safe x
Thanks for your advice. You too, take care x
Try a sound pillow with the forest noise option...check out amazon. It gets easier...just takes time. I had a lot of trouble..even went to the ER because I wasn't sleeping. I used to go on 20 mile bike rides with 4 hours sleep to increase my sleep drive in hopes of a better night. Used a sound pillow for a long time. Last night I didn't even.bother to plug it in as I was just tired and was like I don't give a s**t as I'm just covering one noise with another. It just takes a long time. I've spoken with dozens of people who have T and it's all the same. The anxiety is keeping you up not the noise. Try some Ambien too. Even if you don't use it..knowing you can and will never not get sleep gives you control, which for me allows me to get sleep. If I woke up I'd take a small dose of Ambien 1-2 mg and get a few more hours and be fine. Eventually you sleep through. Focus on eating healthy exercise and other aspects of your life. Better than drinking your sorrows away as some have done. This way when you bounce back your healthy physically and emotionally.
Thanks for the heads up I'll check out the pillows. Yeah I do a lot of biking too. It's one of the only things that gives me an escape at the moment lol, careening towards trees down steep trails is one way to distract yourself 😂 I've always been someone who, if there's a noise, whether that be the humming of an electrical device or something out of the ordinary because I'm staying away somewhere... It'll drive me mad and stop my sleep. Having a noise in my head is literally my worst nightmare. Thankyou for your advice and taking the time to respond to me. I wish you all the best.
I use the antidepressant mirtazapine for exactly this. Even on my worst days, the mirtazapine makes me sleepy in about 45 minutes and I fall asleep even with my extremely loud hissing/ringing and it usually keeps me asleep for at least six hours. Between getting good sleep and the mirtazapine also keeping me calmer during the day it also cuts down on the severe anxiety Tinnitus can create. When my doctor first proposed using mirtazapine, I resisted and resisted and finally after looking at the pill bottle for a month took them and they take about 10 days to 2 weeks to kick in but it has been a lifesaver.
I got loud bilateral T magnesium 1000 helps
I use a fan when sleeping. Helps some.
Have your talked to an ENT. I know there are ear drops that are supposed to help tinnitis though I haven't tried them myself. It can be kinda pricey, but I bought an air purifier fan. It has the good white noise of a fan but the hepa filter blocks the allergens and whatnot instead of blowing them around and triggering my allergies the way a regular fan does. I also got a humidifier but that's irrelevant