Some helpful hints on getting to sleep when those ears are ringing!
- "No one has ever died from a lack of sleep".
Your body ALWAYS gets as much sleep as it NEEDS. You may feel rotten, you may feel more tired than you have ever felt before, but you are not dying (it just feels that way!). So put this worry out of your mind.
- You cant MAKE yourself sleep;
you can only LET yourself sleep. The harder you try to sleep, the less successful you will be. So relax! Getting your mind and body relaxed is the key to falling asleep.
- Make your sleep environment as comfortable as possible.
Remember that most people spend about one third of their life in bed so its worth it to make it comfortable. Down pillows can be molded to suport your neck. Down comforters are light weight and are very warm. "Pillow top" mattresses add a bit of cushion to the mattress. If you are sensitive to light, block off any incoming light. Do anything that makes your sleep environment more comfortable and pleasurable.
- Dont listen to your Tinnitus!
I know that this is easier said than done, especially if Tinnitus is new to you or you are experiencing a change in its volume or form.
However, focusing on the sound of your Tinnitus will impede sleep. (note: I once read about a clever woman whose Tinnitus sounded like cicadas. When she got into bed she pretended to be living in the country, listening to the natural sound of the cicadas. She found this very relaxing and was able to sleep. This is the only person whom Ive read about who can listen to their Tinnitus and still sleep)
- One way to distract your mind from the Tinnitus is to think about something else.
Think about a beautiful place you have visited or a pleasant trip you have taken. Think about as many details as you can. Relive the experience in your mind. By taking this approach you accomplish several things. You take your mind off of the Tinnitus, you calm your mind by reliving a pleasant experience, and you make the process of trying to fall asleep a pleasant one.
The reason this approach works is based on the fact that your mind is "single-threaded", meaning that it can only process one thought at a time. If your mind is occupied thinking about a pleasant experience, it is not thinking about your Tinnitus.
Note: avoid thinking about overly-stimulating experiences (e.g. sexually arousing thoughts); they may be pleasurable, but they wont help you to fall asleep!
- Establish a pre-bedtime routine.
Whatever you like to do before getting into bed, its a good idea to have a pre-bedtime routine. For example, you may like to eat a snack, read for 20 minutes, brush your teeth, do relaxation exercise, and say your prayers. Whatever your routine, the very act of following it prepares your mind and your body for sleep.
- Clock watching.
When you cant sleep, clock watching almost always induces additional anxiety. Thus, it may be a good idea to turn your clock at an angle such that you can read it when you focus on it, but not when you just glance at it. If you get up during the night, make it a habit not to glance at the clock on your way back to bed.
- Limiting fluid intake.
If you frequently wake up during the night because you have to urinate, you may want to limit your intake of fluids during and after dinner.
- Try to maintain the same sleep schedule on the weekends as you do during the week.
If you sleep in late on Saturday or Sunday mornings, it will be more difficult for you to get back on schedule Sunday night.
General Approaches to Falling Asleep:
- The most commonly used approach to sleeping is going to bed at a certain fixed time and getting up at a fixed time. If you dont fall sleep, you rest in bed. The theory is that whether you sleep or not, at least you get some "rest". This is a good approach if you get a good nights sleep each night.
However, if you have difficulty in falling asleep as many Tinnitus sufferers do, this approach can lead to a lot of tossing and turning and an inconsistent sleep pattern. Some nights you sleep well and other nights you get little or no sleep.
You can modify this approach. If you dont fall asleep in 25-30 minutes, you can get up and read or do some other relaxing activity. You return to bed when you get sleepy. The main problem with doing this is that the time you spend out of bed takes away from your "rest" time.
- In this approach you again go to sleep at a certain fixed time and get up at a fixed time. However, you adjust your sleep schedule. For example, lets say you sleep 8 hours per night, but your sleep pattern is not very consistent. You intentionally cut your sleep time to 7 hours per night.
By doing this, you wont sleep as much each night, but, hopefully, you will eliminate the bad-sleep nights. If after a couple of weeks you still have trouble consistently falling asleep, you cut your sleep time down to 7 hours per night. You will keep cutting down your nightly sleep hours until you are able to fall asleep consistently.
Once you reach a stable sleep pattern, you will probably feel a bit tired for a couple of weeks, but eventually your body will adjust to less sleep and you will feel "normal" again.
- Another approach is to go to bed only when you are sleepy.
If you arent sleepy, read a book or do whatever relaxes you. If you get into bed and realize that you arent sleepy, get up out of bed.
If you use this approach, you will minimize the time that you "toss and turn". However, it may mean that there will be less consistency in the amount of sleep that you get.
Note: the last two approaches are NOT mutually exclusive, i.e. you can combine the two. In this case, you would cut back on your nightly sleep time AND you would go to sleep only when you are sleepy.
John Currie is a leading expert on tinnitus, hyperacusis and Menieres disease and has been running his tinnitus related website since 1999.
His advice and
tinnitus treatment plans have helped thousands of people around the world.
Click to view his
tinnitus website.