This is a journal to help you monitor your sleep hygiene. Many of us get into bad habits when it comes to our sleep. This in turn can have an effect on our tinnitus.
Some people with tinnitus may find they have greater difficulty getting off to sleep. It may be that the shift from a relatively noisy daytime environment to the quietness of the bedroom makes the tinnitus noises more noticeable.
Everybody have natural awakening during the night, which are usually forgotten by the morning. If you are worrying about your tinnitus during them, they will last much longer and will be remembered. It seems most likely that tinnitus does not actually wake people, but of course, it can be the first thing you notice when a natural awakening occurs.
Other people with tinnitus may reported their tinnitus is worse upon waking in the morning. This may be impacted by when they wake up related to when they get up. Knowing what your morning routine is, is the first step to understanding why your tinnitus is worse when you wake up.
In each case the quiet environment that usually accompanies bedtime, may make you become more aware of your tinnitus and this can lead to unhelpful worrying thoughts such as, “I’ll never be able to sleep!” This creates a level of stress arousal (anxiety) and this stress arousal leads to the insomnia. In turn, poor sleep can increase your anxiety which keeps you trapped in the vicious cycle of sleeplessness, worry and awareness of tinnitus.
Below are a list of questions to help you monitor your sleep hygiene in the three areas where you may hear your tinnitus more.
Going to sleep
- Did you nap before going to bed? Where was it and for how long? E.g. on the couch, in front of the TV.
- What time did you go to bed?
- What time did you turn the light off?
- If you didn’t turn the light off straight away, what did you do? E.g. watched TV, read a book, checked social media
- What time did you fall asleep?
- If you didn’t fall asleep straight way, what did you do?
Natural Awakenings
- Did you wake up during the night?
- If you did wake up, how many times did you wake up?
- What times did you wake up?
- What times did you fall back to sleep?
- What did you do during the times you were awake? E.g. read a book, negative thoughts, got out of bed.
Waking up
- What time did you wake up in the morning?
- What time did your alarm clock go off?
- What time did you get out of bed?