Somebody got a clue the hard way...

[James Lehman]

I seem to recall something about Pete Townsend of The Who having really bad tinnitus. IIRC he had a big Plexiglas box on stage that he could go into to reduce his exposure to the high sound levels and I think he was taking some neuro-suppressing drugs.

If you google "Pete Townsend tinnitus" you get a lot to look at!

James.

[buffo]

I stay up till 4AM, lay in bed for a couple of hours, finally fall asleep and then I can't get up.

The solution is to not stay up 'til 4 AM!

Start going to bed 30 min earlier each night until you can crash (and actually sleep) by 11 or so. Then you shouldn't have any trouble getting up at 8 AM.

I, too, used to be a knight owl. Now I start getting ready for bed around 8, and I'm usually asleep by 9 or 9:30. I get up between 4:30 and 5 AM without an alarm clock. We're creatures of habit - you just have to stick with the program. (Of course, when I have to work a 12 hour nightshift it totally blows my schedule, but can usually recover in a day or so.)

Adam

[James Lehman]

Well. It's 3:22AM. I'm wide awake! Good Night All!

James.

[mikkojay]

I seem to recall something about Pete Townsend of The Who havening really bad tinnitus. IIRC he had a big Plexiglas box on stage that he could go into to reduce his exposure to the high sound levels and I think he was taking some neuro-suppressing drugs.

If you google "Pete Townsend tinnitus" you get a lot to look at!

James.

Check out the end of this video. Kieth Moon blowing up his drum kit a few feet away from your head wouldn't help the hearing too much either.

-Mike

[James Lehman]

This might sound all new-age and hippy like, but have you tried meditation or self-hypnosis or other types of deep relaxation techniques? I have a little bit of tinnitus, and as weird as it "sounds", sometimes if I really concentrate on the not-real sounds I hear, they become a focal point and many other troubling thoughts and tensions go away. Then I can forget about the not-real sounds as well. Concentrate on it so much that it becomes irrelevant! When it is all there is in your mind, it becomes nothing.

Please don't think I'm saying that your tinnitus is nothing or that it is just in your head. That's not what I mean at all!

First, think of it as noise. Then think that within that noise there is something. Imagine that there is music in the noise. Can you filter out the music from the noise? Listen. I bet you can. Yes. There it is. There is music in that noise! There are also faint sounds of voices of people who love you. Yeah, I know. It's all in your head. But what else do you have? Turn it into something that will comfort you. I know it sounds impossible. But try. Being irritated and angry about it will make it worse and hurt you. Turn it around.

I'm really sorry you are suffering with this. Mood is such a fragile thing. Find joy wherever you can. We love you. You made the PL! We really love you!

James.