Hi all, I need help fast and hope someone, somewhere has some answers. I haven’t slept in days, I do have a slight touch of mania but no matter how many sleeping tablets I take, no sleep. I am slowly going out of my mind. I know my mood is dropping, and no sleep for me is a bad sign. I have been taking 4mg Xanax, 2 x slow release stillnox and the usual lithium. Even if I up the dose of the Xanax, still no sleep. I think I am slowly driving my partner crazy, as he wants to sit and watch TV at night and I am bored with that, I need a drinkkkkkk, music, action and then maybe I might get some shut eye. Does anyone have that “special” pill that puts them to sleep, tired, Kazbar
Honey,
It sounds like your system isn’t responding to sleeping pills, and you need to go to your doc to talk about getting your meds adjusted. They do this in the emergency room, too, if you feel like you are going out of your mind. I find for me, when stuff like this happens, it’s the anti-depressants that need the tweaking. I hope that you can find help and finally get that much needed shut-eye. - ScubaGirl
Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2007 01:02:37 -0400
To: katypeterson@hotmail.com
From: bipolar-cpt5086@lists.careplace.com
Subject: [bipolar] No sleep
Thanx Scubagirl, I only take anti depressants intermittently as I keep going up or going down. So at the moment I am on none, so this is unusual for me to be being a little high without anti depressants. I know I should start and take some seroquel but I hate the stuff, it makes me eat, it makes me put on weight and generally it is a bad drug. Life is just not good at the moment, again it’;s saturday night and I find myself sitting at home drinking and my partner on water. I am bored, so bored, I feel like I amm going to loose it AGAIN… Thanx for your response, MAD
kazbar hang on and go get the meds you need, sorry if this message sounds as if iam talking out my bum, you need your sleep - appologies if i sound like a idiot -fizzy x
Hi all, thanks for your responses. I actually slept last night, first night in about 2 weeks, because I took some seroquel (which I am not meant to as it caused me a blocked bowel( but I figure a little bit won’t hurt. Didn’t get up until 10 am, oh my god. Have sat deep in thought and I don’t know whether any of you out there think like I do, but i wake up everyday and look in the mirror and wonder where I’ll be at today. I have been manic, with manic episodes when I take the anti depressants, lexapro, so I stop them and go the other way. Basicaly it’s a see saw world, Fuck Bipolar, I have had enough. Sorry for the swear word for that’s how it is. time to get a life, but still to sick enough to do so…lost
hiya kazbar glad to hear you got some sleep ! iam sure everyone on this website has the feeling first thing in the morning, its having to manage this thug of illness when it doesnt want to come home and stay in but run riot for days on end whether any one joins in or not! and go ahead swear at it better out than in - fizzy1
hey Kazabar,
Been there, done that, and not doing it again! I can’t take Seroquel for the same reason.
But you do need to stay on your meds, no matter what. If you don’t like the result of the meds, then you need to talk with your pdoc. There are so many meds out there that can make your life so much easier than what it is right now for you. We bipolars don’t have to suffer with bipolar, esp. the manics. It sounds like something in your meds isn’t working for you any longer, so maybe you need to change something, so you can get sleep. If you don’t take your antidepressant, that sets you up to go manic. That is what keeps our depression at a low keel so we can sleep. The dperssion of bipolar also will make us have insomia causing the manics. Or the manics will cause the depression to over whelm us again. If your antidepressant is causing you to go manic, then you are on the wrong antidepressant, or wrong dose. (or you may even be too sensitive to the med, or even allergic). That is why you really need to relay this info to your pdoc.
My doc put me on Trazadone, 50 mg/ and I can’t take it, it makes me sleep alright, but I can’t get my thoughts to go together; they just bounce from one subject to another! I tried doing a half dose, then a quarter dose, and none of it works well for me, so I am going to talk to my doc.
But you hang in there Kazabar, you are too good! But the drinking isn’t helping you any at all, I know I am also a recovering alcoholic of 10 yrs.
Gone fishing til September 23rd.
~Debby
Hi, Kazbar
I’ve been round and round with the insomnia thing. I’d go without sleep for a week at a time. A short nap at bedtime but then I’d be up around 1-3:00 am wide eyed and bushy tailed.
I, too, know what you mean about your partner watching TV for hours and you get bored. That may be typical with bipolar peeps (?). I know it is for me. I get bored. It seems my attention span is about a half a second. I find that playing games with peeps on www.pogo.com occupies me for hours at a time. It’s relaxing to me, and I can chat with folks in the game room in live time.
Talk to your doc!!! My doc changed my meds several times and finally got it right (for now). I’m on 300mg Lamictal, 40mg Prozac, Xanax as needed (and not so much anymore), and 200mg Trazodone. The Trazodone was prescribed to me earlier this year and has been a miracle drug for me. I sleep all night now, but occasionally I will wake in the middle of the night. Not often. Again, talk to your pdoc and don’t hold back - tell him/her what you’re going through and insist he try something else for you. Good luck.