I have major problems w/insomnia & hypo mania (which would be great if it would just stay that way as I feel great during hypo mania, but after mos. of hypo mania I then crash into awful depressions that make me do rash, destructive behaviors). My provider has said if I go 3 nights without sleeping 6 hrs. I need to call her & get back on sedating meds.

I was on Trazodone & Klonopin (as well as other bp meds; also increasing my Abilify from 20 to 25 mg for a week would usually knock out the beginning of a hypo manic episode).

However, the sedating meds would put me to sleep, but not necessarily make me stay asleep. I had EMDR therapy treatment for PTSD & that actually helped immensely w/the insomnia. I ended up being really tired & catching up on my sleep after the EMDR (3 treatments--1 1/2 hr. each). I actually got scared of being so tired & sleeping so much! I wondered if I would ever wake up. I did get into a normal sleeping time schedule & no longer take Trazodone; Klonopin maybe a couple nights a week if I need it.

But it was scary in that when I was taking the Trazodone & Klonopin & other bp meds I would maybe answer the phone & talk to my grown kids & HAVE NO MEMORY OF IT THE NEXT DAY. It scared them to death so I just didn't answer the phone after taking my night-time meds & made sure I was just going straight to bed. Couldn't read.

I also had that night-time binge eating that some people have on Ambien. Where I would wake up in the morning & find "evidence" that I had eaten (a lot--& already have gained weight on bp meds so don't need this) during the night, but not recollection of it.

It is just plain scary what an individual can experience on different meds, but I do firmly believe they were necessary for me when I got in a bad state--paranoid, very depressed & non-functioning. I am still endeavoring to getting off some & decreasing dosages of others w/my meds provider's cooperation as they haven't been tested in the elderly & I'm getting there age-wise, unfortunately, or maybe fortunately! My mother died at 45 as a result of not being able to be successfully treated for bp. Did herself in. So we have so much better options available today.