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Originally Posted by FluffyDinosaur
@ Soupe du jour: Yes, I definitely see what you mean. However, I wouldn't say I've had insomnia most of my life. I was never a great sleeper, but it used to at least be "good enough" (except for the sleep paralysis now and then) and I never considered it a major issue until the last few years. The interesting thing (to me) is that the worsening of my bipolar disorder and my inter-episode insomnia seemed to go hand in hand. So I don't know, but it still feels to me like there may be some sort of connection.
@ Gabyunbound: I'm sorry to hear about your OD experiences.  Unfortunately I had some incidents of my own during my most recent episode, when I was so far gone that it's hard to believe it when I think back about it now. In my case there was no alcohol involved, but mainly benzos. They remain tempting for sleep, but I try to minimize using them and so far I've fortunately managed to avoid addiction. But what I mean is, I think I can relate to your experiences, at least somewhat.
Lack of sleep is a major trigger for my episodes as well, which is part of why it scares me so much and why I'm so desperate to improve my sleep. I know from experience that Seroquel XR 50mg works well for me, too, in terms of sleep. I also know from experience that it has a mood-stabilizing effect for me, even at relatively low dosages (it seems like I'm very sensitive to Seroquel for some reason). If nothing else works, I guess it's good to have that as a backup option, and I hope the side effects won't be too bad at 50mg. When I was last on it, it was mainly drowsiness, but I don't know what it did to my cholesterol and so on. What are your experiences in that regard? |
It seems we have a lot in common! Though I am so happy you haven't had trouble with alcohol; it wreaked so much chaos and misery in my life...
In any case, I haven't had my cholesterol checked in a long time, so I don't know if the 50mg has affected it. For some reason I had in my head that only higher doses of it caused such problems, but now from what you said I'm not so sure. I tend to eat too much and not well, but I get addicted so easily (now to certain foods) it's hard to parse out what might be the seroquel and what might just be me. Though, now that I think of it, I'm not sure my desire to eat has changed since being put back on Seroquel (years ago, after a particularly nasty manic episode, I was put on high doses of seroquel for a while, which did affect my eating and cholesterol).
At 50 mg plus the klonopin (unfortunately, I can't tell you what it's like to take that dose without Klonopin along with it) I literally PASS OUT within the hour. I have to be very careful as to when I take them, because I know, if I were to try to stay awake I would be a dribbling fool, and in any case, it would be futile. So the combination is extremely effective (though 25mg had to be upped to 50mg several months ago due to breakthrough insomnia). But also, I HAVE to get tons of sleep on this combo if I'm going to be at least somewhat coherent the following day. I go to bed very early, get about 10 hours of sleep, and still at times have trouble getting up to my alarm.
I wish you luck with sleep! I guess, ultimately, I can recommend Seroquel for sleep. Just monitor eating and cholesterol in case these are affected, and make sure you get enough sleep/go to bed early.