[Amandas256]

Hi everyone. I ran out of my Ambien yesterday and I called to get my prescription filled this evening and my pharmacy had already closed! So, needless to say, I'm gonna be up all night! Grr. Does anyone else have trouble sleeping? Is this due to being Bipolar?

[WendyAussie]

Oh My Lord Yes!! LOL

Yes, it is a common part of life for Beepers. I am on such huge night meds that they'd knock out a small horse - but not me!! 800mg Seroquel, 75mg Imovane (a sleeper) and PRn Valiuam. I also take the bulk of my Lithium at night. But I can still have trouble getting asleep and stayinf asleep, even though I have very good sleep hygiene. Sleep Hygiene is something to consider though if you haven't practiced it before. That means not drinking too much caffeine, and not too late into the afternoon. It means taking your meds at the same time each night at a time which is optimal for you to get to sleep at a certain time. It's turning the telly off at a decent time (I always turn it off at 10.30pm). It not doing anything too stimulating (I dont; mean to be rude!! lol) too late at night like scraey movies, loud music, even excercise (I'm in no danger of that!! lol). Not even reading fast paced or scarey books late at night. You may want to have abth some nights, or have a sleep routine where you have a shower at night - only if that relaxes you - not if it makes you more awake. You can burn aromatherapy oil (I'd get an electrical burner rather than using the candle type). And I listen to the radio until I go to sleep on a quiet channel that has low-key talk and quizzes - or, I put on a CD which is just quite music and that help me - even if I can;t get to sleep until much later, it helps me to not go so crazy laying there obsessive about sleep. And of course there are meditation tapes.

[maryjain lockhart]

Ive been havin probs sleepin&they gave me resteril but I wake up everyday at 730and cant go back to sleep cuz I feel kinda manic but at the same time im fallin asleep standing up but I cant go back to sleep for a few hrs. Mybe iIneed ambien

[sanityseeker]

Yup... sleep is not easy for me at all. I slept well last night and tonight there is no hope. I might get a couple of hours on my next attempt but it won't likely be very restful. Especially since I broke the sleep hygiene rule by coming online instead of focusing on relaxing.

In addition to the great times Wendy shared I have one that I try to follow. Its the 10-10-10 rule. Ten minutes doing last minute preparations for the next day. Final tiding up, decided what to wear for work, making lunch for my son. Ten minutes having a hot shower or something similar to relax. Then the final ten minutes in quiet meditation and then immediately to bed. Sometimes it works really well and sometimes I have to lengthen the time for each segment depending on how I feel.

good luck coping and finding the right mix of tricks and helpers to get into lala land.

[thinker22]

I have trouble sleeping too even though I take Geodon and diazepam at night lately. I was up until 2am this morning. I think it's because I worry too much. I tell myself, there's nothing you can do about that until (whatever day), but no matter how much I shelf it, it keeps coming down and harassing me with new angles about what needs to be said and done when I make a future phone call or whatever. What's worse is when the anxiety and depression becomes ideation and I can't stop seeing something bad happen to myself. That makes sleep really hard. Ever since I was a teenager I have had trouble with insomnia. I've been exhibiting bipolar at least as long, so I think the two are correlated, even though I was just diagnosed finally last year at age 29.

Good luck on getting to sleep. The other people's tips about good sleep hygiene are very important. I need to get into a better routine myself.

[sanityseeker]

Hi Amanda.... did you get any sleep last night? I got a couple of hours and then woke so suddenly I popped right up into a sitting position. I felt wide awake so didn't bother to try to get any more sleep. I am in a mild manic state these days so I am not surprised by my sleepless energy but I do take it as a point of concern. If I don't stabilize my sleep a little better then it could trigger more cycling. As nice as mania is it can come crashing down pretty fast and sleep deprevation is a huge trigger. While I struggle to sleep when I am depressed I do clock in more sleep hours in a week then I do when I am manic. Either way it is problematic and symptomatic of the condition.

Wishing you and our other sleep deprived friends well. I think managing sleep and maintaining good sleep hygiene is one of the hardest things there is to do. I am so jealous of the people I know who go to bed every night, put their head to the pillow and fall asleep within minutes. My son and his father are gifted that way. Soooo jealous!!

[allme]

Hiya! Yes most definately a symptom of bipolar! I have taken zopiclone to help me sleep for the past 2 yrs, which isnt ideal at all but hey if the doc wants to keep giving them to me I will continue to take em. Even taking zopiclone I still sometimes struggle to sleep... I guess the zopiclone are less affective on me as I have taken them for so long. I usually cant sleep when on an up... but also if I get down and stressed... the same things happens. Man, how blissful must it be to just beable to sleep, unaided and within minutes of going to bed. Oooooh I could handle that!

Hope you managed to get some sleep!

[Amazonmom]

I didn't have trouble sleeping until I started rotating shifts as a nurse. I had been bipolar for 7 years and previously was a champion sleeper. Now I work permanent days but still sleep like crap.

Less than 4 hours a night for over a month...hope lunesta helps me out. For me lack of sleep triggers a long slow decline into depression that springs into hypomania after several months.

[Amandas256]

Hey everyone! It's nice to know that I'm not the onlyone who has trouble sleeping (though I wish nobody else had to go through it!) I took some Tylenol PM last night to see if that would help me relax at least, but it didn't. I am most definately getting my Ambien filled today!

[sanityseeker]

Hope you have better luck with sleep tonight Amanda. It is always nice to start a new week with some sleep behind you. Take care.

[greylove]

I've been taking Ambien for several months and the thought of running out panics me. So far so good. My pdoc started me on Seraquil (sp?) a few days ago (for mood stabilizing) and told me to take it at night because it can cause drowziness. And also said that I may not have a need for Ambien. Has this been anyone's experience? I can't imagine a night without Ambien.......

[Amandas256]

I took seroqil at night with my Ambien until about a month ago. I slept great with it but I gained a LOT of weight. I came off of it because of that. I have been on Lunista for a while but, that did not help me sleep at all and the taste that was in my mouth when I woke up the next morning would make me sick. Ambien is an answered prayer for me.
Greylove, maybe the Seroquil will work or you. It was great for me except the weight gain.

[WendyAussie]

thinker, you mentioned"...there's nothing you can do about that until (whatever day)". I use that thought process myself and sometimes it help, sometimes not, but I do think it is a useful strategy to think that way.

[maryjain lockhart]

I've noticed I can't stay asleep well. I wake up everyday at730 and even though I'm exhausted and want to sleep. I take 30mg of temazepam before bed but still not sleeping through. I take a lot of naps lately

[WLFTW]

I might get off of seroquel (1200mg) because of the weight gain. I have never weighed more in my life than I do now. It is highly effective in controlling my insomnia. Without sleep aids I can literally stay up for three days easy and sometimes as much as 7 days.

What else would compare to a large dose of seroquel: ambien, lunesta, etc.?

Neither allergy meds, trazedone, nor otc sleep aids put me to sleep. They just relax me.

[Skully]

Yes I have a lot of trouble sleeping without my Ambien. I take both Ambien and Melatonin and that knocks me out for the night. If I didn't take either, I would never sleep!

[owllover99]

I take Melatonin I think for my IBS and my PDoc has me on a low dose 7.5 mg Restoril (because I take 2.5 mg Klonipin during the day). I still have my good nights and my bad nights. Ambien I sleepwalk and eat. Trazadone I have to take 300 mg and then I can't get up at 5 am to go to work. So I do my best I guess.

[Trippin2.0]

Not sure if this is the what you guys are talking about, but here's my sleep story...

Since about the age of 14, (I'm 25 now and only recently dxd) I haven't been able to sleep before the early hours of the morning... I find it easier to sleep in the morning, and the quality of sleep I get is great.

I usually fall asleep between 1 & 3 am, and have the nicest uninterrupted sleep, albeit only 3 hours long... I'm usually grumpy if I sleep longer than 6 hours at a time.

When I'm finally exhausted and fall asleep before midnight, I wake up at least 3 times before it's actually time to wake up!

Although this is the norm for me, it's sometimes very frustrating being wide awake when everyone's fast asleep. Especially when my body is exhausted, but sleep just won't come.

Sometimes I think I've forgotten how to fall asleep

I've only been on my meds (Tegretol and Lorien) for a week, but have been getting more sleep (minus the irritability that usually follows) Although I still don't manage to drift off before midnight...

Please know that you are not alone in your battle with sleep...

[greylove]

The last thing I want on top of everything else is weight gain. (With Seroquel) I guess that was what my pdoc was trying delicately to tell me when he said 'this may make you hungrier." But I seem to have no choice right now. We really need to hit on a med that will help with my mood (and psychosis), and we need to do it fast. My depression has taken over. I know Ambien gives me a good chunk of solid sleep......at least, good enough to get me by.

[WLFTW]

To add insult to injury, on top of weight gain, there is a risk to develop diabetes on lots of antipsychotics like Seroquel.

My glucose is being checked twice a year now for signs of diabetes. If I start to develop diabetes I will have to choose between diabetes and the primary medication that works well for me. *crosses fingers*

I hope you and your doctor can find a solution and soon...and you're not alone.

Perhaps an option is a low dose cocktail on a couple or three meds that should help you sleep but since the doses would be so low on each one, there would be minimal side effects.

[greylove]

Oh, no WLFTW.......say it isn't so......I am not having fun. I guess this is something I'll have to explore with my doctor. And, just so you know, I have my fingers crossed for you, too. back at you.....greylove