Sleep but no rest

Hello,

I have heard before that people with bipolar do not get any rest even when they sleep. I seem to experience this.

I can sleep solid for a full 12 hours and wake up feeling like I didn't even sleep for five minutes. I mean, I'm sleepy and falling asleep as if I didn't sleep at all. Does anyone else experience this?

Yes.

My sleeping habits are all screwed up, when I do finally get to sleep I wake up and find the blankets and sheets thrown around and at times my feet hurt. I've even been told that I talk in my sleep or more like I fight in my sleep.

I am however, not convinced that this is entirely the byproduct of the bipolar. Many of other things causes sleep issues.

Yes. When depressed, I don't remember my dreams much, but wake up feeling tired, and wanting to keep sleeping. But during phases of energy (hypomania, or worse, if you will), I am very aware of my working through the night, even if I have a pillow over my head. Often, though, I am tired by morning, and the night's frantic designing becomes a foggy memory while the details of the tunes and colours becoming somewhat muddy.

Sleep issues seem to be circular in bipolar. If you are in an episode, you can sleep badly, which exacerbates the episode. Poor sleep can also put you at risk for an episode, particularly mania.

As for sleep walking... there is a light in the refrigerator for a reason. Surely no-one expects me not to use it when its dark?

Sleeping 12 hours is oversleeping. When I oversleep I have a headache for the first half of the day and feel groggy. It's not good sleep. Oversleeping or undersleeping will cause you to feel tired. Some people are able to function on lower amounts of sleep and they typically have the oversleep "issues" if they sleep the average 8. It depends on the person.

My pdoctor recommends sleeping between 7-9 hours a night. Usually if I'm able to get my sleep on track I usually feel better with that much sleep averaged a night. It helps the mood out a lot, too.

What you're feeling is normal though. I have that problem.

Disrupted sleep does the same thing.

I slept a lot and didn't feel rested until I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and started using a CPAP. Much better now that I use it.

I agree with Confused, it does sound like you could be getting too much sleep with 12 hours. Too much sleep can also make you tired.

For me it's the Seroquel. It knocks me out and makes me sleep but the next day I'm very groggy.

I consider both tossing & turning and the feeling of unrest you described to be indicators of a bad night's sleep. But I do track them differently in my sleep journal.

Well, i don't sleep the entire 12 hours. The baby gets up about 3 times in that time to eat. He sleeps with me most nights. When I get 6-8 hours sleep I feel the same. I just never feel like I've slept.