[Angry1541]

So I have a question -- the last week or so, since I have been feeling kinda hypomanic/manic -- I have noticed that will wake up after only a couple few hours of sleep and feel like I am totally rested and ready to go.

I can normally fall back to sleep right away, but I will often wake up a couple more times and eventually wake up sleeping face down in my pillow.

So, I guess, my question is being able to survive on little sleep common only BP1 or is it also common to BP2?

[Nightside of Eden]

Reduced need for sleep can be part of hypomania, so it can occur during the course of BP 2 as well as BP 1. The change isn't usually as pronounced in BP 2, though. Like we might sleep 5 or 6 hours a night instead of 8, rather than going days without sleep or only sleeping an hour or two like people often do in full-blown mania.

[Trippin2.0]

I have a BP2 dx and go with little to no sleep when hypo. That is between 0 and 2hrs... and yes I wake up completely well rested. Sometimes I plug in my headphones and dance while I clean my room or do a load of washing while I wait for sunrise.

That being said, I naturally get by on little sleep (average on 4hrs) unless I'm depressed.
It varies from person to person, but sleep disturbance is common across the bipolar spectrum.

[Angry1541]

hmmm...Think I might straddle a line between 1 and 2 then....

[Mrs. Mania]

A few years back I was working 17 hours a day, sleeping only 2-3 hours and doing it again. I did it for almost 3 months straight with only 2 days off a month! During this time I performed better than my coworkers? It is just been recently that I have learned more about my bipolar disorder and realized that I was suffering from a manic episode likely brought on by ssri's! I have never been told which bipolar I am, I or II but was told by my last pdoc that I am rapid cycling. I can't believe how I survived on that little sleep for so long, especially working so hard! I also can't believe how little I knew about my disorder before psych central! Especially considering the amount of meds I have taken over the last 30 years.

[Angry1541]

Yeah, I agree with how little I know about BP before being diagnosed, and how everything sorta fell into place (i.e. my history made much more sense).

[pawn78]

mania is always associated with extra energy and less sleep. If someone was not experiencing a decreased need to sleep, I would question if they were really manic or not. I know this opinion seems extreme, but I believe it is true. I never heard of a person in mania who needed to sleep a lot!!

[Angry1541]

Originally Posted by pawn78

mania is always associated with extra energy and less sleep. If someone was not experiencing a decreased need to sleep, I would question if they were really manic or not. I know this opinion seems extreme, but I believe it is true. I never heard of a person in mania who needed to sleep a lot!!

Right?! I was really wondering about severity, like do people with BP2 sleep more than 1 or 2 hours and feel rested, like people with BP1?

[Nightside of Eden]

Originally Posted by pawn78

mania is always associated with extra energy and less sleep. If someone was not experiencing a decreased need to sleep, I would question if they were really manic or not. I know this opinion seems extreme, but I believe it is true. I never heard of a person in mania who needed to sleep a lot!!

I fully agree that I would doubt a manic diagnosis if the person still needed a normal amount of sleep.

ETA: Hypomania can go either way, I think. You can still need normal sleep or be feeling a reduced need.

Originally Posted by Angry1541

...So, I guess, my question is being able to survive on little sleep common only BP1 or is it also common to BP2?

Originally Posted by Angry1541

hmmm...Think I might straddle a line between 1 and 2 then....

Originally Posted by Angry1541

Right?! I was really wondering about severity, like do people with BP2 sleep more than 1 or 2 hours and feel rested, like people with BP1?

Being BP I or BP II isn't determined by how much sleep or lack thereof one gets. So it's not something any accurate conclusions about that can be based upon. Just to clarify.

But as for wondering what peoples' individual experiences are...I'm BP II and only get a lot of sleep when depressed. Most of the time it's about 4, maybe 5 hours. Just the other day, I realized I'd been up for 23 hours. And though I "had to" go to bed because of having to be up for work in 2 1/2 hours, I wasn't really tired. Now…. when we get talking less than 4 hours, I hit a quandary. Generally, I need something to knock me out. But if I take something in the shorter timeframe, it's be hell trying to get me up. (Just ask BF, lol.) I'm not a morning person regardless, so if I find myself bouncing out of bed at o'dark thirty…. something's up.

If I do get no sleep, I will go hypo. A single night, no problem (for me). But if it's no sleep followed by next night 2 hours….there will be a problem. I tend to have sleep issues in spells. Sometimes it is waking in the middle of sleep, sometimes it is waking numerous times (SO annoying!). Sometimes (a LOT of times) it's trouble falling asleep.

There's a lot of variation out there.

Originally Posted by Angry1541

Yeah, I agree with how little I know about BP before being diagnosed, and how everything sorta fell into place (i.e. my history made much more sense).

Haha, yes! Me too. MUCH more sense!

[Curiosity77]

I'm BP 2, but when i'm hypomanic i need about 2 hours sleep to feel rested. I slept last night, after 4 days previous of almost no sleep at all. My mind was buzzing, but after sleeping last night i feel more mellow. I think my hypomanias can be quite severe though, so border on manic. I'm not sure if my diagnosis should actually be BP 1. There are no clear lines between these things.

[Angry1541]

Originally Posted by Innerzone

Being BP I or BP II isn't determined by how much sleep or lack thereof one gets. So it's not something any accurate conclusions about that can be based upon. Just to clarify.

Right understood -- was really:

Originally Posted by Innerzone

But as for wondering what peoples' individual experiences are...

Originally Posted by Innerzone

...I find myself bouncing out of bed at o'dark thirty…. something's up.

Originally Posted by Innerzone

If I do get no sleep, I will go hypo. A single night, no problem (for me). But if it's no sleep followed by next night 2 hours….there will be a problem. I tend to have sleep issues in spells. Sometimes it is waking in the middle of sleep, sometimes it is waking numerous times (SO annoying!). Sometimes (a LOT of times) it's trouble falling asleep.

There's a lot of variation out there.

Yeah, that's kinda what I looking see what others thought...personally, I can stay up really late and only force myself to sleep most nights (don't need drugs to sleep -- I will eventually fall asleep, though some nights it takes a lot lot longer than other). The only way I CAN fall asleep is to lay in bed with the light off and read, which makes my eyes tired forces me to close them more and more and eventually I will nod off...however I know if I stay up until 4 am and have to work the next day, I can -- and have, but I never really thought about being able to do that as a symptom of my BP -- it was always just the way I was....

I also find that when I am swing from up to down -- I will feel the need to nap...which is TOTALLY unlike me....but then I will get up, shake of the groggy and be complete off the wall hyper...and I will do this for a few days until I completely switched.

Originally Posted by Innerzone

Haha, yes! Me too. MUCH more sense!

Yeah, I go through bouts of researching about BP and using this forum, then I slowly fade off to other things and then something happens with my BP and I am right back to researching BP and hanging out on here....

I wonder how many of us can use their time on here and time away as indicators of swings?

[Angry1541]

Originally Posted by Curiosity77

There are no clear lines between these things.

you can say that again!

Originally Posted by Angry1541

...however I know if I stay up until 4 am and have to work the next day, I can -- and have, but I never really thought about being able to do that as a symptom of my BP -- it was always just the way I was....

I do this. A lot. And no one would know. And function totally fine. Heh. I don't say anything though, because it would probably lead to the suspicion that I was "on" something. But no. I've had that thrown at me out loud simply over my night owl ways(!) Argh! No. It's just how I am!

Originally Posted by Angry1541

I also find that when I am swing from up to down -- I will feel the need to nap...which is TOTALLY unlike me....but then I will get up, shake of the groggy and be complete off the wall hyper...and I will do this for a few days until I completely switched.

I normally can't nap either. Can only do it if sick or depressed. Napping disorients me and doesn't refresh at all, so there's little point to it.

Originally Posted by Angry1541

...I wonder how many of us can use their time on here and time away as indicators of swings?

Ummmm…. lots! Things noticed over the years….A lot of people, when they're doing well, to not be on much, then come by when it's not so much so. (Though for some people, they find themselves triggered, and it works the opposite way for them.) There's also the antsy all-over-the-forums zip -- of answering everything in sight or starting a lot of threads in rapid succession (personally, I can't sit at one thing like that unless just mildly up.) But regarding the time we spend on the forums, I'd say the biggest indicators are in the writing style. Wall of words... No paragraph breaks…Disorganized. Sometimes it is so obvious. You can feel it in reading. I've definitely seen a lot of times when others will pick up on a shift before the poster recognizes it themselves. Especially when we get to know people over time. But yeah, if we get to know our "forum ways", it could be used to good advantage right alongside other indicators we watch for (see also: "one in every color?! Sold!" ).