Advice for extreme sleep problems?

hey everyone,
So I have bipolar disorder, and right now I'm in an extremely depressive phase. I think it's screwing up my sleep, because I haven't slept properly in over a month. I can't sleep through the night, I'm constantly waking up and uncomfortable, and when I do sleep I have horrible, vivid dreams. I know the things in the dreams aren't real but when I wake up I feel terrified and I stay that way. I've been feeling increasingly paranoid and extremely jittery. It's almost like manic symptoms except I feel extremely anxious and depressed all at the same time. I've had three panic attacks today alone. I start to shake and hyperventilate at random times. I'm always feeling scared and like something really bad is about to happen. I'm sure the paranoia and anxiety are a result of exhaustion. In addition, I've been sleeping more and more to supplement my loss of sleep at night. This is causing me to miss school and work, which is really bad. Then when I do haul myself to school or work I'm paranoid and jumpy, and I don't perform well. I feel like I'm in this cycle that's just getting worse and worse. This hasn't ever happened to me before. Has anyone experienced these kind of sleep/exhaustion issues? Any ideas for how to fix it? Thanks.

Another note: I've been getting extremely nervous in public places and it's causing tunnel vision. Today when I got home from Target my arms were bleeding because I was clenching my hands around my elbows so hard that my nails broke the skin. I have been known to get scared in public places, but this really isn't normal for me :/ why am I so freaked out?

I take it you don't have any medication that helps you sleep?

According to the Crazy Meds website, over the counter Benadryl has been approved off-label for use in panic disorder, basically because it will knock you out. Just one pill, 25 mg does it for me.

However, and I can't stress this enough, if you are taking other meds check to make sure it doesn't interact. Ask a pharmacist, or check on drugs.com, or maybe do both.

If you're not seeing a pdoc, you should consider it. The way you are living will wear you down quickly. It's exhausting.

Take care.

I have a pdoc but I left town for a month over the summer and haven't been able to go back since cause I haven't had time...I'm worried they won't even remember me :/ I have so much to do

I just read your second post. It really sounds like you have an anxiety disorder, too. That's very common. A high number of people who have anxiety disorders are also bipolar. But not all people who are bipolar have an anxiety disorder. Pretty weird, huh?

You really need to seek help. If you have both disorders, a doctor will have to address both of the problems.

I hadn't considered that possibility. Thank you

Well I do a number of things for sleep. Try and go to bed at the same time every night. Guided meditations, grounding skills, some essential oils and breathing exercises.

Also I'm on a couple of meds for sleep. I really struggle with it...I think u should get in to see a Dr. Good luck.

I've been having the same sleeping issues in the past couple weeks. Hard to fall asleep, nightmares then waking up at 3 AM, sweating, anxious and terrified about everything, thinking about my problems, total hopelessness and helplessness and not being able to get back to sleep. I will see a doctor next month. Tried Valerian Roots and it worked in the beginning but not anymore, so I decided to see a doctor. I have stopped all my meds this year but maybe there is something that would help.

My doctor prescribed me Seroquel for sleep. It really helps. If I take nothing, I can't sleep well at all and wake up like every 10 minutes throughout the night. I also have very vivid dreams, nightmares, hallucinations, sleep walking, sleep paralysis. When I'm more hypo, I have to take a larger dose at night to sleep. Note, this is a temporary fix until my appt with a sleep neurologist/sleep study. You can also try Ambien if all the other over the counter solutions do not work (as well as no tv/ipad/laptop in your room at bedtime, meditation, trying to read before bed, no alcohol, no caffeine, sleeptime tea, etc.) Hope this helps.

I've tried Seroquel but I felt like a zombie and couldn't function at all, even with a very small dose. So I need something else.

The right dose Seroquel and Xanax.

Ive been having the same type of problem since April this year...it has progressively gotten alot worse over the months... But was diagnosed with insomnia at 15, i was able to live & manage with it most of the time but this year has been horrible with it!!! I find it very hard to get to sleep up until between 5-7 am, ive tried going to sleep earlier when im tired but i was an hour & a half later & it drives me crazy! Ive been put on stillnox which worked amazingly a couple of years ago after i got discharged from the psych ward but when prescribed this year they havent worked, im not sure if its the dosage or what! My psych gave me another sleeping tablet to take with Lamotrigine but that hasnt worked either, the only time i got a little relief was from taking a prescribed oxynorm one night & it knocked me right out! Other than that im still having alot of trouble, alot of what you have said about your troubles i can definitely feel that!! I hallucinate, i go into a rage because of exhaustion, ive had a few panic attacks just out of nowhere during the day, sometimes i go hypomanic out of nowhere after hardly any sleep & feel like i could run a marathon even though im that stuffed from lack of sleep! Ive been getting the strange vivid dreams too about death & grieving at the moment for some strange reason, i even thought my mother was talking to me from up above a few days ago & trying to tell me certain things, ive felt the paranoia mostly at work, like everyones watching me & thinking very bad things when its really busy & i dont know whether to run or not, i feel like i cant keep still at the moment because of this! I really do feel where your at! It can be so frustrating to deal with & sometimes the lack of sleep just gets too much for the mind & the body & it feels like your stuck & dont know where to turn! I would go talk to your doc & see what things can be done to help get some relief of lack of sleep & to take the edge of things, its a very hard time on the mind & body but hopefully you will find some sort of relief soon just like im hoping i will! Try & take it easy, i know thats easier said than done but just try to move through things as best you can while trying to get the relief you need, we're all in this together & to try & help one another in these hard times, i just hope this stops for you soon & you start feeling a little more balanced out soon!! Its such a horrible thing!!

Just to throw my two cents in......I was having trouble with sleeplessness, experiencing paranoia, a sense of unending dread, terrifying vivid nightmares and ended up being hospitalized earlier this year. It turned out to be a horrible reaction to my meds, and it took a change in psychs to work it out.
Might be worth looking at your meds, have they recently changed? Has anything else happened that could have triggered this?

Make sure you stay in touch with your support team and don't leave it too late to get help! Hang in there, keep talking here on PC, and our thoughts are with you. Hugs

I'm not on any meds at all! The only thing that's different is the dose of my birth control pills, and I don't see how that would have an effect. I tried taking Benadryl before bed like someone else suggested, but it didn't help. I just ended up oversleeping and woke up with a splitting headache. My heart has been pounding all day, I'm really agitated. I've made an appointment with my pdoc for Monday. I hope he remembers who I am...I only went to him a couple of times and I haven't been in a couple months.