First sign of hypomania: To exercise or not to exercise?

For me, any little blip in my ability to fall asleep and sleep soundly through the night is my first sign that I may be entering what I deem "hypomania".

Last night I found myself awake two hours after going to bed. (Normally I take my Seroquel right before bed and it kicks in right away and I fall asleep quickly and soundly until the moment my alarm rings.) I need sleep in order to function in school so I took an Ativan to get me to sleep, which helped.

Anyways, I am going to try and avoid this from happening again. Normally I exercise in the evenings, but for me the goal of exercise seems to be avoidance of depression. I started exercising more frequently the last couple of weeks after a mild depressive episode and maybe I overdid it (5 days a week of fairly intense exercise). I like to spin which gets me sweating pretty good. Maybe exercise wakes something up in my brain and gets me back into the up mode.

Ugh. I just want to stay at an even keel. Does anyone out there have any advice?

my diagnosis for more than 35 yrs. bp2; i have hypomania only…no depression. i'm female, 68 yrs. old and retired but i have been exercising daily for about 30 yrs.; since i no longer have a job i can choose the time to exercise but over the years i found exercising in the morning works best for me; i do a lot of cardio on the machines or take a spin class; use high energy music which to me burns off some of the mania i have yet never listen to those songs for the rest of the day; i work out hard but still need 1/2 seroquel nightly to sleep; otherwise i have racing thoughts and cannot sleep w/o a med.

Thanks TRNRMOM. I am glad for you that you do not experience depression. That is always nice to hear. I tend to exercise in the evening because that is when I have time away from school, but maybe like you say morning exercise is better.

Unfortunately, depression is a part of my bipolar 1 life. Exercise is one of weapons against depression. But I'm wondering if it may also work to speed up my brain a little too much. I have had 1 manic episode 2 years ago but have never come close to another manic episode. I do however experience patches of sleep disturbance which are generally coupled to decreased hunger, a feeling of being warmer than usual, and sometimes a "wired" feeling.

I am afraid because I have been told depressive episodes can follow such "hypomanic" periods.

not ever having depression other than from a situation, i understand that wired feeling and i describe it in my own twisted thinking as having a circus and carnival going on in my head all the time; used to be able to concentrate and focus but can't do that and do have anxiety and take 1/2 klonopin daily for it. i think exercise for anyone whether they have bipolar or not is so very necessary and it's a lifestyle for me. i've lived with this illness for about 1/2 my life so i know what my triggers are and what's needed for my own stability…and i got off lithium, a mood stabilizer, after 36 yrs. and due to damage to thyroid, parathyroid removal and recent kidney issues…so maybe cause i'm only hypomanic i don't need a mood stabilizer and maybe the klonopin and seroquel keep me stable 98% of the time. going to vegas this week so the noises and lights will destabilize me and the less stress i have, the better off i am. good luck with your journey with this.

Ugh. another night of trouble sleeping. I normally wake up really early in the morning and now it is hard to due to the hours wasted of non-sleeping. I wish I had a better way to fall asleep at my normal time so my schedule doesn't go haywire. :-(