[BurgundyBlack]

This is not a twilight fan fic lol.

So, I have a question for ... well anyone who wants to answer it : Does anyone else find themselves kind of just doing what they need to during the day... but then kind of [BANG!] Come to life at night? By this I mean have your thoughts and curiosities grow and your inspiration burst?

That's the story of life right conflicts of interest ;p. But really though, I'm not quite sure whether to follow the feelings and stay up late and create... throwing off my cycle...

Idk, all I know is I keep trying to think about what it is exactly that I am doing different at night that does this to me. Maybe I'll find answers..

Do you have this issue too? How do you manage it?

[jacky8807]

Absolutely! ! But i take meds at night to sleep because if i dont....trouble comes knocking

[BeyondtheRainbow]

Yes. I have had to learn that I just cannot start anything new after 10 pm or it becomes an all night project. I can't even think about new ideas for things after that time.

For a long time when meds made me a lot more sleepy than they did now all of that hinged on taking my meds, getting ready for bed and going to sleep because if I missed my window I was in trouble for that night. Once when I was in the hospital this nurse gave me my Seroquel at 7 pm when I wanted ativan but couldn't have it yet. I said something about that would at least make me sleep and got ready for bed and when it started working went to sleep. I slept through them announcing 8 pm group until she came and forced me to wake up and go to group. I cried and cried and she kept trying to force me to say why. It was horrible. I complained to the psychiatrist the next day and at first he said that I shouldn't have taken it if I was going to miss group but when I pointed out that nobody said I was required to attend group if I was given a sedating medication 2 hours ahead of schedule and that I had been taught to never not go to sleep as soon as it kicked in he suddenly understood my point and said something to her. So she hates me. But it was so important and she made me miss my window and so I was up half the night. Now I don't get that effect so I have to be really careful that I just avoid anything creative or goal-oriented after 10 so I can sleep by 3. (or right now at all).

[Crazy Hitch]

Yes.

Absolutely I can relate to what you may be asking.

When I'm depressed / mixed - really.

I just can't work at night.

[Currently I'm a little on the elevated mood side so I'm able to still be productive in the evening]

[BurgundyBlack]

Oh, Not depressed currently I'm saying I get the opposite... like I'm kind of all sleepy and stuff when the sun is up ... but come sun down (I'm kind of artsy)... I get all of my inspiration, and motivation ... the only real time I get a little sad is during the day: because can't seems like the inspiration/ motivation is dry.. I hope I made that a little clearer. I have a tendency to not explain the best sometimes. ttys.

Originally Posted by BurgundyBlack

Does anyone else find themselves kind of just doing what they need to during the day... but then kind of [BANG!] Come to life at night? By this I mean have your thoughts and curiosities grow and your inspiration burst?
Do you have this issue too? How do you manage it?

Yes. Definitely. In fact, I'd say it's my biggest conflict/challenge.

Have you ever kept a mood chart/ journal to see what effects this has on you? (My psych wants me to do this, but I haven't.) Maybe it turns out that you get more irritability following keeping a late night schedule. Knowing an effect you DON'T want to have could be helpful.

Since lack of sleep has a high correlation with upswings (toward mania) in bipolar, it tends to be a big motivator on the sleep front. After all, upswings, even at lower levels are not necessarily positive in nature-- such as manifesting in high levels of irritability (and/or other negatives). No fun!

Hope this makes some kind of sense-- It's not very coherent. There may be a point buried somewhere in there. My head's half-asleep mush. It's mid-afternoon after all.

[Capriciousness]

Yep me too. i have always been like that. I remember as a child I would lie awake forever making up stories and feeling so free and unencumbered with no one around and nothing I had to do. Maybe that is how I still feel. There is something other and peaceful but full about the night especially when the house is quiet. Ideas pour out. I feel inspired. I get creative.

If I didn't have to wake up early with kids I would probably have be up till one doing my thang but I can't.

So I make sure I don't check my email or start googling anything after 7. I take melatonin and try to be asleep by 11.

Maybe some day....

[UCMATH]

My mom says I've never been able to sleep through the night. As a toddler, I would wake her up 'cause I didn't understand how she could possibly be tired. Now that I'm medicated, I'm more likely to actually feel tired by nightfall. But, yes, I used to feel way better at night.

[JaiHanaLakshmi]

Wait, my psych told me I should take meds before bed too but I forgot why.

Any particular reason? My life is falling apart so ill take anything. :}

[BeyondtheRainbow]

Hana-It's probably to make sure you sleep, to help keep the worst side effects during the night when you aren't aware of dealing with them, to prevent a lot of drowsiness in the daytime from taking them, and maybe to help control some pattern in your symptoms (I'm always more down in the day, manic at night so need sedation at night), for example.

[cashart10]

I've been this way for as long as I can remember. When I was a child, I used to sneak the light on to write stories and poetry. They were always so much more creative if written throughout the night than they were if written throughout the day. I also remember, in times of teenage gloom, the night would turn despair into deadly desperation.

Possible trigger:

I can remember staying up late at night writing things in my own blood and harming myself. I only did these things in the middle of the night and usually under a black light or psyadelic lights that my uncle made for me.

I love the night because it fills me with so much passion no matter the circumstance.

[BurgundyBlack]

Originally Posted by cashart10

I've been this way for as long as I can remember. When I was a child, I used to sneak the light on to write stories and poetry. They were always so much more creative if written throughout the night than they were if written throughout the day. I also remember, in times of teenage gloom, the night would turn despair into deadly desperation.

Possible trigger:

I can remember staying up late at night writing things in my own blood and harming myself. I only did these things in the middle of the night and usually under a black light or psyadelic lights that my uncle made for me.

I love the night because it fills me with so much passion no matter the circumstance.

Well, thank you for that . I like that someone could identify. Is it still the same for you now? or? The path I want to take is in the artistic realm , which makes sense a lot of artists have something going on up in their domes lol. I'm just wondering, personally if I should go with it? and concoct a new schedule, or... stick to the old one... My theory on life is that if we constantly stay with what we know... so I guess I'm answering my own question a little. I have to try before I can know for sure. <B

[cashart10]

Originally Posted by BurgundyBlack

Well, thank you for that . I like that someone could identify. Is it still the same for you now? or? The path I want to take is in the artistic realm , which makes sense a lot of artists have something going on up in their domes lol. I'm just wondering, personally if I should go with it? and concoct a new schedule, or... stick to the old one... My theory on life is that if we constantly stay with what we know... so I guess I'm answering my own question a little. I have to try before I can know for sure. <B

Yes; it's still the same and I still appreciate it as much. I can't say if you should stick with it or not. Personally, I am heavily medicated to sleep at night because I become horribly manic and then psychotic without sleep. However, I, when becoming badly manic, still manage to stay awake all night despite all of the medication. Maybe you should discuss it with your pdoc (although it's pretty much a given what he/she will say).

[Nammu]

I've always been a night person, the most productive parts of my life were when I worked the graveyard shift. This gave me the ideal excuse to sleep in the am for a few hours and do art in the evening. I'm now on meds and sleep around midnight, even though I'm up by 7-8 am I don't wake up till late afternoon.