[wiretwister]

it does not matter what label you have, it does not matter if you are rich/poor male/female depressed/manic, ... imo after reading these posts for some time there is something we all have in common, ... very few of us sleep worth a s**t, ... they have a multitude of meds for everything from heartburn to sui,

... but big pharm has never really addressed our sucky sleep, ... oh if you want to be a zombie maybe, ... but to get 8 hours of good sleep and wake refreshed in the morning, ... well I have yet to see it, ... I know in my case if I slept better I would no doubt do and feel better, ...

If you have found such an elixir of sleep please list it and tell me how your doing ... I hope many will be getting good sleep and will share that ... don't want to start a pity party but if your sleep sucks like mine feel free to share that also ...

whatever this is we have it is no doubt a " sleeping sickness "

I have Fibromyalgia along with Bipolar. Both disorders revolve heavily around quality sleep. Any meds I've taken to help with sleep, have caused me a "drug Hangover" the next day.

I hear your plea and join you in search of better sleep. A nice cup of tea and hot bath can sometimes help me, but not enough or consistently.

Sleep Hygiene is an elusive concept for me.

[Nammu]

I agree whole heartedly.

[~Christina]

Between life long Insomnia and Fibro I accepted long ago that I will never get steady quality sleep. No I am not being negative, I am accepting and by doing so I no longer freak out if I havent slept for 3-4 days straight.. Its taken the pressure off some.

[WibblyWobbly]

I have fibro and have sucky sleep. Seroquel was like a godsend for me. It took a few days to get used to it, but after that I would sleep 8-9 hours and then wake up on my own feeling rested and refreshed. I was like, is this how normal people feel when they wake up?!

I'm only supposed to take it PRN now so sometimes I cut a tablet in half and take it at bedtime.

great post.

i'm in support of this 100 percent

sleep?

what is that..

Originally Posted by ElsaMars

I have Fibromyalgia along with Bipolar. Both disorders revolve heavily around quality sleep. Any meds I've taken to help with sleep, have caused me a "drug Hangover" the next day.

I hear your plea and join you in search of better sleep. A nice cup of tea and hot bath can sometimes help me, but not enough or consistently.

Sleep Hygiene is an elusive concept for me.

i've never even heard sleep and Hygiene go together in the same sentence

[scatterbrained04]

I always had terrible sleep from age 13 up until 6 months ago or so. I guess my current med combo may be helping? It seems like my sleep improved greatly when I added Latuda. These days I will sleep like crap if I forget to take my gabapentin though. I've noticed going to bed earlier helps too. I'm usually in bed by 9pm. I thought my pdoc was full of crap about sleep being better before midnight, but it feels like there may be something to it. I just go to bed early and wake up early.

[Luctor]

I take a small dose of seroquel in the evening to help me sleep. Without it, I feel like I have literally forgotten how to sleep. I am utterly incapable of sleeping without it.

Perhaps give it a try?

[BlackSheep79]

After coming off of Seroquel it was impossible to sleep, as was it before Seroquel. Pdoc put me on Trazadone at first, felt nothing. He wouldn't go higher because of mania. He then added Clonidine and it started to help, but only a little, 2-4 hours of sleep. Now he added Hydroxyzine and it's a lot better.

Two problems. On the days I work I hardly sleep, I'm waking up all the time. Pdoc won't add more, he says its anxiety, no ****. Also, the Clonidine is giving me hallucinations during sleep. Several times a night I see creatures and animals in my room. I wake up looking all over the room for whatever I see. The other night I was looking behind the bed and under the bed with a flashlight, two times that night. I'm totally freaked out. That's all I got for ya. That's the best I've found so far on top of the Xanax and Propranolol as well. I seriously need a horse tranquilizer to really truly sleep.

I sleep 5-6 hours a day. Any less and I'm screwed.

[alincdytyourmeds]

I recognized a huge difference on my moods and behaviors depending on how little i slept. pdoc gave me tamazepam and said I could take 1-3 pills. 1 does it. I worry about tolerance though.

[wiretwister]

Originally Posted by alincdytyourmeds

I recognized a huge difference on my moods and behaviors depending on how little i slept.

It's not just amount for me but quality, ... I can get 5+ hours nightly but never feel refreshed on rising, ... I wake as tired as I was when going to sleep ...

[HopeForChange]

For me personally, regulating my sleep schedule has been a Godsend. At one time, I took Concerta in the morning to wake me up and a combination of Seroquel and Klonopin in the evening to put me to sleep.

However, despite having my body inundated with chemicals (I was on more meds than just those), I still felt constantly exhausted. I slept up to 20hrs daily, even when not very depressed. I eventually had the amazing opportunity to meet with a psychologist at the medical center near me who specializes in behavioral methods of regulating sleep.

What she recommended was HARD. Much harder than taking meds. It took me months to implement her suggestions. However, i now feel amazing. I am off the Concerta, Seroquel, and Klonopin, and I feel better rested than ever. I can't even begin to put into words how much better I feel. My psychiatrist (who is also amazing and a miracle worker in her own right!) even said that this is the best she's ever seen me, and she's been seeing me since 2006.

Don't get me wrong--meds have their place--like if I were to start going long periods of time without sleep, I would probably ask my psychiatrist for a prn to help for awhile to prevent mania. However, behavioral changes can work wonders!!!