Anyone more manic after decent sleep?

My hypomania gets bad at the start with little or no sleep. Then there comes a point where I'm mentally exhausted, and I sleep 6 hours. The next day I'm hypo and happy again, but if I don't sleep after that point, I don't have the manic energy.

I know this goes against what seems to be the norm, and I'm trying to make sense of it. Does this mean I'm not having an episode? Is my happy energy the 'real me'?

I'm not sure. I have typical manic sleeping patterns. I sleep 0 - 4 hours for long periods of time all the while bright eyed, bushy tailed, and ready to go.

I remember seeing at least a couple of people on here that don't lose sleep during hypomania or mania though. Perhaps it is an episode that is just against the grain.

I think lamotrigine could be doing that: allow for pre-mania, but throw you back to stability in a day or two. The manic energy has exhausted you early and, being stable, you are very sleepy. Or antidepressants could make you cycle very rapidly.

Any recent med changes?

I wouldn't know, unfortunately. I never get a decent nights sleep. I feel more tired when I wake up than I did when I went to sleep. So I never feel fully rested. I wake up all hours of the night several times. For me, it seems like the more I sleep, the more I WANT to sleep. Sometimes I feel better if I get less sleep.

Have you tried an antihistamine, melatonin or antipsychotic to improve your quality of sleep? If you use an antipsychotic, you might want to switch to one with a shorter half-life (before you go to sleep) or one that is less antihistaminic. Even an SSRI could maybe help you, since serotonin is converted to melatonin at nightfall (provided you sleep in a sufficiently darkened room).

Interesting, Icare. My lamotrigine was upped a couple weeks ago when I started my hypomania. I've heard about the antidepressants making things worse, but without them I'm totally suicidal.

Thanks everyone.