I literally can't sleep. I'm probably going to be up for 4 days straight with only 3.5 hours of sleep, and that's bad.

I can't sleep because I'm so hyper from this mania. My pdoc said to take Ativan, but it's not helping. I went to my therapist appointment this afternoon and he said i was extremely hyper despite taking a lot of Ativan. He said I was talking a million words a minute and bouncing around... not sitting still.

I need something that is going to knock me out. Which is the best med for this? Is it Seroquel? What about Paxil or Zyprexa? I don't care about weight gain. I will probably use it PRN for a month, then find something more permanent

I'm going to call the emergency number for my pdoc if I can't sleep. That's why I want to know some good BP drugs that'll knock me out.

[wildflowerchild25]

First step is stop taking the adderall. If you're still taking it.

[st0psign]

This is almost certainly 100% brought on by the addies. I'd ask your pdoc for something else for the ADHD before you do something you'll regret.

[Unrigged64072835]

I'd ask for Seroquel since that can be sedating for a lot of people. Or Zyprexa. Paxil is an AD, so you'd want to avoid that. I definitely would be calling your pdoc if you can't get any sleep.

I was given seroquel for this reason. Also Haldol. Unfortunately, neither worked at sedating me. Even ambien will not make me sleep during mania. I hope you find something to help soon.

[BipolaRNurse]

My NP is starting me on Trazadone. Should be interesting...I sleep long enough when I finally get to sleep, but I can't seem to manage that before 2 or 3 AM despite taking my meds at 9 PM. My sleep is also broken and I have lots of vivid, troubling dreams. Hopefully this stuff will knock me out and keep me asleep. I have a lot of leeway as she told me I could titrate up to 200 mg as necessary. We shall see.

If I went into the hospital and hadn't been sleeping, pdoc had me take seroquel AND either lunesta or ambien. Outpatient I would guess you pdoc would be willing to prescribe seroquel which would also help with the mania.

Zyprexa put me out at 15 mgs when nothing else would.

[cincidak]

Saphris was really sedating for me. I can sleep ten hours on that , and wake up refreshed. It's an antipsychotic also used for mania. It does cause weight gain though.

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[JustJace2u]

Xanax and Ambien seem to be the only things that help me.

Geodon but you have to eat 500 calories when you take it. Twenty minutes later, I'm lights out lol

Seroquel helps me sleep.

[Gabyunbound]

25 mg of Seroquel used to really help me sleep. 100 mg made me sleep for 13 hours last night. Ugh. So Seroquel, but I think very low doses are better for sleep, higher doses if you're symptomatic or as mania prevention, if you can tolerate it.

[fairydustgirl]

every time I have had a manic/mixed episode, I have been prescribed depakote and seroquel together and it was like putting ABS brakes on the mania. stopped it in its tracks. and I was able to sleep. unfortunately I have crashed afterwards into depression each time as well. I have had saphris in the last 3 years and that works even faster than seroquel and I sleep very well on it.

Originally Posted by BipolaRNurse

My NP is starting me on Trazadone. Should be interesting...I sleep long enough when I finally get to sleep, but I can't seem to manage that before 2 or 3 AM despite taking my meds at 9 PM. My sleep is also broken and I have lots of vivid, troubling dreams. Hopefully this stuff will knock me out and keep me asleep. I have a lot of leeway as she told me I could titrate up to 200 mg as necessary. We shall see.

Trazadone worked great for me for all of about a week. Been taking it for 3 years. I now take over the counter meds to because drs. won't give me anything else. Whole different story. They won't change, add to, or nothing. Same meds for 3 years. Almost ready to quit all, and go back to self treating myself, as I functioned better and felt better.

[candid_spectrum]

Well, as mentioned- aderall is a pretty large component. I know I always hated when people told me this, but limiting the amount of sugars in your diet can have a tremendous affect! Caffeine would be good to cut out too! I took sereoquel for this reason, it knocked me out cold, but I became a zombie and had really bad sleep paralysis, in addition to petrifying nightmares, so it wasn't a solution for me. I tried cutting out all processed sugars though, and it seriously has improved my sleep schedule 10 fold!
Keep us updated on what helps!

[MrD500]

Originally Posted by rainyday107

Geodon but you have to eat 500 calories when you take it. Twenty minutes later, I'm lights out lol

I agree, Geodon puts me to sleep. I take it around noon and by 2pm I'm asleep.

[BastetsMuse]

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

I literally can't sleep. I'm probably going to be up for 4 days straight with only 3.5 hours of sleep, and that's bad..

I don't know about BP drugs, but I do know that Ativan works well for sleep, as does Lunesta. Does your mood stabilizer need adjusting? My doctor would increase mine for sure if I didn't sleep for 4 days the way you described. Good luck to you.

[Icare dixit]

I wouldn't take anxiolytics/antidepressants. Atypical antipsychotics work. Quetiapine is very antihistaminergic and is metabolised/effective quickly. Low doses are relatively speaking more antihistaminergic than antidopaminergic and serotonergic. All these characteristics are good. But in the meantime, if it's easier to have it prescribed by your GP, you may take (just) a antihistamine, but you need a high dosage. Probably at least four times that of people having insomnia but not mania.

Amphetamines I wouldn't use either. Do you only have or notice concentration problems at work or always? I ask, because you must have an abnormal ability to focus, doing software development. Maybe you can switch tasks more often? That might help. Do you use a lean type of development process at your company? Maybe ask whether you could work on more than one issue/task at a time.

[fishin fool]

Trazadone works pretty well for me thankfully.

[xRavenx]

When I was on a lower dose of Seroquel (100 mg), it would knock me out. You definitely feel it coming on....and if you are prescribed it, don't make any plans right after you take it! For some reason, Seroquel seems to be less sedating at higher doses due to it acting more like an antihistamine at lower doses. However, it does make me sleepy at any dose. No other drug has really helped much with sleep, besides sometimes Klonopin and on occasion Xanax, but barely. Xanax does not last long enough to keep me asleep unless I take a high dose. Other than these meds, I never found any others that helped me sleep. I've always struggled with insomnia, but the Seroquel has helped the most.

[Blaire]

Seroquel knocks me out. It's how I get to sleep mostly on time every night.

[Icare dixit]

Originally Posted by xRavenx

When I was on a lower dose of Seroquel (100 mg), it would knock me out. You definitely feel it coming on....and if you are prescribed it, don't make any plans right after you take it! For some reason, Seroquel seems to be less sedating at higher doses due to it acting more like an antihistamine at lower doses. However, it does make me sleepy at any dose. No other drug has really helped much with sleep, besides sometimes Klonopin and on occasion Xanax, but barely. Xanax does not last long enough to keep me asleep unless I take a high dose. Other than these meds, I never found any others that helped me sleep. I've always struggled with insomnia, but the Seroquel has helped the most.

It's less sedative relatively speaking at higher doses.

[fishin fool]

Originally Posted by fishin fool

Trazadone works pretty well for me thankfully.

I may have spoken to soon.
Last night was my 4th night with very little sleep.

[BipolarMama31]

I take seroquel xr 200 to keep the psychosis away.
And i take seroquel 200 instant release an hour before bed and it keeps me asleep. Ive been on 800 when i was in the hospital and down to 50 when im not manic. Now at 200 works really well.

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