How do you know when you're tired? I'm not a person that adheres to strict schedules...I just don't work that way. I have a basic framework but that mainly revolves around my daughter's needs, if I have an appointment, etc. I otherwise don't like schedules, at all.

Given that side note...this is for those who do NOT follow a strict schedule. How do you know when you are tired? I do have chronic pain and it worsens if I am fatigued...so that's a sign. My body gets fatigued. Mind does not.

I just don't find myself sleepy often? I rarely "nod off" or anything like that.

When I was a drinker - I would "get tired." Or pass out, I suppose. But I quit drinking so I'm much more "awake."

I easily operate on 4-6 hours of sleep. That's normal for me. Pdoc is happy if I get that amount of sleep ... anywhere from 5-7 hours a night. If I get less than 5 but 8 or more...he suspects an episode or one coming on. He tends to be correct, but cuts me slack if it is 4-5 each day. Not skipping days.

I can eat, take Geodon, and be asleep in 20 minutes for hours. My prescribed Klonopin doesn't put me to sleep (it's for anxiety, anyway). Geodon is the only med I take that sedates me. It's for psychosis and bipolar 1 mania....but has that sleep side effect.

Unless I'm in a depressive episode, I don't sleep unless there's Geodon. I take it, so all is well...although I've had some rare occasions where it didn't put me to sleep.

Sleeping pills are completely ineffective for me. I've been prescribed four different ones and I just get a hazy memory. But I could easily eat out at a restaurant on one. Obviously, I wouldn't drive but that's how ineffective they are for me.

WHY am I asking? I couldn't sleep the night before last so I took a Geodon when my daughter was at school and "caught up" on sleep. During the day. But now it's morning ... do I sleep? Stay awake? Geodon? Go Pokemon hunting?

I'm not manic. I'm just not a good sleeper. Even when I did a tight schedule balancing a law career, husband, and a baby...I'd be wandering the house at 3 am (occasionally encountering my three yr old daughter doing the same! She's an insomniac, too. Or we are vampires? Mom's side of the family...all of us.)

Maybe this isn't a problem. Comments? Anyone else like this? It's not troubling me except when I quit drinking and those "sleep queues" went away.

Based on my mom's family...I'm wondering if I am one of those people that don't need as much sleep as most people. I've been like this my entire life, even on a schedule. I'd just be awake ALOT earlier than my alarm for work or baby.

lol.... pokemon hunting. My sister plays Pokemon Go all the time.

But yeah, sleeping pills don't work for me either. Well, I tried them once when I couldn't sleep and I stayed up for 3 days straight. I felt more activated by them. Who knows if I was hypo/manic, though. This was before I was diagnosed.

I know I'm tired when I feel it in the back of my head. I know that sounds so weird, but the back of my head feels like it has a weight on it that's dragging it down. It's a physical symptom I tend to get.

Sometimes my eyes feel dried out as well, but that's not necessarily an indicator for tiredness. But when combined with the other symptom I get, I definitely know I need to sleep.

I don't know if anyone else has the weight in the back of the head thing, but I'd be interested in knowing.

[SickCycleCarousel]

I know im tired when i start snoring while im still awake haha!!

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[Victoria'smom]

My eyes start shutting and refuse to stay open. But mostly I go to bed when I'm just done with the day. Or I'm just tired of being awake

[Trippin2.0]

I live on about 4 hours sleep as well. I just need less to function.


I know I'm tired when my stomach feels really funny. Almost like an intense anxiety knot swirling about, but not quite.


Took me years to figure out that was a symbol of tired. I would just ignore it and go about my life.


Since I'm listening to it I have been getting better quality of sleep.

[OctobersBlackRose]

My chest starts feelings funny, I get chills, my eyes start shutting and I can't stop yawning.

[Wild Coyote]

I fall asleep.

I go to bed at a regular time, on a schedule. The day starts early in the household. Sometimes, I read for 5 minutes and on up to an hour, depending. I fall asleep reading.

My sleep is messed up since the most recent mixed episode, with early AM awakenings. It is slowly improving.

My mother says I had always put myself to bed when I was tired, even as a youngster.


WC

[BeyondtheRainbow]

The time in my life I was functioning best and wasn't feeling up or down (but neither dr liked certain things so I guess I was still cycling) I consistently fell asleep at 11 and woke up at 4 AM. I really liked that schedule. But then I needed more seroquel and that got lost.

Honestly though the only thing that has ever made me sleep more normally has been clozaril and it's been my first experience with sleepy. I take it and 1-3 hours later I am sound asleep, usually with a book open and sometimes sitting straight up. It's the first time I've experienced getting sleepy although it's still not normal since if I try to "just finish this page" I will still fall asleep. I'm not sure that is normal sleepy but it is different.

There are 3 kinds of sleepers. Short sleepers average around 5 hours and wake up feeling refreshed. Average sleepers need that 7-8 we usually hear about and some assume is optimal, but it's only optimal if it's your nature. Then you have long sleepers which need 10 plus hours. When I'm stable, I usually sleep about 10 hours, I NEVER FEEL REFRESHED unless I'm manic or hypo. I also experience periods of insomnia if I'm very stressed or depressed....or sometimes when depressed or very sick I sleep 18 plus hours.

I can tell I'm sleepy when my eyes get tired. I try to keep a schedule but it doesn't work for me. When I'm sick, migrainy or in pain, I MUST sleep if I can....it's a life saver when I'm very ill. Sometimes I lay in bed even if I'm not tired....sometimes I will fall asleep anyways and other times I can lay there for hours and not sleep.

[Secretum]

I know I'm tired when I start feeling uncomfortable (almost sick), feel like I can't keep my eyes open, and start drifting off into dreams. Usually I feel this way in the morning shortly after waking up, rarely before I go to bed. I know that if I get under 8 hours of sleep, however, that I feel very sick (nauseous and chills and falling asleep) so I always try to go to bed at least 8 hours before I need to be up.

I really wish that I was one of those people that only needed 5 hours of sleep. I am the kind of person that always feels a little tired, except when I am actually asleep. I also have very awesome, vivid dreams that feel real while being better than reality, and encourage me to sleep.

[Unrigged64072835]

I can tell when I'm tired because my eyes feel heavy and I can't stop yawning. Usually when I yawn my eyes also get watery. Sometimes my head will droop either forwards or backwards, depending on how I'm sitting.

[JustJace2u]

My eyes get heavy and my legs as well. The crappy thing is, once I get into bed I feel like I've gotten a second wind and can't fall asleep. The only thing that remotely helps me is Xanax. I really hate having to take meds, but it's the only way I seem to be able to function 'normally'.