[franz kafka]

I'm going on 6 days of hypomania, and I'm finding it super difficult to focus on work. I just want to have fun all the time! I keep switching from project to project and getting little done.

Any tips for chilling out when hypomanic? The only tool I have right now is klonopin, and that only works for a very short while.

[Musician1980]

Originally Posted by franz kafka

I'm going on 6 days of hypomania, and I'm finding it super difficult to focus on work. I just want to have fun all the time! I keep switching from project to project and getting little done.

Any tips for chilling out when hypomanic? The only tool I have right now is klonopin, and that only works for a very short while.

Sleep.

Also, I try to focus on one project. I remind myself that if I can't finish this one project, then there's a pointlessness and futility in starting any others since they'll never be finished. That can easily zap me into finishing a project. The middle towards the second half of the project might feel less exciting or thrilling to execute but it's always worth it to have it completed.

[MusicLover82]

I had a bipolar friend once tell me that dark therapy helps (laying in a dark room for a while) with hypomania. It'd be worth a shot.

Usually my hypomanic episodes are so brief (ultra rapid cycling), I don't have to do anything about them, thanks to my meds. During times that I felt I needed something extra, I have taken Bee Pollen. It knocked my hypomania right out, but it's also kind of harsh on my stomach, so I've stopped taking it. Can you ask your pdoc for a PRN to take? My pdoc has told me I could take a little extra Risperdal from time to time. And I also have Xanax, which helps with the hypomania, too. Good luck!

[zijax]

Zanax, may not be a popular answer but it's the only thing that works, or Ativan, any benzos

[Wander]

I have been hypomanic since Sunday. Racing thoughts and speech, running from activity to activity, bored if still and very social. Plus very agitated and irritable with euphoria. After not sleeping well at all for the last four days I decided last night to take 5mg of Zyprexa and finally got a good sleep and today feel calmer and less hypo. Clonazepam wasn't working for me very well. I hate Zyprexa and haven't taken it for months but as a one off to stop hypomania it works well. Getting good sleep can be a key to easing the hypomania. Take whatever helps with that. The laying in a dark room idea is great too. I find it helps but it is very difficult to do cause you want to get up and do stuff rather than lay down. Good luck. I hope you calm down soon.

[realizer]

@Wander You mean Zyprexa is only intended to stabilize hypomania? I have hypomania but this is the person I want to be when having episode. I am able to accomplish a lot in a day, my mind is clear and creative and I can focus on things. My mood is very good and I am optimistic.

What I don't want to have is the opposite when I am depressed, feel spiritually weak, hopeless and have suicidal thoughts. This is what I said to psychiatrist and now I wonder why would he prescribe Zyprexa to me.

[Wander]

Originally Posted by realizer

@Wander You mean Zyprexa is only intended to stabilize hypomania? I have hypomania but this is the person I want to be when having episode. I am able to accomplish a lot in a day, my mind is clear and creative and I can focus on things. My mood is very good and I am optimistic.

What I don't want to have is the opposite when I am depressed, feel spiritually weak, hopeless and have suicidal thoughts. This is what I said to psychiatrist and now I wonder why would he prescribe Zyprexa to me.

I take Zyprexa rarely. Only when I have had a run of not sleeping well and have high agitation do I take it. This helps me calm down, get some sleep and hopefully prevent raging mania that is harmful for me. I get agitation with mixed episodes too and take it then. If I was just mildly hypomanic and happy with it I would not take Zyprexa. Do you get full blown mania or do harmful things while hypomanic like overspending? Or is your hypomania relatively harmless? Talk to your pdoc about whether or not you need Zyprexa. They may have good reason to prescribe it or maybe you don't need it. A chat will help understand why you're on it. Zyprexa doesn't make me depressed. It just calms me down. Hope I've made sense.

[realizer]

Originally Posted by Wander

Do you get full blown mania or do harmful things while hypomanic like overspending? Or is your hypomania relatively harmless? Zyprexa doesn't make me depressed. It just calms me down. Hope I've made sense.

When hypomanic I don't do harmful things. I think it is influenced by my state of happiness and self-fulfillment in life. When things a great, hypomania can sometimes turn into a feeling of euphoria. The best thing that I experienced that I can remember is losign 77lbs under 2 years...

When that state is opposite however, I get manic where I feel depressed, anxious, inconfident, hopeless to the point of having suicidal thoughts. Zyprexa mentions bypolar 1 but I think I have bipolar 2...

[still_crazy]

try to sleep, somehow. reduce or eliminate any stimulants, if you can. For me, its also important to avoid self-isolation --or-- throwing myself into things too much. Balance is key.

I hope this resolves soon.

[Sad Mermaid]

Lots of fruit or flower tea (hibiscus, cranberry apple, i love lemon...)