[Bipolarvet163]

So for me hypomania is not just the "decreased need for sleep" textbook definition I've read 1000x over. It's almost full blown insomnia I just went a week and during that period slept for a total of maybe 9 hours if I'm being generous. After day 3 I carve sleep in every way it just won't come. I lose coordination, irritable and I've even lost chunks of time. I've gone 11 days at one point and as much as much as I've stressed this my doc still doesn't put me on something to help sleep. Is this how it is for anyone else or everyone else?

[bizi]

ask for seroquel.
my pdoc wants me off klonipin that I had been taking for years....5mg
I am up to 75mg of seroquel and .25mg of klonipin.
I am sleeping.
bizi

[Wander]

Sleep is crucial so I wonder why your pdoc doesn't prescribe anything for sleep. No sleep usually results in the mania escalating. How are you at the moment? I agree with Bizi that something like Seroquel will likely help you sleep which will hopefully result in a lessening of your symptoms. In the meantime you could ask the pharmacy for something over the counter to help with sleep (provided it doesn't interact with your current meds). Take care and keep posting.

[Kuras]

Even when I'm stable, my sleep is highly erratic. I rarely have consistency in this area. But put me in mania and I'll go days without sleeping. Sleeping meds definitely help, though I'm not on any right now.

I was actually manic 3 weeks ago where I was getting a normal amount of sleep, but when I crashed into a mixed episode, I started getting the insomnia stuff.

During the mania phase, I got 6-7 hrs a night, yet I spent money recklessly, hallucinated, ate very little, had excessive energy, distractability, etc etc

During this mixed phase: 4-6 hrs of (very broken) sleep.

When I was REALLY manic before, I got 0-4 hrs of sleep for 11 days in a row until I got prescribed Seroquel... so on the 12th day, 7 hrs of sleep

[UpDownAround]

I am prescribed 150 mg trazadone. I break them in half and take one shortly before bed. If I don't fall asleep quickly, I take the other half. If I am still awake ~45 minutes after that, I can take another half if I have an already broken one (this is the brilliantly simple way to make sure I am not averaging over 150 mg per night). 225 mg is the max she wants me to take and at that dose (and to some degree even at 150) there is a definite trade-off in that I will be groggy for a couple of hours in the morning. Sometimes even that won't do it on the first coupe of nights of an episode, but by the 3rd night it will (because of the exhaustion).

[Bipolarvet163]

Originally Posted by Wander

Sleep is crucial so I wonder why your pdoc doesn't prescribe anything for sleep. No sleep usually results in the mania escalating. How are you at the moment? I agree with Bizi that something like Seroquel will likely help you sleep which will hopefully result in a lessening of your symptoms. In the meantime you could ask the pharmacy for something over the counter to help with sleep (provided it doesn't interact with your current meds). Take care and keep posting.

At the moment I feel like I'm stuck somewhere in between hypomania and depression, physically my body feels restless like I need to do something but I have no interest in doing anything at the same time. I've slept the last 2 nights successfully after being up for almost a week. Im definitely down mentally and I have little to no patience. I'm definitely going to flat out ask for a sleep aid. I got desperate and took zzquil knowing it wouldn't work one night so the effects of the medicine hit me but I was still unable to sleep which made for a really bad experience.