[Armos]

Hey guys it's been awhile. Well it's official I've been diagnosed with Bipolar II Hypomanic/mixed features. And I also have Anxiety "unspecified" Meaning I pretty much have every anxiety disorder in the book. Go figure. I have GAD "general anxiety disorder" according to my therapist. Also PTSD and social anxiety. Mostly OCD too. I have all kinds of bad luck lol. Well I found a really good counselor. She's been kind to me so far. They want to treat my bipolar and anxiety so I can get my life back on track. I also have a question. I'm a orange belt in Karate. Do you guys think I should pick it back up? I know it helps with discipline. It might help me with my s if I stick with it. Martial Arts is the only thing I'm good at. I feel really confident when I'm at the dojo practicing it. It also helps reduce anxiety and stress. I need to exercise. I don't want to sit down and lay in bed all the time doing nothing all the time wasting my life away. Finally got a job so I don't want to miss that up either. If I get back in training should that help calm my mood swings when my psychiatrist gets me on the right medication? And isn't Karate a form of meditation as well? I have a good reputation with my school and they really want me back. I just don't want the Bipolar getting in the way but I heard martial arts helps you cope with Bipolar and stabilizes your mood and emotions. If anyone has bipolar and takes any form of martial arts please give me some advice. Thank you. I'm an orange belt. I want to work my way to black belt. Thanks. Also forgot to say I have panic disorder. So I have to take my mind off stuff and find hobbies. My therapist wants me to find a hobby to do. I'm really good at Karate. Should I take it back up? Serious question. Thank you. I got allot of stress so I thought the Karate might help me focus.

Absolutely go back to it! I can't think of any reason why getting back to karate would do anything but good.

[Victoria'smom]

Both my husband and son were in karate. It became to expensive to continue when we moved. It was really good for them it made them do something 3x a week.

Definitely. I started kickboxing while depressed and it made a huge difference for me. My therapist actually recommended it.

[BipolaRNurse]

When my oldest son was a kid he had a pretty serious anger management problem. His counselor told me Tae Kwan Do would be good for him. It was...helped him develop some discipline as well as giving him some physical self-defense skills (he got picked on A LOT). It got to be too expensive so we had to take him out of the classes before he made it to brown belt (and he was close, too, dammit). But he did learn a lot and he still uses the knowledge to this day.

[Armos]

Thank you all. And i have a question that I've been wanting to ask. Kinda embarrassing, it's been worrying me a bit. I've also told my therapist/counselor this as well. She thinks its anxiety related. But for the past couple weeks. I have been experiencing weird unexplained sounds when I fall asleep and or waking up. It was a weird feeling it only happens when I get into a sleep/dream state. Like this morning I swear to god I thought I heard a dog bark. I used to own a dog but he died due from cancer not too long ago. But the sound came out of no where, which is worrying me. And I'm afraid to fall asleep at night because I'm afraid of hearing noises. Last time I heard a psh sound that came out of no where. And I heard children laughing like a whisper sound, she told me it was anxiety related. Auditory hallucinations? I asked her that, she said it was my mind playing tricks on me from anxiety. It could be the depression too so I don't know. I've been taking depekote. 250mg twice a day. I feel like the anxiety is going down a bit. But I still feel stress a bit. Mostly in my head, sometimes get stress headaches. I'm switching to a new doctor. My doctor isn't taking me serious lately. They are pretty much fed up with my worrying. Since I got diagnosed with GAD too. I asked my therapist if it was Exploding head syndome because I heard some people often get it sometimes. And I heard it occurs from stress. It feels scary because I'm afraid to fall asleep. I had a scary experience the other day I tried to fall back asleep and heard loud noises talking at once, I felt like I was hearing my own thoughts rushing. And scared the crap out of me, I woke up and said wtf? My counselor has not diagnosed me with schizophrenic. Just Bipolar II and anxiety unspecified. I'm too afraid to sleep normally now I just put on my sound cancel headphones with some music. And my anxiety only happens at night. Any suggestions? I want to tell this to my current doctor but he might just look at me like I'm nuts. And he wont refer me to a sleep study at all. Thank you for any advice. Has anyone else experienced any of this? It's happened before. I heard a bang sound once and a gun like sound. Wasn't too loud. Only happens when I'm about to drift off to sleep. And when I wake up, I'm like in a dream like state, and I feel my hands moving up and down but in reality my hands are laying in bed. So freaking weird. I want to tell my counselor this, I think I did, but she thinks its all stress and anxiety related. So hopefully nothing serious is going on. I used to be big into lucid dreaming too. I'm to the point where I'm afraid to fall asleep. It's crazy. I'm seeing my psychiatrist soon. Hopefully I can see a sleep doctor as well. I've been worrying waaay too much so I don't know if that's part of GAD or OCD or both. Thanks. Sorry guys. Hope I don't sound like a freak. Was wondering if anyone experienced the same things. Its like when Im about to wake up my hands move slowly, but I fully wake up in my room after that its like I'm in a dream and its all pitch black. But I wake up. Sorry. NREM or something perhaps? Sorry lol. And just letting you all know I'm a 26 year old male. I'm turning 27 in June 1st. So I don't know where the sounds are coming from. I am just hoping its stress and anxiety. I heard you can hear sounds from anxiety if its severe. So thanks. Sorry for sounding weird or anything. I know your head can play tricks on you when your anxious so yea. Sorry.

[Victoria'smom]

My friend had something like Exploding head syndrome it was part of the reason he was an alcoholic. Do you have any anxiety meds you can take before bed? Stress can cause psychotic symptoms. I doubt it's enough to dx. schizophrenia. Are you only on the low dose of depokote?

[Armos]

Originally Posted by Miguel'smom

My friend had something like Exploding head syndrome it was part of the reason he was an alcoholic. Do you have any anxiety meds you can take before bed? Stress can cause psychotic symptoms. I doubt it's enough to dx. schizophrenia. Are you only on the low dose of depekote?

My doctor has me on depekote for years. 8 years so far. I've been on 250mg for years. He dosed it to twice a day. I feel like it's making me feel like crap. I've been on it for 6 weeks now. I don't see any improvement. I often feel more hypomanic than usual. The depekote is suppose to help with rushing thoughts too. So far it hasnt. My mind feels blank. I'm afraid to look at the side effects because side effects scare me xD. Depekote has helped me in the past. I used to be on 250 one in the morning and two at night. I heard psyche meds can mess you up even more. I heard good reviews about Depekote. I just feel like it's not working is all. I feel like I'm worse. I'm up most of the night from anxiety. And the depekote makes me sleep all day with the new dosage. The side effects should of worn off. But I don't feel like my self. I feel fatigue, edgy all the time, stressed from less sleep, I sleep too much, I heard depekote makes you sleep allot. Hopefully my psychiatrist can help me get on the right meds soon. I doubt I have EHS. I don't even know where to go to get diagnosed with it anyway. I heard people mostly in their mid 40s and 50s get it. My doc REFUSES me to get a sleep study too. Everyone says it's all anxiety and worry. So I'm stuck between a rock In a hard place. Been dealing with anxiety and worry for 6 months. Go figure. I want to get a CAT scan done too since it's been awhile since I had one done "I have a syct on my brain" not life threatening tho. So idk what to do at this point tho. Like I said my therapist said my anxiety is through the charts. So hopefully they'll do something to make me feel normal again.

[NatsukiKuga]

SPOILER ALERT: tl;dr

I'd suspect that the sounds you're hearing when nodding off are called "hypnagogic hallucinations." They're p common, and they take all kinds of forms. Almost everybody gets one at least once in their lives, and folks with bipolar and anxiety issues are especially prone.

Sometimes people experience them as a heavy, even suffocating, weight on their chests. Check out this cool Fuseli painting:

https://artsandculture.google.com/as...gA?hl=en&avm=2

The hallucinations themselves are harmless, but they can be a sign of narcolepsy. If you have the insurance for it, might not hurt to get a sleep study done.

As to your first question about martial arts, I strongly recommend it. Tai Chi has helped keep my head straight in the decades since my BP2 started manifesting. I do monitor my moods, and I back off from the contact stuff when I'm feeling flaky, but there's always newbies to teach, floors to sweep, etc. You're always learning when you're willing to let yourself.

Good Luck

[Armos]

Originally Posted by NatsukiKuga

SPOILER ALERT: tl;dr

I'd suspect that the sounds you're hearing when nodding off are called "hypnagogic hallucinations." They're p common, and they take all kinds of forms. Almost everybody gets one at least once in their lives, and folks with bipolar and anxiety issues are especially prone.

Sometimes people experience them as a heavy, even suffocating, weight on their chests. Check out this cool Fuseli painting:

https://artsandculture.google.com/as...gA?hl=en&avm=2

The hallucinations themselves are harmless, but they can be a sign of narcolepsy. If you have the insurance for it, might not hurt to get a sleep study done.

As to your first question about martial arts, I strongly recommend it. Tai Chi has helped keep my head straight in the decades since my BP2 started manifesting. I do monitor my moods, and I back off from the contact stuff when I'm feeling flaky, but there's always newbies to teach, floors to sweep, etc. You're always learning when you're willing to let yourself.

Good Luck

Omg THANK YOU!! Now I can relax. I thought I might had exploding head syndrome for a minute. I'm constantly worrying my self. My dreams have been normal too by the way. I'm a lucid dreaner. I used to get lucid dreaming. I did Google narcolepsy but I don't think I have it. Is that when you feel like your gonna fall asleep any time of the day with out warning? Sorry if I misinterpreted that. I used to be a huge lucid dreaming fan boy. It helped me allot with my depression. Just the sounds scare me a bit. I've been feeling allot of fatitude from my anxiety and stress don't help me sleep because I can't relax. I'm almost too afraid to sleep my muscles are too tensed at night. I got GAD so it's rough. And I can't feel my body sometimes. What causes the dog barking noise when you wake up? I've also heard thoughts from dream/wake state before too when waking up from an anxiety attack. Sorry if my post is going off topic. My therapist said not to worry about the sounds. I would get a sleep study but the sleep lab lied to me after they said I would get one and I'm not sure if my sleep lab in OSU takes Medicaid. Thanks for the info. What about falling asleep and seeing a person looking at you from a TV show? Could that also be from hypnogigic image and stress related?

[Armos]

Originally Posted by NatsukiKuga

SPOILER ALERT: tl;dr

I'd suspect that the sounds you're hearing when nodding off are called "hypnagogic hallucinations." They're p common, and they take all kinds of forms. Almost everybody gets one at least once in their lives, and folks with bipolar and anxiety issues are especially prone.

Sometimes people experience them as a heavy, even suffocating, weight on their chests. Check out this cool Fuseli painting:

https://artsandculture.google.com/as...gA?hl=en&avm=2

The hallucinations themselves are harmless, but they can be a sign of narcolepsy. If you have the insurance for it, might not hurt to get a sleep study done.

As to your first question about martial arts, I strongly recommend it. Tai Chi has helped keep my head straight in the decades since my BP2 started manifesting. I do monitor my moods, and I back off from the contact stuff when I'm feeling flaky, but there's always newbies to teach, floors to sweep, etc. You're always learning when you're willing to let yourself.

Good Luck

I also got one question. I got panic disorder so I don't wanna freak out from asking a question. One time I woke up with an anxiety attack and I feel like I passed out on my bed after I woke up and woke up again thinking wtf happened to me. It felt like a bad panic atrack. It only happened one time. I found out OSU takes traditional medicaid so I'm going to get a sleep study done. I'm thinking it might all just be anxiety all together. I have never fell asleep in the day never so yea. Sorry I feel like I'm worrying my self again. :'(

[NatsukiKuga]

Originally Posted by Armos

I also got one question. I got panic disorder so I don't wanna freak out from asking a question. One time I woke up with an anxiety attack and I feel like I passed out on my bed after I woke up and woke up again thinking wtf happened to me. It felt like a bad panic atrack. It only happened one time. I found out OSU takes traditional medicaid so I'm going to get a sleep study done. I'm thinking it might all just be anxiety all together. I have never fell asleep in the day never so yea. Sorry I feel like I'm worrying my self again. :'(

Heh. Yep. You sure are.

I used to have a lot of anxiety issues myself, but seriously, Tai Chi and Yoga really helped me learn how to handle it. Took a lot of years of good, fun practice, and worth every minute.

It's funny, because I still do get panic attacks from time to time. I get all the physical sensations. I've just learned that I don't have to panic. They aren't big emotional experiences for me anymore.

The panic attacks are right uncomfortable, but I can now recognize that they're just a physical manifestation of some emotional thing, that they pass, and that they're nothing serious. All you gotta do is ride the wave, dude.

Easy to write. Harder to learn.

[Armos]

Originally Posted by NatsukiKuga

Heh. Yep. You sure are.

I used to have a lot of anxiety issues myself, but seriously, Tai Chi and Yoga really helped me learn how to handle it. Took a lot of years of good, fun practice, and worth every minute.

It's funny, because I still do get panic attacks from time to time. I get all the physical sensations. I've just learned that I don't have to panic. They aren't big emotional experiences for me anymore.

The panic attacks are right uncomfortable, but I can now recognize that they're just a physical manifestation of some emotional thing, that they pass, and that they're nothing serious. All you gotta do is ride the wave, dude.

Easy to write. Harder to learn.

Thank you. I'm pretty positive I don't have the one sleep disorder you mentioned. Otherwise my doctor would have diagnosed me with it years ago. I have also been self diagnosing which is no good. Part of anxiety I guess. If a sleep doctor thinks I don't have a sleep disorder is there a pretty much chance they can decide you don't need one? I've had insomnia for awhile now. And I'm still alive. My doc knows I got it too. I mostly stay up all night and asleep half the day. And I did find out about sleep parylasis from a YouTuber called GizEdwards. I still want a sleep study done though. I want to be able to sleep at night again.

[NatsukiKuga]

Go for it. What can it hurt?

[Armos]

So I'm pretty scared at the moment. I woke up this morning and heard the noises again. Kinda freaked out. Fel like I was In sleep parylasis. I swear to God so th ought I heard a disembodied voice said die. Should I be worried? I am literally freaking out right now. Im to the point where im afraid to tell my counselor. I don't want to get locked up from hearing a word in a dream state. Am I just stressing and worrying my self to death causing these things to happen to me? I'm not suicidal or anything. So just wanted some help.

[NatsukiKuga]

Babe, I'm no tdoc. Gotta call yours.

[Wonderfalls]

Every single person I know who has been through a sleep study was diagnosed with sleep apnea. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Then they have to get fitted for a CPAP and then they (or their insurance) has to pay for the CPAP. I'm not saying they don't all have sleep apnea, but I will point out that, according to Forbes:

"In 2010 there were 2,280 sleep labs in the U.S. generating around $5.9 billion. This year [2015], 2,800 labs are set to haul in an estimated $7.1. billion. By 2020 the industry will be within eyeshot of the $10 billion mark."

[cool09]

Do you have problems with impulses or are you a rapid cycler or problems with anger? If you do that might get in the way of karate? I have problem with agitation and I am BP.

[HopeForChange]

I'm not a physician, but those sorts of sleep-related things happen to me all the time. I get hypnagogic (going to sleep) and hypnopompic (waking up) hallucinations frequently, and I also get sleep paralysis. I just have an overall weird state both physically and mentally when I'm going to sleep or waking up. I had a sleep study and don't have narcolepsy. The doctor told me that although what I'm experiencing is certainly frightening for me, it's harmless and to try not to worry about it. I hope this helps--it's a terrifying experience, but not one that makes you sick or "crazy."