[Armos]

I can't sleep. I can't think. I'm stressed and anxious. I'm afraid to sleep. I recently nodded off to sleep. Thought I could get some sleep in. Then when I was just about to fall asleep "I heard my own thoughts yelling really loud." "My anxiety was pretty high" Idk what to do anymore. I feel like I'm going nuts. Could my medicine be causing me to feel like this? I'm on depekote 250mg twice a day. I only feel like **** when I take it. My thoughts are under control a bit but when I try to fall asleep it feels like I'm under allot of stress. I don't know what to do to calm my self down. I have Bipolar II with mixed features and PTSD. I think it is the Bipolar doing it. All I want is sleep. I heard my self yelling at my mom when I was about to fall asleep. Could it be Exploding Head Syndrome too? I'm about to take a trip to my doc and ask him what's up because I can't take this anymore. He'll just tell me to wait till I see my psychiatrist but I have to wait for a month to see him. I just want relief. On top of my anxiety and stress acting up big time it doesn't help. I don't know what to do to calm down. My body feels hot so I'm pretty sure it's anxiety and stress. I wanna go to my doc like I said but scared to tell him about my experience I had. My depekote is suppose to control my rushing thoughts and depression as he claims. But I feel like it's making me feel worse. If I go to the ER they'll either send me home or to the funny farm. Blah. I wish I was like my mom. She has bipolar too as well and she controls it and hers isn't as bad. Some people are lucky I guess. Anyone been through the same situation as me? I'm not hearing voices but I'm hearing my own voice when I fall asleep. Like my thoughts are rushing a hundred miles an hour like I'm frustrated at something

Yes. Racing thoughts also hits me when I'm stressed about something..

I function incredibly well in a time like this. Go for a jog/walk around followed by a relaxing hot shower/bath.

Keep busy

[Armos]

Originally Posted by 2ISAB

Yes. Racing thoughts also hits me when I'm stressed about something..

I function incredibly well in a time like this. Go for a jog/walk around followed by a relaxing hot shower/bath.

Keep busy

The thing is it's 4:00am EST US and I haven't slept at all. Thanks for the advice tho.

Do you have an AP (antipsychotic) like Seroquel?

A lot of us have one for sleep and other symptoms (mania and other symptoms that come with, and anxiety).

I have Seroquel for sleep and Zyprexa to take if I start feeling hypomanic.

Before I was diagnosed, I used to use a playlist of extremely mellow music to “sleep.” It helped. I put earbuds in and stayed in bed. I didn’t sleep well, but I got enough rest to go to work this way.

I eventually had 100 songs in this playlist.

[Armos]

Originally Posted by key tones

Do you have an AP (antipsychotic) like Seroquel?

A lot of us have one for sleep and other symptoms (mania and other symptoms that come with, and anxiety).

I have Seroquel for sleep and Zyprexa to take if I start feeling hypomanic.

I'm thinking of asking my doctor to put me on Seroquel. I've taken it before but I got my self off it because I was scared of the side effects. I'm not sure if I can put it together with depekote or not. Can certain meds like depekote make you feel mania though if your on a high dose? I never had that problem before when I was on a low dose. I know when I was on Rispridone it made my mania worse. Made me feel like a psychopath so I immediately got my self off it and felt better.

[glennk]

Sounds like side effects should be secondary to your health. Seroquel takes time to work (up to a week), but it helps with sleep almost instantly. Talk to your Pdoc about the XR formulation, as the effects are much less than the instant release formulation.

As for Depakote, if you are experiencing mania through a high dose, it sounds like you either need a secondary medication or a complete change in your regimen.

Have you thought about a short term hospitalization for a medication change?

I don’t know about Depakote. I tried it, but I just didn’t feel right and had a headache with it. Lamactil - even worse, and worse headache. I like lithium a lot. I hope my kidneys hold up.

My regular doc is happy to prescribe Seroquel. He has patients that have no mental illnesses on it just for sleep. Maybe you can ask yours to call your psychiatrist about interaction with Depakote and if OK to give you enough until you can see the psychiatrist.

[Pookyl]

Originally Posted by Armos

I'm thinking of asking my doctor to put me on Seroquel. I've taken it before but I got my self off it because I was scared of the side effects. I'm not sure if I can put it together with depekote or not. Can certain meds like depekote make you feel mania though if your on a high dose? I never had that problem before when I was on a low dose. I know when I was on Rispridone it made my mania worse. Made me feel like a psychopath so I immediately got my self off it and felt better.

I take Seroquel IR & XR, and Lithium SR and Depakote. All three work together.
Depakote doesn’t cause mania.

[Armos]

Originally Posted by Pookyl

I take Seroquel IR & XR, and Lithium SR and Depakote. All three work together.
Depakote doesn’t cause mania.

THANK YOU! Maybe I'm just worrying to be worrying then. I have GAD and I haven't been sleeping well. I've been stressing my self out over silly stuff that don't need to be worrying. Could that be the cause of my problem? I feel like depekote is actually helping the bipolar. Could it just be the stress and anxiety then? And I do have panic disorder too. I mostly feel stress. When I heard the thought thats,what it mostly sounded like because I was having a hard time relaxing and my chest is tight from stress/anxiety. When I meet my psychiatrist should I ask him to see if I can take Seroquel with my Depekote?

[glennk]

Originally Posted by Armos

THANK YOU! Maybe I'm just worrying to be worrying then. I have GAD and I haven't been sleeping well. I've been stressing my self out over silly stuff that don't need to be worrying. Could that be the cause of my problem? I feel like depekote is actually helping the bipolar. Could it just be the stress and anxiety then? And I do have panic disorder too. I mostly feel stress. When I heard the thought thats,what it mostly sounded like because I was having a hard time relaxing and my chest is tight from stress/anxiety. When I meet my psychiatrist should I ask him to see if I can take Seroquel with my Depekote?

I take Paxil for GAD and it works really well.

[Moreta]

I take gabapentin for GAD and it works pretty well. I had originally been prescribed it for nerve pain but it doesn't do **** for that but it works well for the anxiety. I also take lavender oil pills if things get too wonky. Here's a phamplet about them if you want to ask your pdoc about them, my pdoc recommend them to me - Lavender Oil I'm usually not anxious anymore, just some situational stuff that pops up here and there. No more 24/7 anxiety. Things might just be stress an anxiety. I know those 2 things can send me into a bipolar episode though. Also here's a CBT for insomnia thing my pdoc wrote and it's got a chart where you can track your sleep. One more thing here's a thing about Mood music. On the second page it has some suggestions about what to listen to if you can't sleep. Personally if I can't sleep and actually want to I like to use guided meditation. You can find a lot of them on youtube. I like the ones by the honest guys the best.

Hope you feel better soon.

[Armos]

Originally Posted by Moreta

I take gabapentin for GAD and it works pretty well. I had originally been prescribed it for nerve pain but it doesn't do **** for that but it works well for the anxiety. I also take lavender oil pills if things get too wonky. Here's a phamplet about them if you want to ask your pdoc about them, my pdoc recommend them to me - Lavender Oil I'm usually not anxious anymore, just some situational stuff that pops up here and there. No more 24/7 anxiety. Things might just be stress an anxiety. I know those 2 things can send me into a bipolar episode though. Also here's a CBT for insomnia thing my pdoc wrote and it's got a chart where you can track your sleep. One more thing here's a thing about Mood music. On the second page it has some suggestions about what to listen to if you can't sleep. Personally if I can't sleep and actually want to I like to use guided meditation. You can find a lot of them on youtube. I like the ones by the honest guys the best.

Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks for tips will check an out. I also love TheHonestguys too. Been a fan for years. I'm changing doctors I don't think my doctor doesn't seem to care anymore. He isn't taking me seriously either. Hopefully my new doctor is nicer than he is. Been knowing him since High School for 8 years. Now I think it's time for a change. I'm just wondering what causes the yelling thoughts when I try to sleep. It's almost making me too scared to sleep now. I used to love to sleep. Honestly I'm seriously starting to think it's stress/anxiety. I wish time would fly by so I can see my doc and my psychiatrist. Sheesh. I need some relief. Not getting sleep is gonna drive me nuts. My current doc doesn't recommend anything to me at all like yours does. All he does is throws meds at me. And they wonder why I am what I am now. Never go to a sports doctor. He never gives me advice for eating the right foods, how to sleep better, etc. Pretty much gave up on me. Didn't even help my dad my dad has mild skin cancer from smoking and he quit and he gets high blood pressure. So its nuts going through that the doc tells him to exercise and he can't go outside. So wish me luck. I hope I can sleep better tonight. I would take Zzzquil at night but I'm too afraid too.

[Moreta]

Originally Posted by Armos

Thanks for tips will check an out. I also love TheHonestguys too. Been a fan for years. I'm changing doctors I don't think my doctor doesn't seem to care anymore. He isn't taking me seriously either. Hopefully my new doctor is nicer than he is. Been knowing him since High School for 8 years. Now I think it's time for a change. I'm just wondering what causes the yelling thoughts when I try to sleep. It's almost making me too scared to sleep now. I used to love to sleep. Honestly I'm seriously starting to think it's stress/anxiety. I wish time would fly by so I can see my doc and my psychiatrist. Sheesh. I need some relief. Not getting sleep is gonna drive me nuts. My current doc doesn't recommend anything to me at all like yours does. All he does is throws meds at me. And they wonder why I am what I am now. Never go to a sports doctor. He never gives me advice for eating the right foods, how to sleep better, etc. Pretty much gave up on me. Didn't even help my dad my dad has mild skin cancer from smoking and he quit and he gets high blood pressure. So its nuts going through that the doc tells him to exercise and he can't go outside. So wish me luck. I hope I can sleep better tonight. I would take Zzzquil at night but I'm too afraid too.

I had a pdoc for 7 years that just threw meds at me and my meds would change every 3-6 months. I've been seeing the pdoc I have now since 2010 and my meds have pretty much stayed the same. I think my pdoc must've went to a holistic conference or something cause around 2-3 years ago all he'd suggest were herbs and stuff. It's like dude, just give me some ****in prozac i just need it for a month . Saffron did work pretty well for depression though. My pdoc has also written a book called "bipolar, not so much." It's pretty good from the parts I've read I still need to finish reading it. If you want to poke around on the site here's the link to all the brochures. Some of it is interesting. He's always giving me brochures at my appts. lol. A thing to think about is modifying your diet, sometimes that helps. There's a brochure for the MIND diet somewhere on that page. I keep getting told it works. Also apparently green tea is supposed to be good. He keeps nagging me about the blue light glasses too but I tried them one night and it made me manic and I couldn't ****in sleep that night haha. It's all a bunch of trial and error, mostly error. lol.

[Armos]

Originally Posted by Moreta

I had a pdoc for 7 years that just threw meds at me and my meds would change every 3-6 months. I've been seeing the pdoc I have now since 2010 and my meds have pretty much stayed the same. I think my pdoc must've went to a holistic conference or something cause around 2-3 years ago all he'd suggest were herbs and stuff. It's like dude, just give me some ****in prozac i just need it for a month . Saffron did work pretty well for depression though. My pdoc has also written a book called "bipolar, not so much." It's pretty good from the parts I've read I still need to finish reading it. If you want to poke around on the site here's the link to all the brochures. Some of it is interesting. He's always giving me brochures at my appts. lol. A thing to think about is modifying your diet, sometimes that helps. There's a brochure for the MIND diet somewhere on that page. I keep getting told it works. Also apparently green tea is supposed to be good. He keeps nagging me about the blue light glasses too but I tried them one night and it made me manic and I couldn't ****in sleep that night haha. It's all a bunch of trial and error, mostly error. lol.

Yep. I think my doc turned me into a hypocondriac when he didn't explain to me what hypomanic meant. Literally no joke. I started worrying etc for 6 months. Anxiety got worse oficially diagnosed with GAD and Panic disorder. My counselor told me not to worry too much about it. She got ticked off big time at him for not explaining it to me. Sometimes your counselors can be your best friends too. She gave me the full run down and said hypomanic runs differently for people. She pretty much said my bipolar is under control from my meds I'm on. It's the PTSD and anxiety that needs to be controlled. I told her about the loud thoughts as well. She said it's anxiety and a mixture of mania. She said don't worry about it too much. I freak out over pretty much anything lol. Not really. I almost feel like Tweak from South Park now thanks to my doc. I can live with the Bipolar. I never had issues with it till my anxiety got worse. Gee thanks doc.

[Moreta]

Originally Posted by Armos

Yep. I think my doc turned me into a hypocondriac when he didn't explain to me what hypomanic meant. Literally no joke. I started worrying etc for 6 months. Anxiety got worse oficially diagnosed with GAD and Panic disorder. My counselor told me not to worry too much about it. She got ticked off big time at him for not explaining it to me. Sometimes your counselors can be your best friends too. She gave me the full run down and said hypomanic runs differently for people. She pretty much said my bipolar is under control from my meds I'm on. It's the PTSD and anxiety that needs to be controlled. I told her about the loud thoughts as well. She said it's anxiety and a mixture of mania. She said don't worry about it too much. I freak out over pretty much anything lol. Not really. I almost feel like Tweak from South Park now thanks to my doc. I can live with the Bipolar. I never had issues with it till my anxiety got worse. Gee thanks doc.

It helps to do your own research too. I knew I was bipolar before they diagnosed me cause I did a lot of research into mental illnesses. There's a lot more out on the internet now than when i first researched it 16 years ago. Self help books also help. I have a couple one is called i think "The Bipolar Workbook" and my other one is "DBT for Bipolar." They both have sections about what goes on when you're bipolar. I think one of them has a section for family members. You gotta be careful with anxiety not to get into the panic cycle where you get anxious, then you have a panic attack, then you get anxious about being anxious/having a panic attack again or it'll just cycle and cycle. Here's a long list of coping skills from my pdocs book. It covers pretty much everything. Try a few out every time you feel anxious and see which helps the anxiety pass the fastest. Sometimes even breathing deeply and counting my breaths helps.

Originally Posted by Moreta

I take gabapentin for GAD and it works pretty well. I had originally been prescribed it for nerve pain but it doesn't do **** for that but it works well for the anxiety. I also take lavender oil pills if things get too wonky. Here's a phamplet about them if you want to ask your pdoc about them, my pdoc recommend them to me - Lavender Oil I'm usually not anxious anymore, just some situational stuff that pops up here and there. No more 24/7 anxiety. Things might just be stress an anxiety. I know those 2 things can send me into a bipolar episode though. Also here's a CBT for insomnia thing my pdoc wrote and it's got a chart where you can track your sleep. One more thing here's a thing about Mood music. On the second page it has some suggestions about what to listen to if you can't sleep. Personally if I can't sleep and actually want to I like to use guided meditation. You can find a lot of them on youtube. I like the ones by the honest guys the best.

Hope you feel better soon.

This is very helpful, thank you Mireya!!

[pirilin]

If you think you are losing it, you are.
The human mind is so powerful that can bend metal, melt ice, lift incredible amounts of weights, destroy or create.
Start slowly using your mind for something not too bad. Baby steps. Good luck.

[Armos]

Originally Posted by glennk

I take Paxil for GAD and it works really well.

I will never take Paxil again. I was forced on it when I was in High School when I was being bullied. I had a severe allergic reaction from it that almost led me to the hospital. Never again.

[Armos]

Originally Posted by Moreta

It helps to do your own research too. I knew I was bipolar before they diagnosed me cause I did a lot of research into mental illnesses. There's a lot more out on the internet now than when i first researched it 16 years ago. Self help books also help. I have a couple one is called i think "The Bipolar Workbook" and my other one is "DBT for Bipolar." They both have sections about what goes on when you're bipolar. I think one of them has a section for family members. You gotta be careful with anxiety not to get into the panic cycle where you get anxious, then you have a panic attack, then you get anxious about being anxious/having a panic attack again or it'll just cycle and cycle. Here's a long list of coping skills from my pdocs book. It covers pretty much everything. Try a few out every time you feel anxious and see which helps the anxiety pass the fastest. Sometimes even breathing deeply and counting my breaths helps.

I learned my lession. Trust me. Now I have GAD from it. Or did I have GAD from the moment I got diagnosed in 2015... Anyway anxiety is keeping me from sleeping. And it's leading to stress. So I have to find a way to destress so I can start sleeping better again. I know anxiety can make your thoughts rush at night. I'm also sure not getting enough sleep ain't helping. I'm too afraid to see my doc and my doc asking me if I've been sleeping. The rushing thoughts are making me afraid to sleep. And I think I'm going to die in my sleep from being stressed or over thinking. And I keep worrying that I'll hear the screams again which I think dont help.

[jasiesmith1993]

Originally Posted by Armos

I can't sleep. I can't think. I'm stressed and anxious. I'm afraid to sleep. I recently nodded off to sleep. Thought I could get some sleep in. Then when I was just about to fall asleep "I heard my own thoughts yelling really loud." "My anxiety was pretty high" Idk what to do anymore. I feel like I'm going nuts. Could my medicine be causing me to feel like this? I'm on depekote 250mg twice a day. I only feel like **** when I take it. My thoughts are under control a bit but when I try to fall asleep it feels like I'm under allot of stress. I don't know what to do to calm my self down. I have Bipolar II with mixed features and PTSD. I think it is the Bipolar doing it. All I want is sleep. I heard my self yelling at my mom when I was about to fall asleep. Could it be Exploding Head Syndrome too? I'm about to take a trip to my doc and ask him what's up because I can't take this anymore. He'll just tell me to wait till I see my psychiatrist but I have to wait for a month to see him. I just want relief. On top of my anxiety and stress acting up big time it doesn't help. I don't know what to do to calm down. My body feels hot so I'm pretty sure it's anxiety and stress. I wanna go to my doc like I said but scared to tell him about my experience I had. My depekote is suppose to control my rushing thoughts and depression as he claims. But I feel like it's making me feel worse. If I go to the ER they'll either send me home or to the funny farm. Blah. I wish I was like my mom. She has bipolar too as well and she controls it and hers isn't as bad. Some people are lucky I guess. Anyone been through the same situation as me? I'm not hearing voices but I'm hearing my own voice when I fall asleep. Like my thoughts are rushing a hundred miles an hour like I'm frustrated at something

Anxiety dizziness all the way.