[*Laurie*]

This is my problem. I go to bed at a decent time. I feel very tried and ready to sleep. I have taken all of my meds (including the Seroquel that is supposed to help me sleep, but does not). I get into bed and toss and turn and maybe doze a bit, then awaken. That goes on for about 3 hours. Finally, I fall asleep, but it isn't a restful, hard sleep.

After about 5 hours of sleeping I awaken. I cannot fall back to sleep. So I get up and eat breakfast, do some chores, get online and check things. Sometimes I do some art work. The entire time I am very tired. Fatigued, even...achy, barely able to function. Finally I cannot, literally cannot, keep my eyes open any more. So I go lie down. Then I fall sound asleep into a restful, deep sleep. By the time I awaken it's late morning - or even early afternoon. But I feel quite rested and able to function.

My question is for those of you who have problems with your sleep. How do you structure your life around your sleep issues? For example, you cannot function (driving would be unsafe) until you get enough sleep, which means sleeping until about noon. BUT, let's say you must keep an appointment that you have at 11 a.m.

What do you do? Do you just make sure you never schedule anything in the morning? Do you end up cancelling a lot of appointments? How do you cope with the problems with your sleep?

[Anrea]

I had sleep problems all my life. It absolutely affected my work/mood/attitude, general lifestyle during the days. From moderate to severely. About a year ago I started buying diphenhydramine 25mg at the dollar store and taking 2 a night. It really helped. When I told my Dr., she prescribed Banophen 25mg, x2 a night as needed. Well, my as needed is nightly, but it is having a direct effect on how well I do the next day. My sleep is still sometimes disturbed or less, but rarely. I recommend doing what you can to help yourself sleep regularly. Good luck! <3

Laurie-what is your dose of Seroquel?

I have read here that the lower doses are sedating, and higher doses are not...

Just 25 mg knocks me flat out, 50 even harder and I’m tired the next day. I think over 100 mg doesn’t work for sleep...maybe more people will chime in.

[SorryShaped]

I ask this with reason. Do you ever share your art with others that validate your works?
If you don't, perhaps you should. Perhaps you should show it to more.
An unnoticed soul is a restless soul.

[AspiringAuthor]

Gabapentin improves the quality of deep sleep. I take 1200 mg plus 10 mg Melatonin and this is all i take for sleep. On most nights (Not all!!!) I can sleep. But the point is quality - I get dreams, unlike on any other sleep medicine I have tried.

Go see a sleep specialist - yours is a hard case.

[Pookyl]

I work around my sleep schedule and also around my anxiety. For whatever reason I am more agoraphobic as the day progresses so I rarely leave the house in the afternoon.

[Shazerac]

Maybe you are just one of those people that has an unusual sleep cycle. There many theories around the habit of sleeping all night in one block of time is relatively new to human behavior. (Google “second sleep”)

If you are able to function with 2 sleep periods maybe stop fighting it and don’t schedule things in the morning.

[*Laurie*]

Thank you to each of you for your input.

My pdoc has suggested melatonin, but once I took 3 nights of melatonin and while it did help me sleep, the 3rd day when I woke up I felt very depressed. I was quite sure the cause was the melatonin. I've been reluctant to take it ever since.
I think I've maxed out on diphenhydramine because I've taken it, in various forms, over years. I'm sure glad it helps you, Anrea.

key tones - my dose of Seroquel was 25 mg. ; pdoc raised it about 2 weeks ago to 75 mg. Sometimes it helps, but only a little bit. That is, I still awaken after only a few hours of sleep.

SorryShaped, I love your question. I show my art to a small group of people who are not particularly knowledgeable about art. They are appreciative, but don't give feedback or respond in detail. Thank you for such a thoughtful comment.

Author, I am currently taking 900 mg. of Gabapentin. Initially I was excited about being on it, but at this point I'm kind-of wondering why I'm on it. I don't have any side-effects, but I don't notice any positive effects, either.


Pookyl, I'm wondering if that's the key - working around my sleep schedule. I am extremely anxious when I know I have something to do before noon, in case I don't sleep much at night and need to in the morning. It's annoying, but until I can regulate my sleep, following my own schedule might be necessary.

[*Laurie*]

Originally Posted by Shazerac

Maybe you are just one of those people that has an unusual sleep cycle. There many theories around the habit of sleeping all night in one block of time is relatively new to human behavior. (Google “second sleep”)

If you are able to function with 2 sleep periods maybe stop fighting it and don’t schedule things in the morning.

Thank you, Shazerac. I will definitely google second sleep. I can (and do) schedule my life around my unusual sleep cycle; my only problem is that on Thursdays and Fridays I facilitate NAMI groups so have to leave at 11:15. Every other day works out well...it's just those 2 days, and my groups are very important to me. So it's just a matter of figuring out those 2 days.

[tecomsin]

Hi *Laurie*,

I'd be happy to feel rested at any point during the day so am not really in a position to give you advise.

Probably you have tried this already but in case not, you could set your alarm so you only nap for half and hour or an hour during the day, or even go without it altogether. This might over time help solve the falling asleep at night difficulty. Also if this is a relatively new symptom it could be that one of your meds is interfering with your sleep schedule. I personally found gabapentin sedating.

[*Laurie*]

Thanks t. I'm sorry you have a sleep problem. It really is a hell to feel sleepy all day.

This symptom is not new...for some unknown reason it began last September. At that time, I thought it was just a glitch...that it would pass. Instead, it seemed to be a new norm.
Pdoc prescribed the Gabapentin in part with the idea of it regulating my sleep. I'm frustrated because it hasn't done that...but I do feel half-asleep all day. *sigh*

Laurie - I am sorry to hear the gabbies aren’t doing the trick.

My experience with melatonin was that it seemed to work for a couple of days and crapped out on me, meaning it was just a fluke.

The only other thing I’ve got is listening to talking. I play long YouTube videos to make myself fall asleep. Talking works best for me. Mellow music is OK but sometimes it makes me feel like I’m awake all night listening (even though I’m apparently not, because when I get up I can’t recall any specific songs, even if I’m listening to my own iPod sleep mix).

White noise machines are good too, but I will never get up. They hypnotize me. If they make them now with timers I guess that might work.

If you have anything that makes a static sound, you could try that.

[*Laurie*]

Thanks kt. I used to listen to binaural beats, which did help me fall asleep. In my apartment now I don't have any way to play sound in my bedroom. (Believe it or not I don't own a cell phone that is internet connected and my only computer is an old PC.) Sometimes I do listen to binaural beat music before I actually go into my bedroom. At least it makes me feel calm before I lie down.

[Blueberrybook]

I have similar issues to yours though it varies. I will go through periods of less sleep but feeling exhausted (usually if I'm depressed, but not always and not manic). I will go to bed at 10 PM and wake around 2 AM but still feel tired. After lunch, I will have to take a nap to be able to function, even doing chores like folding laundry or cooking, much less driving. Then, it will even out, and I will go through a period of getting more like 6 hr. of sleep or becoming hypomanic and not missing the lack of sleep until it's been awhile.

My pdoc now has me on Clonidine, propanolol, and melatonin for sleep. I used to take Trazodone (helped me fall asleep though it would take an hour or more to kick in) and hydroxyzine (helped me stay asleep). That combo worked for me for a long time. Then, after a bad manic phase, it stopped working. Some years ago, I took low-dose Seroquel for sleep, and that worked for me.

Now, though, I'm on the higher dose of Seroquel, and actually, that usually knocks me out flat. I think the Clonidine & melatonin help, but really it's the Seroquel. Maybe ask your pdoc if you can try changing your sleep meds?

Otherwise, I have to function in the morning many days, getting my daughter up and ready for school, driving her to school, making morning appointments because that is the only thing that will work around my schedule (having to pick my daughter up from school in the afternoon or to get an appointment when the doctor wants to see me back or when I don't have time to wait on getting in to see a doctor, like the neurologist).

It really is inconvenient to live like this, especially on the weekends, when my husband will be home, and my daughter wants attention from one of us. He is exhausted from work (teachers have it very hard, especially teaching high school and given unreasonable demands or having an assistant principal making you his project of the year and wasting your time when you need to be doing other work stuff, so then you have to be up late at night or work on it on the weekend). Right now, it's really hard because my husband wants to do things around the house that he's had to put off during the school year since he is off work for the summer. I feel guilty if I need to sleep 3 or 4 hours during the day to function because he can't do the things he wants to do and that need doing.