I can’t take the exhaustion...

Hello all, I’m new to the site. I’m 28, a registered nurse, wife to an Army man, and mother of 4. I was diagnosed last year with Bipolar following a 22 day hospital stay for mania followed by a deep dark depression. Thankfully I’ve had no mania since but I’ve been depressed for a year. My biggest complaint is the exhaustion....I sleep 10-12 hours a night and take a 2 hour nap every day and I still feel like I haven’t slept in months. I have zero motivation to do ANYTHING. I can’t focus at all. I have a lot on my plate and I need to be able to function like I used to. I just can’t take being so tired anymore. I’m currently on 600mg Lithium, 3mg Vraylar, 100mg Zoloft, and 150mg Wellbutrin. Am I just over medicated or is this how others feel?? Does anyone have any advice? Thanks I’m advance.

Hi Mep291. Welcome to Psych Central. I am sorry to hear you are depressed. That sounds rough. I do not know what the answer is but if you have been depressed for a year then that is a long time.

Talk to doctor and tell them mania is not the problem but a long period of depression marked by no energy.

Ask them what medicines or treatments (TMS and or ECT) might be considered. Drug resistant depression may require TMS or ECT to get out of the deep dark place. These can in some cases be done outpatient.

It is hard to say what is wrong, but I think most people would agree something is not working to help you keep stable. It is time to start speaking up until someone listens. If this doc does not know how to help you get through this then maybe another one does.

You might indeed need a med change, most meds seem to just stop working over time

I know you are a nurse but have you had a full physical and FULL thyroid panels?? If your thyroid is abnormal , that could factor into you depression... Lithium can easily kill it..

Welcome to PC

Your posts sounds like me recently: I'd sleep 10 hours a night and still take a 2 hour nap during the afternoon. I agree: have your thyroid checked but also you could have sleep apnea- the apnea will wake you up without you knowing it several times a night and thus the sleepy feeling during the day. Not unheard of if the bipolar meds have had you put on some weight. (Like so many of us!)

Thanks so much for responding. I just had a physical and blood work, I was hoping it would show something but it was all normal. I like my nurse practitioner but I’m not sure if she understands how bad I feel. I tend to go with the flow, so maybe I need to be more assertive. My mania was VERY bad...I just about lost everything. But I’ve been low low ever since and we seem to be focusing primarily on preventing another manic episode.