The cool insomnia club #2

Good morning, everybody! I hope you all have a wonderful Friday!

i read this forum, including this thread a few times a day. am 74 yr. old happily married, female, diagnosed with hypomania about 40 yrs. ago with no depression on my bipolar spectrum and take 1/2 of .05mg. klonopin in the am for my anxiety... this may be long as i type and think, but i'm completely serious when i ask why this is called the `cool' insomnia club...long before covid, i began having insomnia (i do everything necessary for good sleep nightly; work out at a gym every morning, no alcohol/drugs, regular bedtime, blackout drapes, noise machine, etc.) for several weeks i've now added an additional 1/2 of the .05mg. klonopin, along with my usual 15mg. temezepam and 100mg. progesterone. now even take a hot bath 90 min. before bedtime as i've read that helps with good sleep. even with all my sleep protocols in place, there are some nights i don't sleep well...when i don't get those 8-9 hrs. of sleep (med-induced) i am totally wrecked the next morning and must get back into bed and make up for those lost hours of sleep. i can usually make up for those lost hours....so i'm wanting to know what meds you take for sleep and how some of you get through the next day with little or no sleep. it sure doesn't feel `cool' to be part of this insomnia group when i am completely miserable when i have lost several hours of sleep. sometimes i go to other bedroom and that allows me to fall asleep. i'm open to what any of you would like to share regarding these horrible nights of insomnia. thanks so much.

Welcome to this thread Trnrmom

I've been prescribed temazepam for sleep and diazepam. I've heard about hot baths being good for sleep, I have not tried this. Some people use lavender (I think). Nights with no sleep are no ''fun'' for sure

Thank you Breaking Dawn! I hope you have a great Friday too

The most popular over the counter meds are melatonin ( I use 10mg tablets or chewable s) and the new thing is zzzzaquil . St. John’s wart is another OTC one but there can be serious side effects with that one.

Some states have legalized pot and there’s some verities that induce sleep.

Other wise there’s sleep meds, and AP that are used but have to have a doctors prescription.

They do not have legalised pot at all in this country. I wish they had....

I got about 6 hours of sleep again last night. Hope I get more tonight...

I called it "cool "because why not? Insomnia is just dreadful on every level.

Everyone struggling on often a daily basis I feel like if we don't find something to do or laugh about while we are all awake far to much is just a way to express how we are..

Im sorry your struggling for sleep, Sleep is such a HUGE part of Bipolar stability. I hope you get some great quality sleep asap

Hey Guys , gals , pal's , friends and fellow insomniacs

Well I am still getting too much sleep, 12-14 hours a night .These meds are the cause and just increased a couple of them. Altho I am sleeping you all know its not quality natural sleep, I'm am dragging all day , everyday...

Ive been dreaming, odd dreams tho, some are interesting to say the least.. I hope I can try and remember them when I wake up. Id love to share them...

Anyone have any interesting dreams lately ??

Sleepy hugs to everyone

christina: you're right: we need something to joke about and i've got a lot of sarcasm and humor thrown in with my bipolar...i just posted because it seems the majority of those of you with insomnia seem to manage without sleep and for me, it just shuts me down totally that i've got to get into bed the following morning and do whatever, without meds, to catch up on that lost sleep. i know the majority of us have struggled with insomnia long before covid and now, it seems like a decent night's sleep is but a memory, just like our former lives are memories, before covid affected us all on so many levels...i do have concerns about the increasing mental health toll it's taking now and in the future...but for now, let's hope we all get a decent night's sleep: so little to ask for....

I have extremely interesting dreams but they fade away, so I can't remember them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~Christina Hey Guys , gals , pal's , friends and fellow insomniacs Well I am still getting too much sleep, 12-14 hours a night .These meds are the cause and just increased a couple of them. Altho I am sleeping you all know its not quality natural sleep, I'm am dragging all day , everyday... Ive been dreaming, odd dreams tho, some are interesting to say the least.. I hope I can try and remember them when I wake up. Id love to share them... Anyone have any interesting dreams lately ?? Sleepy hugs to everyone

I sleep 12 - 14 hours, too. It's broken in half by about an hour, but it all comes out to 12 - 14.

I had a dream that an ex forced me to allow him to live with me. I was heartbroken and angry because he carelessly messed up my apartment
There's a silly law in this state that if someone receives mail at your residence for 3 months they are considered to live there and cannot be kicked out - even if they're abusive.

In the dream it has been 3 months, so I was stuck living with him. *shivers*

do you take both temezepam and diazepam together...what mg. or dose do you take of each med. and do you take them every night or as needed. i took at 10 min. hot bath 90 min. before bedtime per online info and baths really seem to help even tho i still take 1/2 of .05mg klonopin, 15mg temezepam and 100mg progesterone; the progesterone makes for some very vivid dreams.

At the moment I'm cutting down. I take them every night. I think they would ''work'' if taken as needed. I used to usually take either temazepam (20mg) without diazepam for sleep, or if I couldn't sleep still, I took diazepam as well. I find piriton (which can be bought otc) helpful, it possibly ''augments'' the diazepam or temazepam. That's just me though. It's also prescribe for me (skin allergies and hay fever)

Tonight just sucks. I’ve been up since 9:30. I fell asleep at 5. I tried getting some water 10 minutes ago and my body said “not today satan” and I could only stand for less then a minute and I couldn’t even make it to the bathroom so now I’m back in bed really having to pee but in too much pain to get back out of bed.

thanks for the response. my `experiment' of soaking in hot tub for 10 min. 90 min. before bedtime seems to really help with the meds. i'm female, 74 yrs. of age. WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM OTHERS WHAT MEDS/DOSES THEY TAKE ON A REGULAR BASIS...i don't think i will ever be able to sleep again without meds...esp. when my anxiety is so high with covid, my age, other health issues, etc.

Well. I have had a problem with sleep for years and years. Was on Trazodone and Seroquel as an adolescent, and an adult. Now I am on 100 mg of Trazodone per night and it isn't working so I secretly take 2 because of the ineffectiveness of just one 100 mg. It's that bad. I have trier everything under the sun. Melatonin. Unisom. Clonidine. You name it... But not much helps. Now I will say Trazodone DOES work but I feel I need Seroquel too, because once I was on that combo and I finally slept like a baby! I will talk to my psychiatrist. Also thinking I may have ADHD undiagnosed which affects sleep. Either way just venting. My name is Ashley. Nice to meet you guys. God Bless!

I got almost 8 uninterrupted hours of sleep. First time sleeping through the night in 9 days. I slept through a decent amount of pain too. Not sure sleeping on my side all 8 hours was good. I got this tea yesterday called Lipton bedtime tea. I think it helped.

Maybe I'm not supposed to say this but the truth is that my voices keep me from being able to sleep until the body insists that I finally sleep, at unpredictable times.

6 and a half hours maybe. 3 brief panic attacks aftet bad dreams. Breathed through them. Yrs since a panic attack.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRNRMOM thanks for the response. my `experiment' of soaking in hot tub for 10 min. 90 min. before bedtime seems to really help with the meds. i'm female, 74 yrs. of age. WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM OTHERS WHAT MEDS/DOSES THEY TAKE ON A REGULAR BASIS...i don't think i will ever be able to sleep again without meds...esp. when my anxiety is so high with covid, my age, other health issues, etc.

Hi TRNRMOM, do you mean all meds? I'll tell you which psych meds I take:

Lamictal 200mg.
Perphenazine (Trilafon) 20mg.
Pristiq 75mg.
Klonopin 2mg.
Amantadine can't recall the dose (it's for tremor)

For sleep I'm been taking 12.5 mg. of Seroquel and ZzzQuil. I don't believe the Seroquel is doing anything except causing health problems, so I'm dropping it off and just using the ZzzQuil every night.

i'm specifically interested in what this group takes for sleep; i had been on 25mg seroquel/7.5mg. temazepam and 100mg. progesterone for yrs. but thought i was overdosing and morning hangovers were rough; eliminated seroquel entirely so now it's 1/2 .05 klonopin, 15mg. temezepam and 100mg. progesterone. ambient doesn't work for me; tried zzzzquell several times but i'd still be taking it if it worked. i know all of us are different but we all seem to be so desperate for a decent night's sleep and i don't know too many people who can sleep well w/o any meds...but my hubby can. thx for the response and others reading this: i'd love to read what meds work for you. i'm only hypomanic w/no depression so i can't take any antidepressant w/o it triggering mania.

The ones I can recall right now: Remeron, Serzone, trazodone, doxepin, doxylamine, Benadryl, Actifed, melatonin, Ambien, Lunesta, prosom, Restoril, Thorazine, Depressakote, Serokill, Tegretol, alcohol, several more.

Currently, on nothing. I sleep segmentally. Rarely, 8 hrs at night. Often, 4ish at night, 2 more at noon, maybe none rest of day.

I do not believe my brain is capable of being sedated any more other than with a general anesthetic. I have been manic more than 70 times, to the best of my memory. My reticular activating system and melatonin systems are clearly badly damaged, likely, permanently.

re your final paragraph above: i am sure my brain is also so very damaged but i will continue to medicate to get at least some decent sleep every night. it's so very sad to read how so many of us have been sleep deprived from our bipolar, and now compounded by the covid. terrible.....just terrible....

Yes. It is.