Insomnia - Is it meds or is it bipolar?

Hi, I'm a new member. I have a problem I hope others might have advice for. I am on a sleeping rollercoaster and I need help. Either I sleep 8 or more hours a night or like tonight no sleep for me yet (it is 2:30am here) and if I fall asleep it won't be for long. Some nights my dreams are so strong and real I wake up exhausted and other nights I really don't dream at all.

I know that depression and bipolar affect sleep. And stress. And ADHD. And anxiety. And meds.

At night I take celexa + trazodone + abilify about 2 hours before I go to bed.

How do you figure out what's what????

Hi perky. Since the storm i've gone from no sleep to about 2-3 hours of sleep and now at about 5 hours sleep.

My doc put me last year on trazodone. It did help me sleep a little longer but made my nightmares a whole hell of a lot worse. So i instantly stopped taking it.

Then besides the depression, anxiety, and ptsd. I found out i was bipolar. That the storm i'm told put it over the edge.

Insomnia is a sucky thing to live with. You should talk to your pdoc and let him know what is going on. There's a way to help you get a decent amount of sleep a night and every night.

I wish you the best on getting this one all cleared up.

chalmette

thanks for your thoughts. I have never been thru a hurricane. I can't imagine the grief.

I am working with my pdoc but the weekly med adjustments haven't gotten to the right combo yet. I don't have nightmares but i do have dreams that are so real i wake up exhausted.

I can appreciate a trigger that takes you over the top. Mine was that my husband of 24 years left me last year. Going thru a divorce.

I have depression now bipolar ii, adhd, and anxiety.

perky

I have major insomnia with bipolar I & that makes me go into hypomania--sometimes that can last for months & then I get into trouble when I suddenly drop into a depression & do something like overdose on pills which I did 2 years ago. I'm still not sleeping much despite some very sedating drugs but I'm afraid of taking too many more (like doc wants to add Seroquel--no thanks).

Taking Abilify, Lamictal, Trazodone, Klonopin, Topamax, & Concerta for ADHD. Also have low thyroid. & pernicious anemia.

But have to admit I'm like a drug addict addicted to speed in that I hate to be lethargic & it seems the more I sleep the more tired & groggy I am during the day. The hypomanic me just feels so much better than the sedated me...

I just have to watch for the suicidal thoughts...Suzy

It could be any of a number of things, though I would bring it up with your doctor. For the last 10 or so years, I had been existing on any where from 2 to 8 hours of sleep a night, mostly 2 the 8 every now and again.

I know with me, my brain can not let go of problems and does not stop for anything. And that would wake me up a lot, lay down and up in 2 hours ready to go. It was not until last year when my doctor put me on Mirtazapine, which is supposed to help with my depression, that I actually started to get a consistent nights sleep. And even now, when I run out because my refill has not arrived (I get them from the V.A in the mail) I am right back to 2 hours sleep. But lately I have started to wake up every couple of hours but able to go back to sleep.

Which in it's self can be rather interesting, one of the possible side effects of the medication is to hallucinate, which has happened to me a couple of times.

But I guess it could be from all that you mentioned

Abilify always made me hyper you may wont to try taking it in the morning .Trazodone is use to help you far asleep not stay asleep there many meds. that will help you stay asleep out there .i never sleep though the night ever in till I got on the right meds. .You have to remember that everyone will is different so what makes one person sleep may make another hyper you have to work with you doctor get your meds to work right for you To many people will just do what the doctor says and never give them any feed back .Mental heath meds are a guessing game and left on their own doctor will guess wrong most of the time .