Sleeping issues + meds

Hi! I've been sleeping 3 hours a day for the past 6 days. I feel a little bit worried cause this is an early sign of an hypomanic phase (I have bipolar II). My pdoc has just adjusted my meds to prevent that. I must see improvement in the following days... if not, my pdoc wants me to start taking lithium. I am already taking Depakote, Abilify, Trileptal and Klonopin. Do you think I am taking too much meds? Should I be concerned about this?
I was dx with bipolar about a month ago, after been having troubles for about 11 yrs. without a dx and with only symptoms treatments by useless pdocs. I only wish this pdoc I'm seeing now is correct and I can finally have a more stable life and return to my studies.
Thank you for letting me vent

Hi cat eyes... I'm sure you already know that, if this is a recent thing then it could be a sign of a hypomanic episode. Have you just recently started or increased any of your meds? Of course that could affect your sleep habits. Also my pdoc tells me that insomnia is a common thing with the bipolar.... to me that's a very ominous and disheartening statement. Like no matter how good you try to be about sleep habits, it's still gonna be crappy for the rest of your life. Sometimes those kinds of statements just overwhelm me. Could I be losing sleep over that?

I've been having sleep issues too. I know that usually sleep patterns are a warning of what is to come - depression, mania, hypomania, whatever. Right now though, I'm not quite sure what's going on with me. Some nights I fall asleep right away, and other nights I'm up for hours. Others I wake up many times throughout the night. In any of these cases, I have a very, very, very hard time waking up in the morning. I started taking my meds in the morning so that none of them would keep me up at night, and that helped for a little while, but now it's worse than ever. On the nights I can't fall asleep, I take Sonata, but whether I take it or not, I still can't wake up on time. I'm meeting with my pdoc tomorrow so hopefully she'll help me figure out a solution... she's already tried increasing the Lamictal, and she prescribed me the Sonata. I'm on 5 other meds for various things, but I'm pretty sure that by now my body has adjusted to all of it. No matter how I sleep, I am tired all the time. But I don't feel depressed at all. I think I may be stressed because of family issues, but this doesn't seem to be the beginnings of a depression. Besides the constant sleepiness, I'm feeling pretty okay these days.

So, like you cat eyes, my concern is that I'm on too many meds. But I really think your pdoc is the only one who can answer your question... I really really hope that mine gives me a solution that actually helps this time.

On a side note, I think I've made a little bit of progress because I'm not sitting here beating myself up because I overslept, haven't made it into work yet, etc, etc. But I would really really like these sleep problems to go away.

Good luck cat eyes, and thanks for letting me vent too

RK

Hi Rk!

I'm so sorry you are having so much difficulties with your sleep. Now that I am sleeping only 3 hours, what happens is that I get to sleep at night and then after 3 hours I wake up completely rested and alert. I can't get back to sleep again so I get up and don't return to bed until the next night. I was recently changed from Risperdal (which kept me as a zombie) to Abilify. According to my pdoc, Abilify is not the responsible for my lack of sleep, but just in case I am taking it in the morning. She also told me that if I can't sleep normally in a few more days, then she will change (gradually) the Depakote for the lithium. So I will not be taking more meds but the same number.

Before I had this trouble sleeping I used to sleep at all times and was always sleepy, so I can understand how you feel now when you want to wake up in the morning. That was such an impossible task for me too.

I'm glad that you have managed to understand that you don't deserve to beat yourself for this problem . I think this makes things a lot easier for you. I'm sorry you are having family trouble that generates stress. I wish that that stress could be lowered somehow so you could feel better.

Good luck to you too!

cat eyes - were you taking all of these meds before you started seeing this new pdoc? ie, did you only start all of these only in the past month?

if so, then it does seem a little excessive for someone with bipolar 2. just because a lot of meds take time to work and so the effects might only be starting to kick in now.

i have bipolar 2 or 3 (not sure if it's due to antidepressants, or if it really is underlying) but atm, i'm only taking lithium. i will probably add an antidepressant soon.

I have been taking Depakote and Trileptal since about November. I started on Abilify about a month ago (it was prescribed instead of Risperdal). And I have been on Klonopin for about a year.

Last year I was having an antidepressant (Lexapro) but didn't help at all. I even suspect it made me have su thoughts but I'm not sure. Now I'm not taking any antidep.

Depakote was first prescribed to me because an abnormal activity I have on my brain. But now I know that it also helps the bipolar thing.

I can't believe it had to pass 11 yrs. to finally get a dx. I surely hope it is an accurate one, although everything seems to fit in it.

Babe, you are on some serious meds all at once!!! I am Bipolar II and I am on lithium......but at the beginning I was on olanzipine as well....

This combo worked a treat.........but if i didn't sleep, well there was nothing I could really do about it.......I would go in cycles as well with sleep.......I have tried EVERYTHING. I have not had a proper nights sleep for 15 years.......probably why my physical health is so bad now......

I just don't really pay any attention anymore........I still only get about 4 hours a night(broken) BUT the olanzipine did help initially with sleep and the anti-psychotic properties staved off the crazies when I couldn't.

I have a feeling that you are over medicated.......I am not a doctor but, man, how does your body know what its doing?

Good luck and keep safe........

Michah, thanks for your concern about all the meds I'm taking. I've done a little research on my own and have found it isn't that uncommon to have such a combo. They even add another one: an antidepressive. I suppose once a person gets leveled out and controled, they can start taking off some of the meds and end up with just one or two. Just my theory, don't know a bit about this!

But I was soooo sick for the past year and a half that I had to be medicated with all these things. I hope my pdoc is right and I don't have any complications.

I'm so sorry you've had that much trouble sleeping all those years. It must be really hard to be like that. Good thing that you've learned to not pay attention to it anymore. I was too on olanzapine for some time but I gained a LOT of weight. I gained 60+ lbs and have only lost 20 of them by now. I hope you don't have that problem.

Good luck to you too!

Well cat... I am also bipolar II. I feel like I am reading about me in what you wrote. I also take Trileptal as my primary mood stabilizer. I also take Lamictal, Risperdal, and a small dose of Seroquel to sleep at night. I have been on Abilify but wasn't having good results so it was discontinued. I have been having problems lately after having reached a period of relative stability for a few months. My pdoc basically said to me that Lithium is my only option left to try to get control. What are your reasons for hesitating taking the lithium??? Just interested in your thoughts about it. I'm sorry you're having trouble right now. I know all too well that it's a horrible struggle every day. Hang in there!

Something I should have mentioned.......I have serious thyroid issues which affect sleep as well........I came off olanzipine when I felt like it with monitoring from my shrink, so I was on it for about 6 months and whilst I was in hospital. Yes......good old weight gain!!

I am sure your doc has a good reason for all your meds........as with most things we are sometimes not privvy to the working minds of our health professionals!!........just wondered if it was an adjustment thing, hypomanic thing or many, many meds thing?(re: sleep or lack of).

The thing is, if it is all working for you then........who are we to question? I say take the stillness while you can!!!! Sorry, I just never heard of so many meds for bipolar II

I am sending you some deserved ZZZZZZZZ's babe.......

Indeed we are having equivalent treatments gravyyy. About the lithium question, I think that Depakote is the preferred choice of my pdoc but she said if I continue being sleeping so little, she will change it for lithium. I know that Depakote and lithium must be monitored as in how much of them we have in the blood. They must be withing certain concentrations in order to be effective and don't have problems. If we have more of them than a certain value, it can be dangerous (I haven't get to know what dangerous means). The difference between Depakote and lithium is that lithium has a narrower "safety concentration values", so it must be administered and monitored more carefully. Maybe that is why my pdoc prefered Depakote first, jmo. But as long as any of the two is within safety values one should not have any problem at all. I really hope you can get a more stable situation with lithium. Please let me know how it goes . I'm just curious, how long have you been ill and when were you diagnosed as bipolar II? You too hang in there! I think there must always be a solution to this problem

I too have thyroid problems: I have hypothyroidism so I need to take a med for it (one more to the list!). Do you also take a med for it? Are you being checked with certain regularity for your thyroid hormone levels? I am supposed to be controlled by now, so this is supposed to not be contributing to the problem anymore.

To be sincere, I had not even thought about asking my pdoc if this whole list of meds is just for adjustment and if it will get smaller in time. That's a question I will certainly ask her when I see her next time.

Thank you for the ZZZZZZZZZZZZ's I hope this gets fixed soon!
Sending you healing vibes

Hi i'm new to this and been having sleep problems too. I'm on abilify and prozac and seem ok till just recently. I wake up very early in the mornings. Lithium is the only thing left for me so says my pdoc. I'm extremly tired of the weight gain that comes with these meds.

I have goiter babe........genetic condition.......am on Eutroxig(thyroxine) to try to bring it down. I am seeing an Endo at the end of march to try and get an official diagnosis as I also have symptoms of adrenal fatigue.......

Who knows??!!! This is the sickest I have ever been in my life.......even the bipolar has taken a back seat although I do see my psychologist for regular deposits in the mental bank.

Some question from my medical ranks that bipolar may be caused by thyroid problems.......man, the stuff I have read would make your hair stand on end.......scary stuff.(you probably already know it!)

So I try to have the patience of Job while my body tries to pull itself apart.......my skin is the only thing holding me together.......and wait to see what the powers that be say.........

I am standing on the event horizon.........I have a feeling that my life is going to get very tricky soon.......some really good......some really bad.

We shall see.......

I'm so sorry that you are struggling so much with your thyroid problem . This disease can really mess us up real hard. I was lucky enough to have found it when it started about a year and a half ago and that the med I take for it has worked pretty well.

I have read really scary stuff about it too. For example, I have read that, when someone shows signs of bipolar, they have to be tested for thyroid problems since this can mimic all the symptoms of bipolar. Were you tested when bipolar was first dx'ed?

I know you feel pretty ill right now but as you say, you need to be patient in order to this illness to be controlled. Once it gets controlled -when they find the correct amount of med you need to take- everything gets in order and you feel so much better. I wish you get to this point as soon as possible. Have you and your Endo thought about getting your thyroid removed? Is that an option? In my case my thyroid isn't working at all since I had Hashimoto's disease, a disease where my own body attacks the thyroid and makes it useless. That's why I now have hypothyroidism and need to take this med for life.

Good luck with you app with your Endo. You'll see you will find a solution to this problem soon!

Hi niecy. I'm too extremely tired of the weight gain! It's so difficult to maintain control to be also struggling with weight issues. I am right now trying to get rid of a lot of weight I gained with some med. I have already lost a third of it, but find it really difficult since I am not doing any kind of exercise. I know I should, but I just can't do it. So I think all we can do is to keep an eye of whatever comes into our mouths to stop this weight increase. Take care, and I hope you and you pdoc can find a way for you to sleep better.

Today I talked by the phone with my pdoc and told her I'm still having trouble sleeping. She told me to take Nozinan, this is an anti-psychotic sedative that has worked for me at other times. I just hope it doesn't knock me out too much and can finally have a normal sleep pattern. If that doesn't work either, then I will change to lithium and let out the depakote. This nozinan isn't sold in the US, only in Canada and here in Mexico, so I think you may not know it. Please wish me luck with it

Hi--reading through this I was a little confused as it seemed to say your doc said there were no other options as far as meds. There are SO MANY other options. Geodon, Seroquel, Topamax, & many others & I think you mentioned Depakote, but then there are all the combos too with Lamictal, Trazodone, anti-depressants, anti-anxieties, dosage adjustments, etc. It took me a year of trial & error to get my "cocktail" of meds.

Lithium caused kidney malfunction. Geodon knocked me out so much that I fell asleep while driving. Depakote helped with the agitation but not with the depression (was in a mixed state--bipolar 1).

Ended up on Abilify, Lamictal, Provigal, Klonopin (at night), Concerta (ADHD), Trazodone (at night to help with insomnia). Also do individual therapy & dialectial behavioral therapy which I think are as essential as medication.

Good luck & all my best.--Suzy

I'm sorry I wasn't clear enough. It is not that my pdoc has no other med options. She is starting to find the correct meds cocktail for me and that is why she is starting with these specific meds I said in here. I suppose they are the meds she prefferes to prescribe but I also think if they don't work, she will go to the other ones available for this disease.
Good luck to you too... it seems you are in the right track of healing!

cat eyes - just came back here to add - i know that for some people (including myself) too many meds can actually be bad for you. at one point i was taking 2 antidepressants, a mood stabiliser and an antipsychotic and faring v. poorly.

eventually pdoc and i agreed to stop all of those meds and just continue on the AD for a while, and i have been doing a lot better.

I'm inclined to agree, Cat, that the cocktail of meds you're taking seems a little excessive. But, as someone else has already said, who am I to question if it's working for you?

As far as sleep ... I struggle with the sleep thing, as I cycle. Currently taking 50 mg Seroquel at nigh to induce sleep. I take Effexor (75 mg), which apparently can have an 'activating' effect (in my case promotes to insomnia), so instead of taking it at night (like I did with the Celexa when I was on it) I take it in the morning. It worked, initially. But, now sleep doesn't come as easily anymore ... despite the Seroquel. Its like my brain won't shut off or something. I do suppose thats cuz I'm cycling ... into a hypomania.

So, me thinks me needs a mood stabilizer, which I have avoided like the plague cuz of the nasty side effects. Doc mentioned Lithium a few months ago ... but it would affect my thyroid (I'm hypo) too much. Also its sort of nephrotoxic, so I wanna avoid that. And the shakes ... people get the shakes from Li, too. Soooo ... now I am thinking Depakote. I think it may relieve my hypomania and the intensity of my anger/agitation. I find I am so sensitive to stress (and there has been LOTS in my life of late) ... it just sends me into mania ... blah blah.

Best wishes to you all on your journey to healing and stabilization.

I can't be on an AD cause I eventually get hypomanic or mixed. I know it seems I am taking too many meds but I have to trust this pdoc and adapt to this combo. I thank you very much for your concern and am happy for you 'cause you can manage with just one med. That sounds great!

I'm sorry that you have that much trouble sleeping. It is for sure a good idea to start taking a mood stabilizer. At least, if it doesn't help with sleep, it will help with your cycling (some mood stabilizers cause somnolence).

Tonight was the first time I slept for more than 4 hours a night in one week. I don't know if I feel better... I have to wait more days to know. What I noticed is that I am feeling really irritable... is there a way to feel better faster than this?... I just hate it!

Thank you for your wishes . I also wish you find a good solution for your problem asap.

- Cat

I hate it!!!!!!

I JUST HATE IT !!!!!!!!!!!

ooh sorry about that. i didnt mean to suggest that my treatment would work for you also. i get hypomanic from certains ADs (SSRIs, mainly) so i know how much that would suck.

i'm glad you're able to trust your pdoc . it's so important to be able to do so.

just wondering how your sleep issues are going atm? sorry if you mentioned it earlier in this thread - i've skimmed a bit but can't really concentrate much today, i'm afraid .

Don't worry, I did not felt you were suggesting me to use AD's... I just made a comment about them.
Last night I got 6 hrs of sleep, which is way lot better than the previous week, where I was sleeping like 3 hours a night. The curious thing is that I feel more tired today than the previous days. Maybe it's because of the new med I was given to sleep better... I don't know... I also feel irritable but I will have to wait until Tues to talk by phone to my pdoc and tell her all this. Maybe by that time I don't feel that bad.
Sorry you can concentrate today, but trust me, I understand completely. There are times where I can't even read a paragraph of a book or a post. What I do is to take it easy and wait for a better time to do that. Just try to be patient