[costello]

I reallly hope you all aren't going to get tired of me, but I have lots of questions!

I know the sleep thing is a major issue for people dx'd with all kinds of MI. And this is so for my son too. The last two nights he hasn't slept - I don't think he slept at all. Yesterday morning he crashed at about dawn and slept for six hours. Today he zonked out at 10 am. The night before that he finally got to sleep at 2 am and slept until almost 2 pm. So, we're gradually cycling out of a "normal" wake-sleep cycle.

I wanted to avoid the whole sleep by day, wake by night thing, but for now I'm letting him sleep.

Anyway my question/observation: As he gets tired, he starts to act very much like a grumpy toddler in an adult body. It's truly awful. And like a toddler, he doesn't seem to understand that he needs sleep. He wants to hop in the car and go somewhere, anywhere and do something, anything. Then suddenly he lies down and falls asleep.

Sometimes when he's in this mood he's receptive to being tucked in and given a kiss on the head (of course, then he's up and running around the house within minutes!). Other times he's prickly and irritable and unpleasant to deal with.

Anyone else ever experience this, either as the caregiver or the insomniac? If he were an actual three year old, I'd work on soothing him to sleep. Unfortunately he's not open to soothing in these moods, and he simply begins to mock me. So I withdraw, but then he wants to continue to engage me. So I respond to him, but no matter what I say it seems to irritate him further. I feel like I'm walking on eggshells, and just let me say straight up, I'm not an eggshell-walking type. I'm blunt and to the point. And when I do manage to avoid being blunt, he knows I'm not acting like myself (he's known me all my life, after all) and that irritates him too!

[costello]

Well, I let him sleep all day. Not sure if that's the right thing to do or not. We had a gloriously beautiful day here - smack dab in the middle of winter. I had talked to my son about going for a walk today, but when I tried to wake him at 1:00, he was too tired to get up. So I left him and took my Great Dane out for the most wonderful walk in the off-leash dog park. An hour of tramping in the woods and along a stream. Then we washed the car, bought a salad and a 2011 planner and came home. It's 5 pm and he's still sleeping.

I suppose he'll be up all night-- and so will I.

[sarek]

I am not sure if this will help you any, but while looking for resources to help my gf I found this page meant for caregivers:

http://www.broadcaster.org.uk/sectio...zophrenia.html

I found it most enlightening. Emotionally many things are still difficult but at least it allows me an intellectual understanding of why she behaves the way she does.

[costello]

It is helpful. Thanks. I love the quotes at the beginning.

My son is going without meds right now, so some of it doesn't apply, but I can take what's useful and leave the rest.

[costello]

I had a fairly stern talk with him last night before I went to bed. I hated to do it, because I'm trying hard to be positive. I absolutely must have regular good sleep, or I simply can't function.

It was a difficult conversation because he kept giving inappropriate responses. I'd say I need sleep, and he'd say he can sell his Blackberry for $15. I'd repeat that I need sleep, and he'd say he could get his nose pierced for $15. I'd repeat that I need sleep, and he's say that Obama sent him an email.

Clearly he wasn't comfortable talking about it, but I had to push the issue. I asked him to try and see it from my point of view. He said he couldn't, so I described how I see it. He started talking about Blackberries, nose piercings, and Obama agan.

Finally I told him that I'd have to talk with his case manager about his moving elsewhere. That angered him. He said it felt like I was trying to beat him down. I answered that I felt beat down too, like I have to accept anything from him and I'm not even allowed to tell him what I need because he won't hear it. I told him I was already tolerating a lot of negative things from him because I believe he needs a chance to rest and heal from his latest episode. I told him that I don't believe he's deliberately violating my space, but that he can't focus well enough to think about what anyone else needs right now. But I HAVE TO SLEEP!

Anyway I thnk it ended well. And I did sleep last night, only woken twice by some noise or other he made while moving around the house, and I fell right back to sleep.