Thanks to everyone for such amazing and insightful comments on the Mania and Sleep blog post. The topic is obviously so important. It really is such a chicken and the egg problem. I can be in bed and unable to sleep and I have to go through my list- am I just wound up because I stayed out late? Will I get to sleep eventually? Is it possible it’s agitated depression? What if it’s hypomania?
Then I have to truly assess if I will actually get to sleep if i just lie there. I listen to my Ipod podcasts – which helps a lot. I do sleep exercises (counting something!) and breathing. I do it all! And if I’m still awake, I say to myself. “Ok Julie, it’s essential that you sleep at least seven hours. Take your sleep meds!”
Why is it such a struggle? I think we all want to just sleep normally and bipolar can make this super hard- so the chicken and the egg- does the sleep trouble come from a trigger than can then lead to bipolar symptoms- or does the bipolar make it hard to sleep!
If you look at the blog post below, you will see a small button at the top of the post where you can click to read the comments. Wow, I learn so much from everyone.
Julie
A mania tip: If you are slightly manic and go to a crowded beach all day- it can increase the mania because of the sunlight. Wear super dark glasses and sit under an umbrella. Isn’t it amazing that the sun can affect us so strongly!
I have had such a hard time getting to sleep that I started getting neurotic about it. I would begin to cry if I didn’t start to go to sleep within 15 minutes. I have been the whole gamit. It ta. It takes more than loads of seroquel, trileptal, ambien and trazedone all at one time to get me to sleep sometimes. It takes an act of God, or a great idea that He gave me one night as I lay awake, AGAIN. I keep a bag of gummi bears by my bed. If I can’t sleep, I put one gummi in my mouth and try to not bite the gummi. It’s very hard to not bite a gummi. Invariably I bite it. So I try another, and I maybe last a little longer. Well, the beauty of the whole “gummi therapy” as I call it, is that it takes my worries off of “will I get to sleep?” on to something totally mindless and often I fall asleep within 3-5 gummis. There is one drawback however, dentists aren’t too keen on this plan, and sometimes I wake up with a gummi sharing my pillow. But, I figure those are small prices to pay for the sleep and peace that an innocent gummi can bring.
I find then if I truly am really manic to the hilt, it will out do the gummi therapy, but if I am only worried that I am manic, the gummi will lead the way to sleep and put me to rest.
I hope this is helpful. Everyone I have ever told about my little invention has told me it works. I think they sure taste better than pills too.
“One day we’ll have Nintendo Wii v.6 Home PET scanners. And we can see on the spot how the BP is doing, in 3-D. We will watch our own thoughts in HD. Just ain’t now. But my children, if I am so lucky, even with BP, will have the scanners and make it okay in the world.”
I like the way you think!
Indy
Bipolar in the Family group
mdjunction
I have started using a Day Light therapy light. While without careful monitoring, light therapy can actually trigger mania~similar to using an antidepressant~the lights do actually have great benefits around sleeping.
They can help you reset your circadian rhythm, and help you control what time you get sleepy. Both my doctor and psychiatrist supported me trying it~I’m not currently on an antidepressant, but do take a mood stabilizer~and since I started using it I have noticed that I fall asleep so much easier at night. I use it first thing in the morning and by 10:30 or 11PM I am in bed, and I fall asleep so fast. No more laying there for an hour or two wondering “am I going to need seroquel to sleep tonight?”
For more info check out http://www.cet.org, the Center for Environmental therapies. They have tests to see what time your body naturally wants to sleep, when your melatonin onset is, and research on using lights for both SAD and non seasonal mood disorders, which is becoming more popular and for me, it has been really beneficial