Chasing my Tail

I'm BP2 and I keep getting caught in cycles. Sleep is my present problem. Had a high a couple of weeks ago, meds kept it moderate (for me) and crisis plan got me down. But then I get caught trying to catch up on the work stuff that got left behind.
When I focus, I just keep going,  Like its 32 hrs awake so far. Also, can't sleep at the moment anyway. I'm not tired of course, so I'll probably go for a few more hours (it's 8am here now). Not sure about the quality of my labours though!
I have Seroquel but hate the stuff. Maybe I'll take a long walk.
Anyone relate?
Or suggestions?

[ILADVOCATE]

Insomnia is an ever present reality with me because my medications are activating (meaning they keep you awake instead of being sedating) and its ultimately something I need to work out as well. It depends whether you are experiencing insomnia in general or if is because you feel manic. As for sleep aides Rozerem is a medication that works like melatonin to adjust the sleep cycle. You could ask your psychiatrist about that. If you feel manic and you are prescribed Seroquel for that you could ask your psychiatrist about starting it again. There are also some general guides as regards sleep hygeine. I had a sleep test and they gave me one and there are some specific ideas that would work for anyone. They probably have a similar guide posted around here as well. Excercise during the day is certainly one key to having proper sleep at night and walking is a good means of excercise.

[Germur]

I can completly relate with you.  I used to have severe insomina and my pdoc put me on serequel 25 mg an hour before bedtime.  It consistently knocks me out for very restful sleep 7-8 hours per night every night.  It helps to keep me balanced.  The serequel does not give me a rx hangover in the morning so it is working well for me.  Take care

[hell1971]

Just been there, I had two weeks of no sleep, the first week I took sleeping pills then I ran out and went 72 hours with no sleep at all, my doc has added to my mix and I am now sleeping, the first few nights were broken but last night I think I had my first sleep solid in quite some time, I had a major episode before xmas and have been mixed cycling ever since, for the first time in 2 years I feel like I am back to my old self again. Contact your doctor and see what he can do. Good luck, lack of sleep for me is the worse thing, I have too many in the house to do anything so I have to lie in bed waiting for morning its really frustrating.

[farraway]

Still up and working - done 2 weeks work in 1 day - but when do I pay the price? - I know it's soon!
But I now have to go and see a mate now who's waiting on a possible cancer diagnosis.

Actually I almost never have problems sleeping, normally I'm asleep in 1 min - trouble is, I know I'll sleep for 10-12 hours tonight and wake up with an all day headache.
I have Seroquel in my crisis pack (25 & 100mg) and can use up to 150mg without authorisation from my psychiatrist. Must check the use-by date as I never use them except when I'm high and even then reluctantly.

[adel_ezz]

Seroquel is efficient i guess, it helps me sleeping, to the extent that others take it for sleep and not for BP synptoms. Mind you sometimes i have insomnia for a few days and not manic it's when you are exited or restless that you experience this. You shouldn't relate everything to BP. I would think racing thoughts and nervousness due to work problems can cause this and even more. Try to exercise before going to sleep but leave a 2 hrs span before sleeping. Consider calming stuf like chamomile it's soothing and will calm you down. I think talk here to a pharmacist and not to a pdoc.

Finally watch out for mania because as ILADVOCATE said if you start to be manic then goodbye for sleep but i suppose you would know this right away, you will eat more feeling more sex desires, spending etc...but since you are BP2 perhaps not unless you overmedicate yourself with antidepressants they can drive you up easily in which case watch your psych meds
I would say try first natural herbs in your situation
good luck
ezz

[ILADVOCATE]

Actually I would agree but natural remedies are unsafe and unproven. If you mean herbal tea though that's fine. As for mood stabilization I would stick with known treatments. And for sleep aides its the same as regards natural remedies. Valerian actually kept me up all night. They are all "unknowns". My psychiatrist did allow me to try melatonin but now that there is Rozerem which is an FDA approved medication that is a sleep aide that works exactly like it my psychiatrist does allow me to take it "as needed" and that is worth asking a psychiatrist about unless the insomnia is coming from the overlying moodswings in which case they need to address that.

[farraway]

Update is I have just awoken from an 8 hr sleep - so I had 45 hrs with no sleep - bad headache but feel better if you know what I mean. Work pressures are ok so I'm having the day off with a scheduled lunch with an old mate, bonus is that he owns the restaurant so I get the proverbial free lunch!
I am on ILADVOCATE's side in regard to natural remedies, not so sure about the unsafe remark though. I think natural remedies are ok, but they should be taken in conjunction with prescribed meds.
I've never bothered with natural remedies, I really only take meds as a last resort, like the aspirin I'll be taking shortly. I take my BP meds religously of course.
Good point about overmedicating with antidepressants.

[ILADVOCATE]

Actually I do take some natural remedies. But they are administered by my providers. To take an example of something that many people would take saw palmetto for prostatitis. That was suggested by my urologist. I would not describe the psychiatric ones because I don't want them to appear to be suggestions. Things worked two ways. Before my current recovery, I did try some natural remedies on my own and they were unsafe. And the website was about "natural mood stabilizers" but some of them were harmful and it did appear clinically accurate. Everything I take now has been studied by either my psychiatrist or neurologist from clinical studies on the web. They still are an unknown quantity in terms of FDA approval but I trust the judgment of my providers (who work in standard clinical practice). I haven't experienced any bad results and yes they are in addition to standard medication. The antipsychotic agent I take is from a Phase II FDA study so that's another issue in itself as its within the confines of a clinical study and the risk is there but the benefit for science. And all were when standard treatments failed. And I do take standard medications as well. Its just everything should be under the supervision of a psychiatrist. People should not self medicate with what they can find at their local health food store and the internet has only increased that. I never tried to over ride my provider's judgment and when I did before recovery the results were a good lesson into never doing it again. As for standard medications I take what my doctors think is neccessary. I go to a doctor if I am sick not to ask for antibiotics as I've seen some people do. With everything its a matter of personal responsibility.

[farraway]

Agree, agree ILADVOCATE  – I hope to equal your medical knowledge one day!
Some time ago my psychologist “challenged me to learn” all about my illness and medications, so I have!
I’ve been getting more and more interested as I’ve studied. I even got permission to visit our city psychiatic library and my GP gets any book I need delivered to his practice near me.
Funny though, take Lithium, its been in psychiatric use for nearly 60 years now and would absolutely dwarf any other mood stabiliser or antipsychotic drug in studies, literally thousands of studies. But what amases me is there is still more to do in terms of study. So what about these “new” anti-psychotics?
An opinion I am now forming, is an anxiousness about the diversity of treatments bipolars get from their psychiatrists (certainly not all). I attend a BP group and also other BP related lectures and so have met many in our fraternity. But I just shudder at times when told of the meds they are on. There was a recent study stating nearly 30% of psychiatrists wrongly prescribe antipsychotics where mood stabilisers were more suitable. Lesson here? - LEARN

[adel_ezz]

Hi

Your last sentence :

>>"There was a recent study stating nearly 30% of psychiatrists wrongly prescribe antipsychotics where mood stabilisers were more suitable" >>

And since bipolars who do not take medication tend to deteriorate significantly over time, and the longer the bipolar goes without medication the worse the illness becomes. i.e. BP cannot be successfully treated without meds, it just means my old pdoc who prescribed antipsychotics only for me was quite mistaken and that i should be put rather on MS which i started recently only to use. Apparently it's not only him who does this mistake but 30% of them. Sure there is a reason for them to do it especially they are pdocs and not GP's. Possibly they think if you sedate long enough the pt he may improve with time which contradicts with the fact that the illness becomes worse with time.
thanks for reminding me

ezz