Sleep,,,and lack thereof,,

I'm starting to wake up earlier and earlier.  I take Ambien to get to sleep and usually sleep about 5-6 hours a night.  But I work 40 per week and take Ativan 3 times a day so the added drowsiness doesn't help anything.  Should I be worried that a small change like this (from 8 hours a night to 5-6hrs/night) should be relayed to my doctor?

[Sandtiger]

I'd definitely at least let your doc know, and chart your moods pretty closely for a while. I took a med once that made me dream constantly, which is almost as bad as not sleeping at all, and I was okay for a while ... until about two months late, when I had a cascade breakdown. It sent my cycles on a tailspin and really messed me up, hitting all at once it seemed.
When I was put on a sleep med in addition to it, and actually got the right sort of sleep I needed, I balanced back out fairly quickly [or at least, quickly for me].

[adel_ezz]

i would watch other issues like spending sprees and especially eating habits, energy too. you can slip into hypomania. this is how it starts with me.

However sometimes, there is some change like you are over exited from something or your biological clock for some reason is altered or you are expecting something to happen, unfortunately so many factors intervene. don't worry until your mood changes dramatically, but i would give a ring to my pdocs to inform him and see whether he is alarmed like you.  

[hummingbirdT]

I have tried 3 different sleep medications in the past 2 weeks and the 3rd one worked and is giving me 7-8 hours of sleep, without waking up 3x a night. It's called Seroquel. Good luck on your search. A little Valerian doesn't hurt, either.

[rogelio63]

Thanks everyone, I'll let my Psych NP know about it.  I may be a little hypomanic right now or going that direction.  I'll be on the lookout for it.