Lithium induced insomnia

[peubear]

I am taking 1200 mg Lithium Carb for help with mood swings. It is very effective and there does not seem to be a down-side except one: I've got a bad case of insomnia. Benzodiazepines and Ambien caused me to be depressed / mood-swings. On Lithium alone I am really fine -- except for the sleeping, which is a BIG problem.

Any suggestions how to get better sleep while on the lithium???

--Thanks ... Stephen

[ladysleepwalker]

Bipolar and having to take Lithium is discouraging to such a lady.  I am fighting insomnia at present and that is where the name sleepwalker comes in.  I really wish I could just sleep.  I have put out some questions and hopefully I will get some answers.

til next time

[adel_ezz]

definitely is the lithium which brought insomania

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO NOW

any idea please

[bernie40]

Oh, meant to say that i don't think its hypomania, not unless you can get a 4 hour hypomanic phase that starts at the same time 3 nights on the trot half an hour after taking the tablet.  Also definitely not showing any signs of hypomania during the day, just damn worn out, lol!

Today i would sleep, sleep, sleep - i'm shattered, sadly not going to get the opportunity.

[bernie40]

Hi,

You're right about zopiclone, i take it and make sure i'm in bed within 30 mins!

I took my lithium 3 hours earlier last night and did get a much better night, albeit not as long as I would have liked considering how little i've slept the last couple of days.

So I shall keep on with the earlier timing and as i have no committments tomorrow (thurs) I shall take a double of zopiclone tonight to make sure I get a nice long stretch of sleep.

LCC - Oh do I know the urge to nap but know that I can't because it will be bite me on the a** at bed time!   Ball of fun, hmmmmmmmm ;-) lol.

[LeftCoastChick]

I found with Zopiclone, if you didn't go to bed right after taking it, you end up staying up all night! I did, and forgot to mention, I took my Lithium at dinner last night, and got a decent 6 hours sleep. I just took my Lith. just now 4:30 my time and I am going to see what happens. I'm wiped out after having so few hours of sleep the last few days but I know if I nap, I'm never going to sleep tonight :(  Aren't the symptoms of BP just a ball of fun? (deep sarcasm here)

[monkeyc]

Ohh damn forgot to say that Lithium Insommnia is only anecdotal from everything I have read, its not a noted side effect apparently and as with all anecdotal symptoms its hard to know if its really a side effect.

When you consider that insommnia is not unusual for BP's and most of us take more than one drug and that we also cycle through mood states it becomes really hard to say that its the Lithium for sure, I personally would tend to discount this as a side effect because I have only ever read in forum posts on various forums and without knowing peoples individual cases its hard to say

Lithium is a drug that gets blamed for everything on the planet by some patients so its hard to say, a lot of it is the halo effect and the me to thinking process because patients read all these vocal horror stories and think lithium is evil and they need medication X to fix them - the reality is that Lithium is still the most effective and widely prescribed mood stabiliser around because it works and is safe in 99% of circumstances*