sleep

[liam482]

i have bipolar and sleep alot is this common??

[Athena_M]

The meds for bipolar usually cause one to sleep alot.

[adel_ezz]

if you are not depressed and sleep well it's a good thing because in BP people usually suffer from insomnia even with no mania

[lindahand]

I could use some drowiness tonight as I have a bad case of insomnia (which is really rare for me since being on meds). When depressed I can sleep 12 hours a day. As well if you are on meds that can influence sleep. But get a physical just to be on the safe side of things. Tiredness can be caused by many things.

[thatquietgirl]

Sleep is a key factor to watch in learning to manage your bipolar disorder.  I find when I'm headed towards depression, I sleep a lot, but when I'm headed towards mania, I sleep less and less until sometimes I reach no sleep for days.

However, if you're sleeping a lot and you're not depressed and don't notice any other symptoms typical for when you swing into your depressive periods, you might bring it up to a doctor because it could be symptomatic of other things.  Another thing to consider.... Have you recently started a new med (psychiatric or otherwise)?  I've found anti-psychotics tend to make me overly drowsy all the time when we've tried them for me.  Some other meds also have the side effect of drowsiness.

[paranoid_cataclysm]

Depressed people sometimes sleep more (or less), it's just a fact of life.

[ILADVOCATE]

  Sleep disruptions can be common in bipolar especially the depressive aspect. It would be worthwhile to keep a mood tracker and sleep tracker and print out the results for your psychiatrist so they can see specifically how this is happening and decide within their clinical judgment what to do from there.