Very bad insomnia

[MrRoot]

I am insomniac and I dont mean the thing waking up few hours earlier or having taking 1 hour to get sleep. I am totally insomiac before my mania and I think this insomnia causes the mania.

I could go on without sleeping for 4 nights and have a note in our ER if I came there complaining not sleeping for 4 nits they get my in and put IV midazolam to put me sleep.

Last night I could not get sleep and started popping benzos and z-drugs. I did at first 10mg of valium, 7.5mg of zopiclone, and .5mg alprazolam. Then I took 4mg of flunitrazepam and nothing happened. Took again diazepam alprazolam 1mg and 15 of zopicöone. Still nothing. I continued popping dizepam and alprazolam every hour until I realized that it was time to go to work training.

Were a little bit tranquilized at there. Luckily my SO did driving instead of me. Now I am not even feeling slighht tiredness

I exercise to keep my looks good few times a week but I have back injury needing surgery so I cant do it extensive, just so that my breast muscles and abdomen look good. I also take my dog out for 2mile walks each day and dont do caffeine anymore.

I eat healthy low carb food with lots of vegetables and fish and fiber.

Is there anything I could to stop this happening.

 

[villian]

if your diet and exercise are fine you should try adding meditation, it will help calm you down in general which makes it easier to "turn off" at night. I also recommend exercising in the morning immediately after you wake up. if I exercise at night I can't sleep. consider adding yoga as well.

if you are interested in medication I have gotten relief from seroquel and trazodone in the past. mirtazapine also helps a lot of people.

 

[MrRoot]

I have beem prescribed 800mg of Seroquel at one dose before goingnto sleep. All it cause for me was serotonin syndrome as I had done Tramadol before. I do meditate, I go to Sahaya Yoga meetings.

I think this all is related to my bipolar disorder somehow.

 

[Lazyscience]

im quite sure the insomnia is linked to the drugs you take. how often are you taking the benzos and stuf?

 

[piebald]

i too am an insomniac and did some online research about sleep patterns and came across an article ( i wish i remembered where so i could post the link) that said that humans are not "programmed" to sleep a full night..but rather 2-3 hours of sleep with some awake periods thru the night, he said because we have been conditioned to sleep all night that we often fight with these urges to be awake. His advice was this: if you wake up, get out of bed and do something for awhile until you feel tired again.
I tried this and it works..I dont sleep a full 8 hours (i guess as we age we don't require as much sleep either) i go to bed late and often wake up around 3, sometimes i get up and watch tv or take a quick walk or something, then go back to bed again..at first i thought i would be tired all day but Im not.
Everyone's sleep requirements are different but since Ive stopped drugging the hell out of myself and stopped" fighting" the insomnia Ive been much better. i often have to get up in the middle of the night but it works way better than laying there trying to force myself to sleep staring at the clock...also you could try melatonin..that has been helpful for me

 

[hobhead]

z drugs long term=horror show of side effects. a VA quack kept me on them for a little over a year. suicidal depression was the result . the mechanism is that a segment of natural sleep does not occur when taking these hypnotics, leading to the brain going chronically out of order.

leave them be and make do with what ever sleep that your body necessitates. going a few sleepless nights really sucks but the drug fucked condition is far, far worse.

when i know that i am not going to sleep it wreaks havoc on my eyes as i read all night long and then go do chores all day. eyes look like poorly made button holes until i do get some shut eye.

 

[MrRoot]

im quite sure the insomnia is linked to the drugs you take. how often are you taking the benzos and stuf?

I only take prescribed drugs except for methylphenidate. I have tapered diazepam to 5mg per day and alprazolam to 0.5 mg three times a weeke

I also take OxyContin 20 mg three times a day, venlafaxine 75mg, aripiprazole 15mg and pregabalin.


Idont do street drugs at all.

 

[oSpherical]

I too am a heavy insomniac, but have been better this year, primarily for 2 reasons.

1.) If you use your computer often at night, I highly suggest some software called F.lux (http://stereopsis.com/flux/). During the night, it reduces the unnatural blue light on your monitor, helping your body know when it's night. Remember that artificial light is a fairly modern part of humanity, our bodies have evolved to make us tired when the sun goes down.
Unfortunately looking into a bright monitor during the night tricks your body into thinking it's still daytime...

2.) Melatonin. I take 9mg of melatonin every night, and it's a wonder drug for sleep. obviously it's nowhere near the power of sleeping pills such as zolpidem/zolpiclone, but it's still incredibly effective and doesn't leave you feeling tired the next day.

 

[nolys]

Have you tried cannabis? Not particularly addictive, barely any side effects and does the trick most of the time

 

[oSpherical]

Have you tried cannabis? Not particularly addictive, barely any side effects and does the trick most of the time

Cannabis is great for making you sleepy, yes. But it seems a bad idea to start using cannabis purely as a sleep aid...

Not to mention after using cannabis for awhile and stopping, it's harder than ever to get to sleep for awhile afterwards.

 

[nolys]

Cannabis is great for making you sleepy, yes. But it seems a bad idea to start using cannabis purely as a sleep aid...

Not to mention after using cannabis for awhile and stopping, it's harder than ever to get to sleep for awhile afterwards.

As a long term solution (if you are always insomniac) in my opinion would be cannabis as opposed to any pharmaceuticals. Then again your right about stopping and starting. I've only ever used it as a sleep aid from time to time so I wouldn't really know.

 

[oSpherical]

As a long term solution (if you are always insomniac) in my opinion would be cannabis as opposed to any pharmaceuticals. Then again your right about stopping and starting. I've only ever used it as a sleep aid from time to time so I wouldn't really know.

Not all pharmaceuticals are bad by nature.
I'm going to repeat my suggestion above - melatonin. It has zero abuse potential and does nothing besides help you sleep, which it does well.

 

[nolys]

Xanax and whatnot are a no-go area for me anyway, I wouldn't use them for any other reason other than to numb a bad trip or help me sleep after lsd or something. Melatonin? Ill have to do a bit of reading on that myself because I have a bit of insomnia.

 

[effie]

Is this a long term problem or only when you have a manic episode? I'm sure you are aware that not sleeping is one of the main symptoms of mania.. I know you said the not sleeping comes first then causes mania, but could it be that your not sleeping is the first early sign that a manic episode is coming on? Do you think its worth checking with your dr? (Not meaning to sound patronising, you've probably thought of this but thought it was worth a mention)

It does sound like the meds (benzos, z-drugs) don't work anymore as you have been on them so much.. tapering sounds like an excellent idea but not on top of having not slept for days I think.

How would you feel about switching your antidepressant (venlafaxine) and antispsychotic (aripiprazole) to more sedating ones?

It really sounds like you should speak to your doc about this, you are on quite a cocktail of drugs and if you are awake for days at a time then they really aren't helping you sort out your psych probs imo.. not sleeping is no fun!

Good luck