Not sleeping

I talk to my pdoc about this but he says there's no other medication he can give me to help me sleep at night.

I wake up every twenty minutes, it feels like, and when I wake up four hours later, I feel completely drained.

Any ideas?

As far as sleep goes you go through 'levels' of sleep, which is why power naps only take 20 or so minutes. If your waking up after 4 hours your probably waking up on either side of a REM cycle and it's enough to wipe anyone out. (http://helpguide.org/life/sle... towards the bottom). You might want to try something herbal (check http://www.drugs.com/ for interactions), a hot shower, reading or all of the above. Something simple that you enjoy doing it might help.

I've had sleep issues my entire life. First step is setting a sleep schedule that allows for about 2 hours more than your goal. For me I want to sleep 7.5 hours so 9.5 hours of my day is devoted to sleep. About 1 hour before I want to go to sleep I take Calcium, Magnesium, Evening Primrose Oil, Folic Acid, Melatonin, 5HTP, and most importantly GABA. All these help to calm. For about 3 months I would put a blindfold on 30 minutes before I wanted to fall asleep. I still take the supplements most nights but I no longer need the blindfold and I fall asleep within 1 hour of my target time 90% of the time.

It is also important to not do anything stimulating 2 hours before you want to go to sleep. And NO caffeine while you are training your brain when to sleep.

Try Irwin's Power To Sleep PM. I get it at Herbmart or over the internet. It does have valerian root, but this combo seems to work the best for us. No hangover effect either.
Check w/ your doctor first, since it does have valerian root in it.
$13.00 for 60 tablets, 1 to 2 at night.Not too expensive , considering it may help.
We are in a major mania cycle right now, following a major depression cycle.
Just started on mood tracker.

I just posted regarding Xyrem. It's a controlled substance, but it works! I take one dose at bedtime, usually 10:00 or 11:00. Then I set my alarm clock for 2:00. I wake up and take the 2nd dose. I fall back to sleep right away and wake up feeling totally refreshed. Read my post and you'll see what it's like!

jo4n3ll3, my psychiatris has me on Temazepam for sleep, sometimes it helps and sometimes I still can't sleep. I will go days without sleep, then finally I fall asleep from shere exaustion. I don't know if this helps, I hope so.

You need to go to a Sleep Doctor and have a Sleep Study. Not all psychiatrists know how to treat sleep disorders. It's very tricky. It is definitely to go without sleep for days at a time. I did that last year and ended up psychotic. What you are doing is very unhealthy. Please go to a Sleep Doctor. Xyrem may be the last-ditch effort, but it's working for me. I used to do what you did at night. I would also sleep-eat - I'd go to the refrigerator every night and eat something. That's also not healthy. So I urge you to go to a Sleep Doctor.

I meant to say - it is definitely bad to go without sleep for days at a time.

I think I sleep a lot less than I think I do. But what If I actually sleep more?
The only way I know that I have slept at all is if I dream. On my chart I put
down what I think I sleep, but I'm really not sure, cause it takes me sometimes
hours just to get to sleep, and then like you I wake up all night long.

So maybe you do sleep but you just don't know it?
When I'm really depressed, even when I sleep I wake up tired.

I think you still need to have a sleep study. They can tell exactly how long you sleep, when you get up, etc. etc. Please ask your family doctor or your pdoc to set you up for a sleep study. That is the best way to tell what is going on.

I agree that a sleep study is in order to determine if you are getting enough oxygen while sleeping. Its a painless study, you simply have the little stickers and probes taped and glued to your head (away from hair usually) and your chest and legs. There's usually a tv in the room and it looks much like a hotel room. You take whatever meds for the night and then go to sleep. It usually starts at 10-11 PM after prepping you and filling out paperwork, and they wake you around 5 am. If they determine that you have a need for CPAP they will most likely do a second study to determine your psi (air pressure) to keep you breathing steadily thru the night.

REMEMBER to put on any paperwork for the sleep study or your doctor that you have bipolar disorder. It is considered co-morbid with sleep apnea. I found this out when they said that unless I had another condition that aggravated it, i.e., manic depression, that I couldn't be treated for it.

Thank God they asked or else I'd probably have pretty serious heart disease right now as I have increased from a 7 to 15 pressure rating. But I also have COPD so that doesn't help.

Another note...I have found that if I drink a warm cup of chamomile tea with honey or a little sugar after taking my night meds, I'm out within 30 minutes.

Good luck to you,
Rosey