Sleep patterns

Good Morning all. I have a question about sleep patterns? I've been sleeping 3-5 hours a night for more than a week and I just crashed for 11 hours last night with only 2 interruptions. Does this happen to anyone else?

Hi Rayne,

I like your name. Yeah happens to me all the time, just take a look at my chart...

Thank you. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

I think my natural body clock is to sleep 16 hours after being awake 48 hours. When I was not treating BP and trying to function in the "normal" world I would go sleep deprived most of the week and then 1 or 2 days a week sleep about 16 hours.

My sleep pattern has been disrupted because my child just started high school and has to be up between 5:30-6:00a where she used to only have to be up by 7:30-8a. Neither one of us are morning people and I try my best to get her to bed early for her sake and mine (so I can have quiet time in the evening). I have been considering asking my job if I can move up my hours so I can get off 2-2.5 hours earlier and can take a nap at home if I have to. However, I'm already facing a lateral move or an altogether exit so I figure, "What is it worth it to ask for accommodations when I'm only going to be in this job till, at best, the end of October?" Okay, all this has to do with sleep is that it is rare for me to get more than 5 hours of sleep but I have had a few Saturdays where I crashed for a long time, especially if I took my stronger sleep medication to do so.

Rayne-
I had the same problem with sleeping very little hours then crashing. The only medication I see that is similar is lamictal. I have since been taken off that and put only on Prozac, which has made a remarkable difference, I get 8-9 of solid sleep EVERY night! Just assing my two sense.

My circadian rhythm was different even as a toddler (sleep all day, awake all night), it is now mostly under control via Ambien. Any moderate mood change can add sleep changes.Currently my daughter left for college a week ago so, you know, big effect. I am concerned about her living in a dorm because she is BP. Food, sleep, diet, routine are all things that can contribute for her as well as me.

my sleep is absolutely ridiculous right now. it used to be under control but lately i'm oscilating between two to no sleep one night and then 14 or so the next couple and then none again. i have no idea what to do. i sleep through my alarms, i have no sleep medications that work, balanced diet, exercise, routine, I just have no clue what's going on.

Hi aarnold,

I 1st took trazadone BUT got up to a very high dose, it has a long half life & made me too tired the next day. SO I began to take Seroquel & it has worked the best for me...I don't take sleep aides that may be habit forming like benzo's. Which I sometimes regret & think I'd be better off if I did ~ I've experienced weight gain due to my Depakote & Seroquel med combo.

I don't mind the weight gain so much when I think about it in the context of how my life was before I started on meds. I know that if I would go to bed at the same time every night (take my night med at the same time too) & exercised more often my sleep would improve & so would the overall quality of my life. I also have ADHD & am a student SO its easier said than done.

I used to be up for like two or three nights w/little or no sleep & then crash for almost a whole day. It was like I was a tweaker w/out meth. In my late 20's it was the worst. For weeks, even months, I'd sleep only 2-4hrs. I got a lot done BUT I was totally crazy manic & it cost me a marriage, a career, jail time (DUI) & I smoked a lot of pot bc it calmed the racing thoughts. Of course I was also very uninhibited....which wasn't always a bad thing.

I loved being manic BUT eventually the consequences FAR outweighed the dividends.

Anyway I'm going off on a tangent....when I should be in bed!

-cb-

I definitely have jacked up sleep. I have been getting between 4-6 hours a night for a good 3 weeks now...I've had a few days where I have gotten more, but for the most part, it's only been a maximum of 6-7..I've also been extremely irritable over the past 2 days, but overall I have either been in a really good mood, or I had one day I was depressed. I got put on Trazadol to help me sleep, but I took it ONCE and was severely depressed the next day, so I'm not sure if that was a medication reaction or not, but I have decided I could care less w hether I sleep or not, and haven't touched the meds since.

Im new with moodtracker but so far I like it. I definitly have periods where I sleep less than 5 hours a night, then after doing that sleep pattern for almost a week I go down to sleeping all day, its almost like I cant function and get out of bed and my body is making up for all the hours of sleep I previously was lacking. So I can relate. With using moodtracker its a good way to identify our sleep and maybe remind ourselves to keep a bedtime routine. Go to bed no matter what the same time every night and just lay there even if you cant fall asleep and wake up at the same time every day as well.