Hold On

[Arieolguin]

So I had another night with basically no sleep and a lot of tossing and turning. I did start my bipolar meds and also a prescription to help me sleep last night. so I’m really hoping that it helps. I do have to wait another 10 to 14 days before I start my anxiety/depression medication. I just keep telling myself to hold on. I have been on medications before, but found out how I was told to take them was not right, and that’s why they didn’t work properly. So fingers crossed that this works. I really miss my sleep.

[QCuriosa]

hello! Why couldn’t you start both meds together? I’m not bipolar but do take Lamotrigine and duloxetine (antiDepressant). Sometimes I have really good weeks where I can sleep but then like this week the lows come back again and I need to take a Lunesta night and it gives me at least five or six hours of sleep. Sometimes it doesn’t work and I have to take another half

[NickieLane in reply to QCuriosa]

I was wondering about Lunesta. I just didn’t do well with Ambien. I was wondering if it was similar.

[QCuriosa in reply to NickieLane]

Lunesta has worked for me for the most part. I take half a one mg and if I wake up middle of the night I may take the second half. I have not yet change the dose because I don’t want to get used to a higher dose. I took Ambien many many years ago and I think they are similar. They are both hypnotics. Ambien used to get a bad rap for night walking or sleepwalking and stuff like that but it just depends with each organism I guess

[Arieolguin in reply to QCuriosa]

the psychiatrist I started seeing told me that until I get the bipolar disorder under control that taking the medication for anxiety and depression won’t have the effect I need it to. The way he explained it is like not having a floor or a ceiling for a house. So the bipolar will give me that floor and ceiling so my mania won’t get too high or my depression too low.

[Hidden]

I happen to have bipolar disorder. I’ve read that it’s common with this disorder to have insomnia and trouble sleeping. I take Seroquel to help me sleep, but lately that doesn’t seem to be helping me that much. I’m seeing my doctor soon and see what he decides. I’ve taken Lunesta in the past, it didn’t particularly help me. But everyone’s different.

[Arieolguin in reply to Hidden]

that’s what my psychiatrist told me. The mania is what makes it hard to sleep because our brain is going so fast. He asked me how fast I think my thought go. I simply said too fast for me to keep up. He did give me Trazadone to help with sleep and he also has me taking Aripiprazole for the bipolar disorder to slow the mania. And in c couple of weeks I’ll start Escitalopram for my anxiety and depression. So fingers crossed it works.

[Tealribbon]

I am sorry u r having trouble sleeping. It makes everything else such a chore. Have u tried anything in the past that helped?

[Arieolguin in reply to Tealribbon]

I was on medications a few years back that worked here and there, but apparentally the way I was told to take them was not the right way, so they didn’t work the way they were supposed to.

[Tealribbon in reply to Arieolguin]

it sounds like your current doctor is listening to you and has a good plan of action.

[Arieolguin in reply to Tealribbon]

He really did listen to me and was very understanding. He explained different medications and side effects and asked my thoughts about what sounds better for me, and then explained the proper way to go about taking them. So I am following his instruction.

[NickieLane]

I can’t get control of my insomnia. It feeds my anxiety. I had an impatient facility nurse tell me eventually your body will make itself sleep. She told me that after I was up for seven straight days. Not because of drugs. Because I was so anxious and depressed. The more nights without sleep the harder I can’t function through my day. At all. I’m suppose to start a new job but how can I be at work when my anxiety and depression is out of control.

[Arieolguin in reply to NickieLane]

I know how you feel. trying to function with little to no sleep is the hardest thing to do. I was taking 2500 mg of CBD and melatonin for sleep which would help. It was touch and go a lot and it wasn’t always constant sleep but it was some sleep. I was waking up with panic attacks pretty often and they were getting pretty intense. I’m hoping the trazadone I was prescribed with the other medications work

[NickieLane in reply to Arieolguin]

melatonin made me have really bad dreams. I’ve tried Trazadone and if I took and didn’t sleep then I was a zombie the next day. It also caused nasal congestion. I couldn’t breathe out of my nose. So I would try and sit up and sleep. I just can’t take, I’ve CBD and pretty everything for years. I take restoril and it’s a benzo and it still doesn’t help me, I need to try something knew. Ambien was okay but I would have such a hard time functioning all day. So I just wait for my body to give out some nights. So holding down a job is difficult.

[Zhangliqun]

As always, check for drug interactions but try Trazadone.