Bipolar Disorder Support Group
Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.
ive been having difficut time falling asleep for.... probably 2 weeks now.... (and with a 4m old daughter who sleeps ALL night and easy to go down at bedtime, and babysitting other kids couple days a week i SHOULD be able to fall asleep no problem...) but during the days im not tired. rarely do i feel tired. sometimes im tired mid day but by time to lay down and sleep, im no longer tired... i dont get to sleep till probably close to midnight or 1am every night (not a biiiiig deal but we lay down at 10:30-11 every night and i lay there for hour or longer unable to sleep.. and im up at 7am if not earlier, depending when baby girl wakes, but usally i pull her into bed with me at 6amuntil 7am every morning. no daily naps for me). but i have hardly felt tired at all. ive been having periods of constant cleaning my house (which is a never happening thing) lots the last two weeks, and i am constantly thinking "i should be doing this i could be doing this, i cant sleep i have so much to do" i cant shut my brain off and sleep. theres just so much to do. "i could re-arrange my closet, i could organize the change table" etc. but im not in a low, nor am i "hyper" i guess you could say. so would i be hypomanic right now based on the trouble sleeping, not tired, constant going, unable to stop??? also irritable at little things often.
is this hypomanic?
is this hypomanic?
I'm going to toss a few things out here...
Sometimes just laying down and resting, not necessarily sleeping can help you perk up and give your brain a rest. I also am not able to sleep during the day, but when I get home from the office I lay down for about 45 minutes and just close my eyes and rest and let the day roll off me. Doing some deep breathing exercises helps me to relax during this time.
There are over the counter herbals that can help with sleep, that do not give you that "drugged" feeling which would hamper your taking care of the baby. Valerian Root works well for some, and Melatonin, which is the same chemical that your body produces naturally to make you sleep. If your nursing you would need to check and make sure these were safe and not able for transference.
At night before you go to bed, taking a long hot relaxing bath and then getting straight into bed with no distractions in the room, i.e. TV, Computer, Loud Radio, etc. Keep your room cool. While your laying there trying to go to sleep, trying doing some deep breathing exercises while you inwardly tell yourself that your relaxed, your calm, the night is calm, etc. Make your own Mantra to tell yourself in your head while doing relaxing breathing...
As for this being a Hypomanic Ep. I doubt it, there are many more markers that describe a Hypomanic Ep that you don't have. Sleep issues are pretty common with BiPolar. Lack of sleep and being fatigued will also make you irritable....when your sleep gets out of whack, it tends to make everything out of whack.
Take care and hope you get back to sleeping soon.
Kat
and thank you for commenting about my baby girl. thats actually an older picture, shes 4 months now and looks so much more grown up but for some reason it never lets me update my profile or add pictures... weird.
sorry i should have added much more to my thoughts for possibly thinking a hypomanic episode. i just made a journal about it, but ill paste it here too, maybe then my reason for thoughts might make sense..
as far as sleep goes, im still getting 6-7 hrs of sleep, just having a hard time falling asleep.
here is what i put in my journal.. maybe my thoughts for why thinking might be hypo might make little more sense. tho still not sure if it is a hypomanic state... sorry its long..
"May 22 2014
...well.... just want to write in on a few moments and a few things i would like to keep an eye on for a while.
-since about may 11th i have been crazy about cleaning around my house, organizing, tidying, creating a schedule for chores. Which i never keep up with daily chores. I clean when i feel like it. The basics are done but thats about it usually. Ive actually been keeping relatively tidy and mostly following my schedule.
-sleeping... sucks. We go to bed arond 10:30-11. we talk a bit and then i usually roll over about 11pm maybe 11:30 on later nights, and im awake an hour or so. Then i get p at 7am. A couple times inbetween. Sleeping i wouldnt say is sleeping persay, i find im awake on and off throghout the night. But i dont feel tired when i lay down for bed and i dont feel tired or like im lacking sleep. Im just struggling to fall asleep, and stay asleep. This has been abot a couple weeks.
-i cant seem to shut my brain off, my mind is racing on all things i could/should be doing. I lay down and think that i could/should be going through her cubbord once again, cleaning out the closet and re-organizing, organizing and stacking her change table. I think about how i could be tidying up the living room, cleaning the bathroom, how i could be doing so much more then laying in bed uselessly...
-i have to keep myself busy. I babysit 3 times a week and go to baby groups twice a week. That should be enough youd think but its not. I then spend part of the day out on the days im not babysitting. Where i go to walmart, or the mall, or whereever. I just feel the need to be out. Walking. Bus riding. Roaming. I am loving the nice weather, the sun, the air. The fresh air. I love it. Despite my legs and foot and ankle being sore, i keep pushing myself when i should rest.
-when i dont get out i get miserable. Monday may 19th, victoria day, i was down right miserable, cranky irritable because we were inside most of the day. Nothing was open, there was nothing to do and i was just down right cranky, irritable and frustrated.
-yesterday (may 21st) i was finiishing work, getting kassie into her carseat, first the one strap wasnt even in where it should have been so i laid kassie down and put it back in. By this time i was frstrated, then put kassie in carseat and buckled her up. Then the other strap was twisted, i fixed it only to realize it was the top twisted and not the bottom where i just ended up also twisting. Kassie was getting mad becase i was trying to fix the strap with her in there. I ended up taking that strap out and putting it back in. Then struggled to get out of the door. As i begain walking, my shoe lace, which always, even tied, bounces off your shoe, usually something you dont notice. I noticed it and every time i took a step it bounced off my shoe and was irritating the hell out of me. Then my socks and shoes were bothering me. I was almost ready to take my shoes off and walk barefooted on pavement side walk the remaining way home. I didnt. I kept walking and settled but i was frustrated to the point of almost crying.
-little things bothering me lately. Small things irritate and frustrate me.
-maybe ive been in a hypomanic state the last couple weeks? Whats confusing is that i used to have hyper-stupid like moments... i havent had any recently. I used to be impulsive, which i cant say ive been that either. So thats where my confusion comes on is it hypomanic??"
as for myself hypomania for me is usually self limiting followed by a crash of bottoming out leading to depression if not interrupted . although i often like the high and have left it carry on longer than it should my therapist or mom know it well and will call me on it and i get defensive but they are right! i need to come down on clonopin before depression hits..it never lasts 2 mo
also besides not sleeping at all, cleaning,not being able to shut my mind off,i speak faster,more intense and my actions give me away. i am in high gear at all times and its obvious to those around me.i also spend money like to buy things, don't eat, will lose weight and the most dangerous become hyposexual.i believe these are common to most in hypomania although I'm sure these don't all happen to every one..