Wee, isn't time to get the medical
community to listen to this problem?
I too am medicated for bipolar disorder
and have had so much trouble with sleep.
For years I thought, "well I am just an
insomniac", or, " god is waking me up to
pray for people", however what you are
describing sounds like "racing thoughts".
What a horrible plague.
Switching my meds to pm helps me sleep.
On lexapro with tegretol. This med.
Combination with exercise such as walking,
has greatly improved my sleep pattern.
But everyone is different when it comes to
meds. We have to consider, blood type,
weight, hormones, chemistry and the beat
goes on!
at first I was reluctant to take any
sleeping pills. My focus and
concentration problems, hummmmm... Were
they from lack of good sleep? Being
bipolar does that mean I will never get a
good rested sleep? When the brain is off
chemically, it stands to reason that all
the other things the brain controls will
be broken....That includes sleep
patterns.
Ambien is listed in the pdr as a drug that
should only be used for short term, up to
7 days. When I read that pdr, I asked my
psyc doctor and my pharmacist, why did you
let me go for over 30 days on this
medication? My sleeping pill got changed
that day. Now I do not take sleeping
pills. For me the lethargy I felt the
next day was not worth sleeping with a
pill.
Have you tried ?Music? To relax your
thoughts? While in bed?
Some nights I sleep with the radio on low
low volume. This seems to help me get to
sleep as well as stay asleep. I use
classical music on public radio. I'm
guessing your favorite music with a
constant beat could work.
Well this is what I use to get beyond my
racing thoughts at bedtime.
Let me know if you try something other
than drugs that works to calm those racing
thoughts. I like to hear someone is
having a good nights sleep... Ruby
