Insomnia tied to BiPolar
 

Started keeping a diary thru my sleep app and FitBit.

Finding a trend.... 14 hours one day, then progressing down to 1 hour within 4-5 days. Then back to the 14 hours and back down to one hour.

When I sleep 14 hours, I feel soo refreshed, energetic, mood stable.

When I go down to 1-3 hours, my hypomanic kicks in. Also restless legs kick in, unfortunately then.

I have tried Melatonin and I don't feel well on that, started at 2mg. It really doesn't do anything for me.

I stopped using my C-Pap due to chronic sinus infections. And the appliance kept me awake. Have tried them all.

Any suggestions?

Blue

Blue, I used to have problems with insomnia in the absence of any medical issues.

What helped me is what has been called sleep hygiene; in effect learning and then applying good habits in preparation for sleeping well.

I don't know if sleep hygiene could help you but there is a description of it here Sleep hygiene - Better Health Channel .

Thank you Kiwi ~ I I read thru the links and will apply the techniques.

My anxiety and energy go way up at night, as bad things happened to me as a child and this is when my trauma memories surface, so my bed and sleep are enemies that I have been battling for a long time. When I was married and had a bed partner, I slept well, but now I live alone and it's scary to shut off my mind and let go.

I have blackout curtains, use a fan for white noise and close my cat out of the room while I sleep. I wear the eye glasses that block out blue light after 6:00PM and try not to use TV/cell or Kindle after 6PM. I do listen to book tapes and will often fall asleep in my recliner for a few hours, but when I wake up and get out of the recliner and head to bed, fear raises it's ugly head and I am wide awake again. I do keep booktapes set for 15 - 30 minutes beside my bed and listen to non-dramatic stories or even bedtime stories and calming music.

I have tried all these things to help, but will revisit your link and try again. It's mainly my trauma history that happened at night that keeps me fearful of sleep with nightmares and night terrors.

Blue

Blue

Could you just sleep in your recliner. i don't know if that will work
but Derrick gets good sleep at night sometimes in my recliner.

And I know the last couple years of my mom's life that was the only
place at night she could sleep.

Donna :hug::grouphug:

Hi Donna ~ How are you and Derrick?

I have been sleeping on my recliner more lately.

Made the mistake of tossing out the 3" thick foam padding I had. Now I have a 1" foam padding and it's not enough. I did spree for a Sleep Number Bed but sorry I did now. Find more comfort in my recliner.

Blue