Written by
Jerry,
That was an interesting article. I have been aware of the disruption of circadian rythms and influence on mood disorders. At one time I lived in a northern lattitude about 1000 miles below the Arctic Circle. SAD was more common with higher rates of depression in the Winter.
As a child, I noticed a definite shift in increased activity during the Summer. It was common to play outside until 10:00PM and be called in disappointed, with the complaint that it was still light out. The sun barely set below the horizon for a few hours on the solstice.
One of my complaints has been sleep onset latency, going to bed, laying there, waiting to get tired and fall asleep. This is not related to the running thoughts of hypomania or depression. There has also been times when I awake before the morning unexpectedly and have to return to sleep.
I have been supplementing with 1mg Melatonin, two stage release formula and 1g Tryptophan at bedtime for about one month and notice a decrease in sleep onset latency and increase in the duration of continuous sleep. Prior to this I was using 50mg Benadryl as a sleep aid and had been doing so for quite some time.
Do you have any comments on the supplementation of Melatonin?
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I was excited about visiting a friend on the west coast. I live in the midwest. So because I was excited about seeing her, I didn't sleep well & then due to the time change that further disrupted my sleep. While visiting my friend, I found the excitement & time change caused me to sleep only 2-3 hours a night (& I was still taking my meds which did include Klonopin as anxiety caused problems w/my sleep & Trazodone to sedate me as I have always had problems w/insomnia), but I felt FANTASTIC & full of energy & was having such fun & had high self-esteem (not a usual feeling for me)...
When I returned home, I continued on this sleeping only a couple hours a night & feeling great for 5 mos. I am dxed as bipolar 1 & had been stable for about 5 years on a combo of 6 meds so I was not seeing my provider but every 6 mos. or so. I didn't report this hypo mania as I didn't realize it was dangerous & of course, I FELT SO WONDERFUL. It was like being on an incredibly good drug!!
After 5 mos., I suddenly got triggered into a sudden & severe depression when my husband made a negative remark to me. I overdosed on my psych meds & ended up in the ER.
My meds provider explained to me that my brain cannot function without proper sleep & that if I go 3 days without at least 6 hours of sleep I need to call her. After my overdose, I had a horrible 2 1/2 years in a mixed state, getting my meds worked on. Went back into indiv. therapy & started dialectical behavioral therapy (which has helped a lot).
FINALLY--3 years later, I am heading in the right direction & am sleeping again & feeling stable. It is hard to not want that hypo mania back. I feel so "blah" when comparing my mood now as compared to that...
But I have to remember that I can drop into the severe depression at any time when in a hypo manic state.
My mother had bipolar & did commit suicide when I was a teenager so I do know I need to take this disorder seriously. I can't "play around" w/my sleep to try to get just a little hypo mania to feel the elation without putting myself in jeopardy of falling into a depression. Don't like it--but as they teach in DBT--RADICAL ACCEPTANCE.
Oh dear, I don't know why all that junk showed up!! So sorry. I lost my internet connection in the middle of posting...
I would not worry. It appears your CP generated its own form of pressured speech