Two torch lights trying to shine brighter

Posted on May 25, 2010 by Mentally Interesting

A hundred pounds to the first person who comes to my flat and whacks me over the head with something heavy so I’m unconscious for say…ooh, nine hours.

Filed under: Bipolar Disorder |

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21 Responses

  1. Mis, on May 25, 2010 at 8:47 am said:

    If I could, I would share my seroquel. I hate not being able to sleep and since my body’s cycle is different than everyone elses (say, 9a-7p, instead of 9p-7a) I’m rarely ever getting proper, adequate or even any sleep at all.

    Here’s hoping you get some!

    Reply
  2. Bipolarbeerbeerblacksheep, on May 25, 2010 at 9:28 am said:

    I can sympathise as I used to have the same .problem. Now its 8hrs a night without any sort of medication although I do miss the old days in a funny sort of way.

    Reply
  3. rthrtylr, on May 25, 2010 at 9:30 am said:

    I hear that. Took me 75mg Thorazine, 300mg Seroquel, 20mg Diazepam, 60mg codeine, a brace of beers and a joint of Cuban proportions last night, half slept from 04:00 till 07:30, got up and started working, probably won’t stop till gone 02:00 tomorrow. You just can’t keep a good nutter down.

    But it beats the shit out of the depression doesn’t it?

    Reply
  4. intothesystem, on May 25, 2010 at 10:26 am said:

    I’d pay too!

    Told by psych to try the herbal nytol as I’d never tried that before, so finally got around to that last night. Completely hopeless.

    I’ve been on pretty much everything else – seroquel (no effect), zopiclone (hallucinations), zolpidem (no effect), melatonin (initially helpful, but soon useless), antihistamines e.g. Phenergan (can be slightly helpful, but ODed on phenergan and not allowed it in the house now!) benzos inc. Nitrazepam and Diazepam (make me agitated), haloperidol (kinda works, but turn into zombie).

    I’m guessing you’ve been through most of that lot too. Plus I know you’re trying to go med-free. No real suggestions.

    I’m starting to get very fed up of it though. Things had improved a little (up to about 5/6 hours instead of 2/3), but gone out of the window again. Only seem able to get to sleep when I should be getting up (ie. when the reboxetine wears off!).

    Reply
    • Laura, on May 25, 2010 at 5:22 pm said:

      Just to add – the leaflet that comes with the herbal Nytol says don’t take it if you suffer from depression….I have no idea why, but there must be some reason!

      Reply
  5. Margaret, on May 25, 2010 at 11:09 am said:

    Phenergan works you have to take alot of it to overdose he likely took multiple packets of it……

    Reply
    • intothesystem, on May 25, 2010 at 2:09 pm said:

      Yeah it did help me a little at first, but the effects soon wore off. I know others that have found it helpful though and they use it a lot with patients in The Priory.

      My overdose did involve a couple packets, plus bits of other stuff, but it did land me in HDU for a few days. It causes respiratory depression.

      p.s. I’m a she.

      JD – I forgot that I tried amitriptyline too at a low dose for sleep, but it didn’t seem to work very well. Again I know others that swear by it.

      It really does show that everything effects people differently and some people just don’t respond to anything sadly.

      Reply
  6. starrunner, on May 25, 2010 at 12:02 pm said:

    are you taking the serequel regularly again? I’d really appreciate your opinion….how many doses of serequel do you have to miss before feeling the withdrawal effects? What are the withdrawal effects?

    Reply
  7. JD, on May 25, 2010 at 12:47 pm said:

    I take low dose amitriptyline for nerve pain and that does a fairly grand job of knocking me out. It’s an old anti-depressant, but at very low dose (like 10mg… the smallest it comes in) it still makes you sleep like a baby. Might be worth trying.

    Just got off Seroquel myself and thankfully with this stuff, I’ve still been able to sleep. Now if only I can stop feeling like my head is going to explode…

    Hope you can find something to help.

    Reply
  8. R.H., on May 25, 2010 at 1:06 pm said:

    I take Trileptal. (Oxcarbezepine I think) It’s the only med that has ever really worked the my BP, and I have no side effects save being a little light headed and dizzy for an hour or two after I take the dose.

    I sleep easily on it, and it doesn’t ‘get rid’ of the swings but it does blunt them so they aren’t as hard or as fast. More like what I would imagine everyone else has!

    Good luck. I’m hoping for your health.

    Reply
  9. Gemma, on May 25, 2010 at 3:26 pm said:

    Have a look in the health-food shops (or even chemists) for Melatonin supplements. It’s an amino acid that occurs naturally in the brain when we sleep, so taking it at night apparently works wonders. Everyone i know who’s tried it raves about how awesome it is.

    G xx

    Reply
  10. Bod Notbod, on May 25, 2010 at 4:59 pm said:

    I take mirtazapine for my unipolar depression which has the happy side effect of helping me sleep. However, I don’t know if it’s suitable for someone with bipolar depression. Might be worth asking if all else fails.

    Reply
  11. Dai, on May 25, 2010 at 9:19 pm said:

    Have you tried L-Triyptophan, sold often as Tryptan? It’s found naturally in foods and can be helpful in promoting sleep, although it can also be an affective anti-depressant…
    Didn’t help me but others I know swear by it,
    rather than at it.

    Good luck.

    Reply
  12. Tarah Von Streetmentioner, on May 26, 2010 at 6:41 am said:

    I’m addicted to opiates, but I don’t recommend them! Ever! I like zopliclone, because it doesn’t leave the furmouth hangover in the mornings, but I find there’s only a small window that I can actually fall asleep in. Hate benzos, just leave me feeling urrgh. I used to be able to sleep forever, until I went and got a drug habit, fucking dick. Now it’s a constant cycle of no sleep/wasted morphine dreams, good sleep, or no sleep/hanging out. And it’s all self inflicted. Life’s a fucking joke.

    Hope you can find sleep, without resorting to drugs, or head injuries! x

    Reply
  13. Debbi Revell, on May 26, 2010 at 8:01 am said:

    Mirtazipan knocks you right out…..i couldn’t stay awake if i tried. Zispin is even stronger!

    Reply
  14. Phil, on May 26, 2010 at 10:54 am said:

    I agree with JD. I’ve been on meds over 20 years and I’ve never gotten better sleep than when taking amitriptyline, a tricyclic.
    It knocked me out at night and I actually felt rested the next morning.
    Nothing can touch it and I’ve been on over 60 meds…really.

    Reply
  15. Bee, on May 26, 2010 at 2:51 pm said:

    Aaah, insomnia is so painful. This might be a dumb suggestion… but maybe OTC antihistamines or something of the sort might make you drowsy enough to get at least one night? I don’t know, they work for some people but are completely useless on others (for me, I just get a rousing panic attack).

    I haven’t been really successful with homeopathic things like valerian root or melatonin, but at this point it might not hurt to try?

    For a few months at some point of desperation I used to down a bottle of wine to induce “sleep” (i.e. blackout on the bed, essentially), but I don’t think that’s the right way to go for anyone. Ambien (zolpidem) replaced that, and now Xanax has replaced that. Hopefully there will be nothing, but I’m scared to try sleeping without my metaphorical crutches. I hope this gets sorted out for you soon!

    Reply
  16. Louise, on May 26, 2010 at 7:34 pm said:

    I’d like someone to knock me out forever

    Reply
  18. Cory Haxton, on September 3, 2010 at 5:31 pm said:

    I like this post a lot! Thank you for the information

    Reply

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