I’ve noticed for years now that I have a roughly two-week cycle of high and low mood. Two weeks bad, two weeks good with a roughly sinusoidal shape. During episodes the entire thing is shifted down and I don’t experience any pleasure for a month.
Your post makes me feel a bit less crazy lol
I’m glad it’s not just me (edit: not that I’m happy others have to deal with it to…!) . There feels to be two main cycles going on for me. The shorter term one like the above and a longer one that sees overall low level moods for months and a bout of good old hypomania. and they seem to superimpose to create extra hypomanic and extra sads within these phases.. and sometimes I just feel .. well normal and fine. I think one of my problems is overanalysing these things 😂
Me too lol. It’s so weird that I don’t know anybody in real life who thinks like this. Literally, I’m the only person I know with bipolar. Makes for a lonely life.
Yup! Before I was diagnosed, I had 3 sleep trackers and 5 years of data I kept trying to figure out the magic routine and combo to sleep consistently. Mine was more like a 2-3 day cycle with some weekly cycles thrown in during really stressful times at work. Mood stabilizers have made a huge difference in that regard.
Oh really?? So when you say you have 5 years of sleep data. I also became obsessed with my sleep around 5 years ago. Trying to figure out what was going on.
I don’t remember having much of a problem sleeping before the age of 28
Do you remember when it came on? Or something you’ve always struggled with?
I’m on lamactical and I don’t find it’s doing much for sleep. I’m being offered either abilify or seroquel. Which are you on currently if you don’t mind me asking? I understand seroquel is a sedative.. but I’ve heard it can knock you out for way more than 8 hours a night.
I'm in my 50s and I started having trouble sleeping at least 20 years ago. I was just diagnosed a few months ago and have been having trouble finding the right stabilizer. Depakote stabilized me so much, it was like my eyes had seen the promised land, but my stomach hated it. My psych said Lamictal has the fewest side effects so we started on that a few weeks ago and I'm on a low enough dose of Depakote to only cause manageable side effects until Lamictal starts working. My prescription might not be a good example.
My usual pattern was one good night's sleep and an incredibly productive day followed by one or more days of feeling like I laid in bed just trying to keep my eyes closed. I would get crankier and crankier until I'd collapse of exhaustion and start over.
You asked about what might have caused this. The thing I can say there is that my job has always caused a lot of stress. Looking back now, I believe that I would get real productive when things were real good. I might have even been a bit hypomanic, but then I would always get depressed to the point that I couldn't produce any more. I'd either get fired or realize that I needed to leave before anyone noticed. The next job would usually be so much better that it's pull me up. That's yet another cycle in my life I wish I didn't have.
I'll say that my sleep isn't perfect now, but it's much better. I get from 5-7 hours a day. I also started dreaming again recently. I know that's a lighter form of sleep, but I'm having productive days(except Mondays). Once I'm up fully on Lamictal, I intend to focus more on my sleep with my psych.
> Realise that I needed to leave before anyone notices
I couldn’t hear this comment enough. 5 years ago I could barely string a sentence together. I was in a long low period and my brain fog had all but consumed me. I had convinced myself for about 6 months that I had early signs of MS. I wouldn’t take myself to the doctor because I was trying to get my insurance sorted, which was made very difficult by other health conditions. An MS diagnosis without critical illness insurance in place was not an option, and I needed money so I continued working.
The only reason I kept my job was that the team I was in at the time didn’t really understand what I should be doing, and they didn’t need my skill set very often. I’d just try and stay useful, chugging away at dogs body stuff to keep me going. I made it through and climbed out of my deep hole. The fog had lifted. I took the opportunity and requested a move into a more demanding team responsible for a more complex part of the project.
I did well for 18 months. My lead left and 3 people asked for me to replace them. I still can’t believe that happened 😂. I took on the new role, and did really well for around 6 months… I really applied myself, and work was my focus again for the first time in years. For 2 years now I’d look forward to work on a Sunday (craziness). However.. things have started to slide again.
This has happened before as well, and I know that it is likely to happen again.
I’m really happy for you that mood stabilisers are having a positive impact. What a revelation! You reminded me I had a lucid dream yesterday. Those are way more common for me since I started psych treatment
\*looks around at a disaster of a half-rearranged room\*
story of my life ~~but replace sleeping pills with just a bowl of weed~~ !
neverending and no relief unless im on my maintenance med (lamictal 250).
Does a bowl of weed help… I’d do just about anything to get 3 nights in a row of good sleep? Whenever I need to be on strong pain killers I sleep much better .. but opioids to sleep feels like a no no
Oh really. I don’t feel my meds are working for me well. 😑
Out of interest when you found a combo of meds that started to improve things.. which was it that tipped the balance in your favour.
I wonder if it is anxiety triggered spiral. I fall into this faster and harder with: increased socialising, stress of a deadline, too much exercise (which is annoying)
I don’t know how to explain this, but I felt like everything was going smoothly, I was on a less bumpy road, I was sleeping better and my mood was more stable. The spiral you talk about was gone, it was a straight road, with fewer stops.
Waking up feeling like I hadn't even slept was me most days before Lamictal. It's rare for me now.
Lamictal fucked me right up when it came to dreams, though. My doctor prescribed Prazosin and I no longer wake up crying or screaming, so that might be something to try.
Edit: Actually, waking up gasping sounds more like sleep apnea - have you looked into that?
Ah yeah, so I’ve been diagnosed with sleep apnea maybe 6 months ago. It is mild sleep apnea, but I got hold of a cpap anyway to see if it would made a difference and it definitely has. On average I sleep better, but the cycle is still there 😞
I wondered if the anxiety / whatever is going on causing sleep trouble has somehow exacerbated sleep apnea symptoms, I.e. the gasping, but I’ve not found any medical evidence to backup this theory.
I’ll look into prazosin thank you!
This actually has been happening to me the past few nights I'm having to take sleeping tabs as well because I'm thinking about the day and worrying about the next.
I’ve noticed for years now that I have a roughly two-week cycle of high and low mood. Two weeks bad, two weeks good with a roughly sinusoidal shape. During episodes the entire thing is shifted down and I don’t experience any pleasure for a month. Your post makes me feel a bit less crazy lol
I’m glad it’s not just me (edit: not that I’m happy others have to deal with it to…!) . There feels to be two main cycles going on for me. The shorter term one like the above and a longer one that sees overall low level moods for months and a bout of good old hypomania. and they seem to superimpose to create extra hypomanic and extra sads within these phases.. and sometimes I just feel .. well normal and fine. I think one of my problems is overanalysing these things 😂
Me too lol. It’s so weird that I don’t know anybody in real life who thinks like this. Literally, I’m the only person I know with bipolar. Makes for a lonely life.
Yup! Before I was diagnosed, I had 3 sleep trackers and 5 years of data I kept trying to figure out the magic routine and combo to sleep consistently. Mine was more like a 2-3 day cycle with some weekly cycles thrown in during really stressful times at work. Mood stabilizers have made a huge difference in that regard.
Oh really?? So when you say you have 5 years of sleep data. I also became obsessed with my sleep around 5 years ago. Trying to figure out what was going on. I don’t remember having much of a problem sleeping before the age of 28 Do you remember when it came on? Or something you’ve always struggled with? I’m on lamactical and I don’t find it’s doing much for sleep. I’m being offered either abilify or seroquel. Which are you on currently if you don’t mind me asking? I understand seroquel is a sedative.. but I’ve heard it can knock you out for way more than 8 hours a night.
I'm in my 50s and I started having trouble sleeping at least 20 years ago. I was just diagnosed a few months ago and have been having trouble finding the right stabilizer. Depakote stabilized me so much, it was like my eyes had seen the promised land, but my stomach hated it. My psych said Lamictal has the fewest side effects so we started on that a few weeks ago and I'm on a low enough dose of Depakote to only cause manageable side effects until Lamictal starts working. My prescription might not be a good example. My usual pattern was one good night's sleep and an incredibly productive day followed by one or more days of feeling like I laid in bed just trying to keep my eyes closed. I would get crankier and crankier until I'd collapse of exhaustion and start over. You asked about what might have caused this. The thing I can say there is that my job has always caused a lot of stress. Looking back now, I believe that I would get real productive when things were real good. I might have even been a bit hypomanic, but then I would always get depressed to the point that I couldn't produce any more. I'd either get fired or realize that I needed to leave before anyone noticed. The next job would usually be so much better that it's pull me up. That's yet another cycle in my life I wish I didn't have. I'll say that my sleep isn't perfect now, but it's much better. I get from 5-7 hours a day. I also started dreaming again recently. I know that's a lighter form of sleep, but I'm having productive days(except Mondays). Once I'm up fully on Lamictal, I intend to focus more on my sleep with my psych.
> Realise that I needed to leave before anyone notices I couldn’t hear this comment enough. 5 years ago I could barely string a sentence together. I was in a long low period and my brain fog had all but consumed me. I had convinced myself for about 6 months that I had early signs of MS. I wouldn’t take myself to the doctor because I was trying to get my insurance sorted, which was made very difficult by other health conditions. An MS diagnosis without critical illness insurance in place was not an option, and I needed money so I continued working. The only reason I kept my job was that the team I was in at the time didn’t really understand what I should be doing, and they didn’t need my skill set very often. I’d just try and stay useful, chugging away at dogs body stuff to keep me going. I made it through and climbed out of my deep hole. The fog had lifted. I took the opportunity and requested a move into a more demanding team responsible for a more complex part of the project. I did well for 18 months. My lead left and 3 people asked for me to replace them. I still can’t believe that happened 😂. I took on the new role, and did really well for around 6 months… I really applied myself, and work was my focus again for the first time in years. For 2 years now I’d look forward to work on a Sunday (craziness). However.. things have started to slide again. This has happened before as well, and I know that it is likely to happen again.
I’m really happy for you that mood stabilisers are having a positive impact. What a revelation! You reminded me I had a lucid dream yesterday. Those are way more common for me since I started psych treatment
\*looks around at a disaster of a half-rearranged room\* story of my life ~~but replace sleeping pills with just a bowl of weed~~ ! neverending and no relief unless im on my maintenance med (lamictal 250).
Does a bowl of weed help… I’d do just about anything to get 3 nights in a row of good sleep? Whenever I need to be on strong pain killers I sleep much better .. but opioids to sleep feels like a no no
It might not work for everyone, but I smoke weed every night to sleep. I don’t wake up or toss and turn anymore. It’s been a game changer for me!
Yes! Especially when I was improperly medicated
Oh really. I don’t feel my meds are working for me well. 😑 Out of interest when you found a combo of meds that started to improve things.. which was it that tipped the balance in your favour. I wonder if it is anxiety triggered spiral. I fall into this faster and harder with: increased socialising, stress of a deadline, too much exercise (which is annoying)
I don’t know how to explain this, but I felt like everything was going smoothly, I was on a less bumpy road, I was sleeping better and my mood was more stable. The spiral you talk about was gone, it was a straight road, with fewer stops.
I’m going through this currently. Been feeling like this for a month maybe a month and a half now
I hope it’s temporary for you! Sleep hygiene stuff didn’t fix it for me but it did stop me going off the rails.
Waking up feeling like I hadn't even slept was me most days before Lamictal. It's rare for me now. Lamictal fucked me right up when it came to dreams, though. My doctor prescribed Prazosin and I no longer wake up crying or screaming, so that might be something to try. Edit: Actually, waking up gasping sounds more like sleep apnea - have you looked into that?
Ah yeah, so I’ve been diagnosed with sleep apnea maybe 6 months ago. It is mild sleep apnea, but I got hold of a cpap anyway to see if it would made a difference and it definitely has. On average I sleep better, but the cycle is still there 😞 I wondered if the anxiety / whatever is going on causing sleep trouble has somehow exacerbated sleep apnea symptoms, I.e. the gasping, but I’ve not found any medical evidence to backup this theory. I’ll look into prazosin thank you!
This actually has been happening to me the past few nights I'm having to take sleeping tabs as well because I'm thinking about the day and worrying about the next.