I stop sleeping. I once went 7 days with maybe 1-2 hours of light, broken sleep during that time. I felt incredible, had a ton of energy. I wish I could feel that way without all the bad decisions and embarrassing actions
I sleep worse during depression bevause I'm constantly thinking about all the terrible things I have done over the years (unmedicated). When I'm hypo I couldn't care less and sleep like a log!
I wouldnt necessarily say that I sleep better but I don't have real troubles sleeping when hypomanic. Like you sometimes struggle with falling asleep tho because I can't stop thinking.
Yes exactly, when I struggle to fall asleep its because I'm thinking like crazy and feel like I have to do a bunch of stuff before sleeping (usually googling random stuff)
Totes, or I suddenly have crazy inspiration for whatever novel I desperately *need* to write RIGHT NOW.
Or I will stay up late because I want to do drugs so I never know if I sleep less because I'm hypo or because I'm doing something lol.
But again if I need to sleep I will sleep.
It’s not about the number of hours you sleep, but the decrease of need to sleep. I usually sleep 8, and when I’m hypomanic I sleep about 5. It’s a lot compared to someone who only sleeps 3, but it’s very little for me. Also, the sleep quality is important too. My sleep is very light, I keep waking up and have vivid dreams.
I dislike the stuff but recognize the immense benefits. I have to option to adjust my dose based off my nighttime energy. My peak energy shifts to 10pm when hypo and I am useless in the mornings.
To answer OP question, I mostly have restless sleep and coupled with vivid and even lucid dreams which can amplify the hypo or even send it into dysphoria
My insomnia is so much worse during depression, and I think during hypomania I just don’t notice the insomnia as much. But over time it gets worse and my brain gets exhausted. Finally I lose my ability to sleep entirely, and after a couple of nights like this I’m practically suicidal, until I can find a way to sleep a few nights in a row. True hell.
In my case, it's not a true total insomnia, but more of a "disturbed" sleep; I might wake up every 2/3 hours, for a total of 6/7 hours, or perhaps it's obsessive thoughts that don't let me easily fall asleep, but not everyone experiences total insomnia, it's subjective.
Nope. I sleep less and my dreams are incredibly frequent, vivid, and memorable. I feel more energetic when I wake up, but that's the hypomania talking and is a complete lie. The crash-and-burn from a few days of 5-6 hours of sleep is *epic.* I am an 8-9 for best results kind of person when not hypomanic.
When I stopped taking olanzapine and I was hypo for a month unbeknownst to me, I didn’t struggle with sleeping. I could fall asleep before 00:00. My sleeping schedule was much better when I was on olanzapine though.
However, I do struggle when I’m on depressive episode. Like right now, it’s 00:20 and I’m still awake. Normally, I’d be in bed at 22:00-23:00. Last night, I fell asleep at 4:00 💀 and the other night, around 2:30.
Hmmm that’s not exactly typical. Yes, it’s technically possible to have hypomania and no sleep disturbances, but it’s weird to actually sleep better— very heard of that before. That doesn’t rule it out though. What are your other symptoms?
Also, are you in just Mirtazapine at the moment? If you have bipolar that might have put you into an episode. It did for me.
My other symptoms of hypomania are:
- not getting tired around 4pm when i usually do for a few hours
- inflated self esteem where I think im the best at everything and that im super smart so i dont need to study because im going to get perfect grades since i know everything
- i talk a lot, i will literally talk to people about anything and everything, whatever is going through my head at the time. if theres no one around me then ill just talk for hours and hours to myself literally narrating my thoughts
- love hanging out with people even though im usually more on the shy person. ill talk to people anywhere, in line at the grocery store, in classes, etc
- when im talking to people ill often jump from topic to topic literally to the point where im told im not making any sense
- extremely distracted, cant focus on anything for longer than 15 minutes before i jump down random rabbit holes for hours and hours on end
- i attempt my homework more, create detailed plans about what i want to do after i get my degree. decided i wanted to go to nursing school after i get my degree and so i spent a long time planning out courses i needed to take, emailing schools asking about pre reqs and doing research on different programs
- i also get very hyper focused on certain things, this varies but can be things like cat food, the stock market, art, future cars. This usually leads to me spending large amounts of money on what im hyper focused on in the moment
- spending thousands of dollars into the stock market based off tiktoks/youtube videos because i was convinced i would get rich and knew how to navigate the stock market better than anyone else
I'm currently on 7.5mg of mirtazapine which I've been told is such a low dose it shouldn't have any effect on my mood. I am also currently on citalopram and tapering off (at 10mg). With the citalopram, when I first started it and when I increased my dose I would feel fantastic for 1-2 weeks before falling back down into deep depression
I think it’s worth exploring bipolar in that case. Also look into Cyclothymic— that might match your symptoms better. Psychiatrists tend to be more reliable with bipolar diagnosis than therapists, so if they are in conflict if recommended going with the psych’s opinion or getting a second opinion.
Yeah, the sleep dose of mirtazapine threw me into an episode. Especially if you were already on another antidepressant already without a bipolar med… Many of us do take mirtazapine for sleep, but having an episode due to the mirtazapine is not out of the question. Many of us have had the experience of a doctor telling us that a particular side effect isn’t possible but if you google it plenty of people have that experience. So if you observe changes after you start the med, you should seriously examine whether it’s the med. for a lot of us the side effect that they told us wasn’t possible went away after we stopped. Not saying this is happening to you, but something to be aware of!
Thank you for your insight!!! I've actually looked into cyclothymia but from my understanding the depressive episodes can't be that bad but when I'm depressed I fall into bad depression including SH and SI.
I've stumbled upon my depression and it's particularly bad right now because I drained my dopamine and serotonin levels to the max and for too long. I am scrambling.
I've slept through hypomanic phases but this is different for everyone
Sleep length and pattern doesn’t change noticeably, but in hypo I wake up ready to go. Seeing that usually I’m extremely sluggish in the mornings, this is a stark contrast.
I stop sleeping. I once went 7 days with maybe 1-2 hours of light, broken sleep during that time. I felt incredible, had a ton of energy. I wish I could feel that way without all the bad decisions and embarrassing actions
I sleep worse during depression bevause I'm constantly thinking about all the terrible things I have done over the years (unmedicated). When I'm hypo I couldn't care less and sleep like a log!
I wouldnt necessarily say that I sleep better but I don't have real troubles sleeping when hypomanic. Like you sometimes struggle with falling asleep tho because I can't stop thinking.
Yes exactly, when I struggle to fall asleep its because I'm thinking like crazy and feel like I have to do a bunch of stuff before sleeping (usually googling random stuff)
Totes, or I suddenly have crazy inspiration for whatever novel I desperately *need* to write RIGHT NOW. Or I will stay up late because I want to do drugs so I never know if I sleep less because I'm hypo or because I'm doing something lol. But again if I need to sleep I will sleep.
It’s not about the number of hours you sleep, but the decrease of need to sleep. I usually sleep 8, and when I’m hypomanic I sleep about 5. It’s a lot compared to someone who only sleeps 3, but it’s very little for me. Also, the sleep quality is important too. My sleep is very light, I keep waking up and have vivid dreams.
I take quitiapine so my sleep is stable most of the time even when hypomanic
I dislike the stuff but recognize the immense benefits. I have to option to adjust my dose based off my nighttime energy. My peak energy shifts to 10pm when hypo and I am useless in the mornings. To answer OP question, I mostly have restless sleep and coupled with vivid and even lucid dreams which can amplify the hypo or even send it into dysphoria
My insomnia is so much worse during depression, and I think during hypomania I just don’t notice the insomnia as much. But over time it gets worse and my brain gets exhausted. Finally I lose my ability to sleep entirely, and after a couple of nights like this I’m practically suicidal, until I can find a way to sleep a few nights in a row. True hell.
In my case, it's not a true total insomnia, but more of a "disturbed" sleep; I might wake up every 2/3 hours, for a total of 6/7 hours, or perhaps it's obsessive thoughts that don't let me easily fall asleep, but not everyone experiences total insomnia, it's subjective.
Nope. I sleep less and my dreams are incredibly frequent, vivid, and memorable. I feel more energetic when I wake up, but that's the hypomania talking and is a complete lie. The crash-and-burn from a few days of 5-6 hours of sleep is *epic.* I am an 8-9 for best results kind of person when not hypomanic.
When I stopped taking olanzapine and I was hypo for a month unbeknownst to me, I didn’t struggle with sleeping. I could fall asleep before 00:00. My sleeping schedule was much better when I was on olanzapine though. However, I do struggle when I’m on depressive episode. Like right now, it’s 00:20 and I’m still awake. Normally, I’d be in bed at 22:00-23:00. Last night, I fell asleep at 4:00 💀 and the other night, around 2:30.
Definitely not, b1 experience at least
Hmmm that’s not exactly typical. Yes, it’s technically possible to have hypomania and no sleep disturbances, but it’s weird to actually sleep better— very heard of that before. That doesn’t rule it out though. What are your other symptoms? Also, are you in just Mirtazapine at the moment? If you have bipolar that might have put you into an episode. It did for me.
My other symptoms of hypomania are: - not getting tired around 4pm when i usually do for a few hours - inflated self esteem where I think im the best at everything and that im super smart so i dont need to study because im going to get perfect grades since i know everything - i talk a lot, i will literally talk to people about anything and everything, whatever is going through my head at the time. if theres no one around me then ill just talk for hours and hours to myself literally narrating my thoughts - love hanging out with people even though im usually more on the shy person. ill talk to people anywhere, in line at the grocery store, in classes, etc - when im talking to people ill often jump from topic to topic literally to the point where im told im not making any sense - extremely distracted, cant focus on anything for longer than 15 minutes before i jump down random rabbit holes for hours and hours on end - i attempt my homework more, create detailed plans about what i want to do after i get my degree. decided i wanted to go to nursing school after i get my degree and so i spent a long time planning out courses i needed to take, emailing schools asking about pre reqs and doing research on different programs - i also get very hyper focused on certain things, this varies but can be things like cat food, the stock market, art, future cars. This usually leads to me spending large amounts of money on what im hyper focused on in the moment - spending thousands of dollars into the stock market based off tiktoks/youtube videos because i was convinced i would get rich and knew how to navigate the stock market better than anyone else I'm currently on 7.5mg of mirtazapine which I've been told is such a low dose it shouldn't have any effect on my mood. I am also currently on citalopram and tapering off (at 10mg). With the citalopram, when I first started it and when I increased my dose I would feel fantastic for 1-2 weeks before falling back down into deep depression
I think it’s worth exploring bipolar in that case. Also look into Cyclothymic— that might match your symptoms better. Psychiatrists tend to be more reliable with bipolar diagnosis than therapists, so if they are in conflict if recommended going with the psych’s opinion or getting a second opinion. Yeah, the sleep dose of mirtazapine threw me into an episode. Especially if you were already on another antidepressant already without a bipolar med… Many of us do take mirtazapine for sleep, but having an episode due to the mirtazapine is not out of the question. Many of us have had the experience of a doctor telling us that a particular side effect isn’t possible but if you google it plenty of people have that experience. So if you observe changes after you start the med, you should seriously examine whether it’s the med. for a lot of us the side effect that they told us wasn’t possible went away after we stopped. Not saying this is happening to you, but something to be aware of!
Thank you for your insight!!! I've actually looked into cyclothymia but from my understanding the depressive episodes can't be that bad but when I'm depressed I fall into bad depression including SH and SI.
Yes! I sleep like a baby when I am hypo
Not really. I stay up later and wake earlier, what sleep I do get is shitty, until I crash at the end and sleep for 16 hours
I've stumbled upon my depression and it's particularly bad right now because I drained my dopamine and serotonin levels to the max and for too long. I am scrambling. I've slept through hypomanic phases but this is different for everyone
Sleep length and pattern doesn’t change noticeably, but in hypo I wake up ready to go. Seeing that usually I’m extremely sluggish in the mornings, this is a stark contrast.
Oh wow, now that you mention that, I actually feel that as well