Bipolar Me

According to WebMD (which I find a pretty reliable source), “An inability to sleep is one of the key signs of clinical depression. Another sign of clinical depression is sleeping too much or oversleeping.” http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/depression-sleep-disorder#1

So, apparently, with either unipolar or bipolar depression, either way you’re screwed when it comes to sleeping.

Most of what I could find online about depression and sleep talked about depression and insomnia. WebMD says:

An inability to sleep, or insomnia, can be one of the signs of depression…. Lack of sleep alone cannot cause depression, but it does play a role. Lack of sleep caused by another medical illness or by personal problems can make depression worse. An inability to sleep that lasts over a long period of time is also an important clue that someone may be depressed. http://www.webmd.com/depression/sleep-depression#1

But, they add, “a small percentage of depressed people, approximately 15%, oversleep or sleep too much.”

I seem to be in the 15% that sleep too much. I usually wake up around 7:00 or 8:00, take my morning meds, and go back to sleep until 9:30 or 10:00. Sometimes I have a little nap in the afternoon. (For me, a “little nap” is about two hours.) I take my nighttime meds at 11:00 and am asleep by 12:00.

That’s a lot of sleeping.

Of course, those are just averages, just when I’m depressed, and just when I have no deadline-dependent work to do. Many days lately, I have been getting out of bed when I first wake up and skipping the afternoon nap. But then I go to bed even earlier, though I usually read for a couple of hours.

On the other hand, I’m subject to mixed states, when depression and anxiety coexist. When that happens, I want desperately to sleep, but can’t turn off my idiot bipolar brain. I’ll lie awake thinking about my writing, or my finances, or any damn thing. I’ll wake up at 5:00 and do the same. Those are often the days when I try to work in a nap.

Back to WebMD. They note:

Doctors may sometimes treat depression and insomnia by prescribing an SSRI along with a sedating antidepressant or with a hypnotic medication. However, hypnotic drugs usually should be taken for a short period of time. http://www.webmd.com/depression/sleep-depression#

Part of my nighttime meds are an anti-anxiety drug and a sleeping aid, plus an SSRI and an atypical. So, am I overmedicated?

It’s possible. But I trust my psychiatrist, and I’ve been on this regimen for a number of years now. My bipolar symptoms are now fairly well controlled, I’m able to work, and with the help of my husband, I manage to get through most days with level moods, only mild depression, and only occasional hypomania. I’ve been on other drugs and other combinations of drugs that did not work as well, or gave me horrible and vivid nightmares or other side effects.

I don’t want to hear opinions on the drugs I take from people who are not M.D.s and have never met me, or as Jenny Lawson said recently, “something that every person who deals with mental illness dreads…well-meaning advice from others.” Believe me, whatever it is, I’ve tried it. That’s not why I’m writing this.

What I do have to say: Whether you sleep too much or not enough, bipolar disorder may be the cause. There are treatments, some involving meds, and others not. Meditation, for example, helps many people sleep. (My mother used to sing herself to sleep with hymns when she had insomnia.) It’s a thing to discuss with your psychiatrist and/or your psychotherapist. He or she may be able to help. You don’t have to go through sleep disruptions without treatment. Even with all the problems that sleep causes me, I’ve got a system that works well enough for me.

And … now my insurance company thinks it knows better than my psychiatrist and only allows me a sleeping aid every other day. Apparently my choices are pay for it myself or take Benadryl. Again, I’m not asking for advice. Just restful, restorative sleep.