Assistance with Insomnia, any help?

Originally posted by blazingdefiance
Hi guys, as some of you are probably aware (probably from the wording of my posts if nothing else) I suffer from a few mental conditions, mainly, "Bi-polar disorder" but also "aspergers" and during bouts of psychotic manic states also "Auto-skitzophrenia" (pffft how bad is that I can't even spell the name of the illness i have lol)

Anyway as anyone who has experience with mental illness will know, the illnesses can cause many varying symptoms sometimes randomly.... Lately it's been a bad one for me.... INSOMNIA! (my arch nemesis, we meet again!) (and if any of you noticed, yes i've been on ATS all night again..... now 6 am here)

hey there, I have similar symptoms to what you have.. I struggle to sleep, have bipolar and if I can will try to give iany advice if I can..

i'm still taking all my medication (80 mg Zeldox, 90 mg Cymbalta and between 50 - 125 mg of serequel, for those interested, daily) in addition I am also taking the work out supliments "Gaba" and "ZMA" (these are supposed to aid in sleep quality, and I have noticed a difference) I excercise as often as I can, and eat well. for mental stimulus I am constantly listenin to music or playing music, and I meditate at least an hour daily.

So any sugestions would be of great help, i'll leave it at that as i'll probably just be rambling from this point on.

thankyou all in advance

Love, Light, and all that crap....

Ok, I'll share how it affects me. I have had the sleeping problem since I was young. I would tend to stay up all hours of the night and sleep during the day to the point it became normal for me. These days if I do, I try to keep myself awake for the next day until its night.. I know its hard to do, but I find it is a good way to at least try and get your pattern back on track.

I wouldn't add anything else...you're already taking too large of a chemical soup as it is. Are you transitioning between two anti psychotics? Seroquel and Zeldox treat the same thing; you should only be on one of those...my suggestion since you have sleeping issues is Seroquel 50 to 150 mg of Seroquel is not even a therapeutic dosage. The Cymbalta I am sure is in adjunct to help with depression. Do not stop any of these medications, withdrawal from Seroquel can cause seizures and bad head aches...it takes months to taper off of that in a healthy way.

I suggest making an appointment with your psychiatrist as soon as you can; ditch the Zeldox crap, the adjunct therapy is probably just to test the combination if you are not transitioning. You are not a guinea pig for continuing clinical trials at the patient level; you need to politely tell them that, you do not want to participate in any post clinical trials, that you only want therapeutic doses of time tested medicines. Seroquel and Cymbalta have been in use for over 14 years...stick with those. A single dose of at least 200mg of Seroquel at night a half hour or so before you want to sleep and the Cymbalta dose in the morning, is all you need. Seroquel taken at the proper dose will knock you out whether you want to sleep or not...sleep isn't a choice at 200mg or above.

Eventually, you will reach stability with those two medications; at therapeutic dosage levels. From there, you can slowly taper down as you stabilize. To find the perfect balance, constantly hopping medications is not going to do it. That will just lead you into the ICU if you don't get beat to death or shot by trigger happy police first, during an episode.

A little food for thought; you can control how you feel...just by changing your point of view or looking at it from another perspective. The problems you have and many others diagnosed with these illness have, are because of "faulty" coping mechanisms, instead of "acting out" your frustrations like everyone else does; on the concrete real world. People like yourself; instead have internalized them and "acted in". Acting out destroys property, lives etc. Instead of ICU and treatment; the people that act out go to jail and prison.

Acting inside oneself to cope you instead destroy yourself, from the inside trying to cope with the past or the outside. Escaping inside yourself, is a coping mechanism we learn as kids known as the realm of fantasy. We grow up thinking it is safe in there; not realizing that we are: deconstructing the concrete reality around us when we do it. When "average" people think internally, they think about a conversation they had, they think about what they are having for dinner hours away, if that girl/boy likes them. etc.

When "non average" people think internally, it is more of a dual conversation with themselves...before you think "hold on a minute! I do that and I'm not on meds" That's right, you do do that; but in decision making processes. The "non average" internal conversation is the same as if you were talking with a friend...this is what gives rise to delusions. When talking with a real tangible friend, you affirm each other's believes and opinions, or try to convince them to your side. Now imagine this going on 24/7 365 with an internal dialogue, confirming and convincing oneself of all sorts of things...how long do you think it would take before the foot hold of concrete reality was lost?

That's what is happening, there is a way out...it's the same way out as it is to get in...you have to think your way out of it, you have to assert reality and concreteness with tangible objects and facts. Deny yourself of abstract "what if" reasoning, because that's what leads deeper into the rabbit hole, any delusion or strange thought you recognize, don't ponder it, rebuke it and yourself for thinking such nonsensical things. Focus on the here and now, get into a routine it takes about 2 weeks to get into a habit; adjust a little at a time to stay balanced. Too much change all at once is too stressful for anyone to handle; even if they are positive things.

Good luck to you!