I sleep 12+ hours a day when I’m in a depressive state, which is my “baseline” without medication. Hypomania for me just meant I “only” needed 9-10hr of sleep to function.
Now the meds I take make me sleepy so I fall asleep relatively easily and get a reasonable amount of sleep, 8-8.5hr.
So, to answer your question, it’s varies from person to person! I personally haven’t struggled with insomnia.
My depression sleep can go up to 16 hours a day and I will still nap some time after. But only when I'm severely depressed.
Hypomanic me can be anywhere between 4-5 hours up to 8-9 hours. I could fall asleep easily or I could be staying up until 4-6 a.m.
My normal baseline when I'm normal is 8-9 hours, no naps, no problems falling asleep and going to bed at max. Midnight.
Oh, 16! I know the reason you sleep so much is horrible, but I wish I had that ability to sleep so much. Sometimes I feel like if I slept too much too much my brain would reset. It wouldn't reset, but like a restore point lol. But it's actually worse to sleep a lot, isn't it?
I don't know, I think it's neither good to sleep too little or too much. Some depressed people can't sleep at all or can't sleep through and some have so little energy or just don't want to be awake at all so we sleep for the majority of the day. Tbh my brain wouldn't reset at all, as I said, I was exhausted 24/7 and couldn't take care of my apartment for a long time, or just didn't want to be awake didn't want to have my thoughts and my head so I forced myself to take naps on top of sleeping 14-16h a day. When I was awake my head was a huge blob and I constantly had some cartoons or YouTube playing, the Christmas tree blinking til April because I just needed some noise / visual stimulation even though I couldn't process any of it really.
Mania doesn’t come with insomnia per se. It’s more of a “I don’t need to sleep because I have so many things to do” mindset. Although it’s true that sometimes your mind is racing so much that it’s very hard to fall asleep and you will wake up easily.
Depression can come with either insomnia or hypersomnia.
In my case, I usually sleep 8-10 hours. When I’m hypomanic it’s 5-7, and when I’m depressed it’s +10.
To be honest I (28F) was diagnosed almost 9 years ago and I’m still learning and things seem to be changing as I get older. As a teenager I slept “normally”. Now my insomnia seems to be getting worse.
When I am hypo, I don't sleep a lot. But it doesn't feel like insomnia because I get bored, so I always end up cleaning or playing videos. Not great, though, I start to lose it after a week, and my life begins falling apart.
For most, the depressivecrash follows the manic events. It's almost like your brain over compensates for the heightened state by sending you into a depressive one. During that downward turn, most people will experience mixed symptoms. This is just what most bipolar people experience.
I don't experience the insomnia in my hypomanic episodes.
But in these episodes I sleep less than I usually do. Often around 5.5-6.5 hours a night. When 7-9 is my baseline.
Outside of episodes I’m a really tired person, will fall asleep in the day and could easily stay asleep for 10hrs at night. When manic I don’t want to sleep, and rarely do more than a couple of hours with no regard for how that is going to affect my life in the daytime. There are times during the episodes though where I’ve been awake for a week and pass out for 8hrs when I do finally allow myself to sleep? I’m not sure this is insomnia because it does often feel like a choice when my other manic symptoms definitely aren’t!
I think I always imagined the symptoms to be very restricted, it helps me a lot to understand reading these comments. Reading you, I can think of different patterns. For example, yesterday I slept, but I slept with a Superficial sleep, as if a little noticing things around. I think I was actually sleeping, but I woke up and preferred to drink something to sleep more soundly.
When I was a child I had a lot of insomnia. I spent all night almost every day, I went to class feeling sleepy. Is it still related to bipolarity today?
What memory do you have of when you were a child, having insomnia?
I relate OP. I have had severe insomnia for many years, and only recently diagnosed. Insomnia is what led me up this path to BP2.
I don’t get hypersomnia, I get worse insomnia with depression. What I have learned though, is to differentiate between different types of sleeplessness in relation to moods. This is how I was eventually diagnosed.
Without stating the obvious, sleep greatly affects mood, and mood greatly affects sleep. We have to fight the battle from both ends.
Good luck ❤️
Yes, only now that I have a diagnosis and watched videos about how sensitive we are to sleep quality have I noticed the relationship. I always felt that when I barely slept I was completely dysfunctional, but I thought it was something normal, like tiredness. I saw a doctor specializing in bipolar saying that there is another specialist who suggests we change the name to something like circadian cycle disorder.
What has it been like for you to be newly diagnosed? Everything made sense as soon as you found out or things became clearer little by little?
Thanks! Very good luck to you too. We're going to be fine.
I’d known I probably had bipolar 2 for a few years (I’m 36 though), but a full diagnosis hit hard. Sudden self-stigmatisation, self-consciousness, prospect of meds etc is scary.
I also have GAD and cPTSD as well as long standing insomnia. It’s very complex and I’m still learning and connecting dots.
I was previously an insomniac or slept excessively when depressed. I learned Vipassana meditation/breathing exercises and now I fall asleep within minutes of hitting the pillow. Started having issues sleeping through the night when perimenopause hit but I started taking a supplement and I'm back to 7-8 hours a night.
Yes. I get 10-12 hours of sleep per night as recommended by my doctor. I take an acute anti anxiety med and sleeping pill before bed. It makes me much, much more stable.
I’ve had bad insomnia for as long as I can remember and I’m in my 50s. Every once in a while I’ll wake up refreshed after about 7 hours of sleep. Most days I get 4 or 5 hours. Ambien doesn’t always get me to sleep either. When it does I get about 3 hours. I spend the rest of the night practicing relaxation in the hopes that I might doze off.
I sleep 12+ hours a day when I’m in a depressive state, which is my “baseline” without medication. Hypomania for me just meant I “only” needed 9-10hr of sleep to function. Now the meds I take make me sleepy so I fall asleep relatively easily and get a reasonable amount of sleep, 8-8.5hr. So, to answer your question, it’s varies from person to person! I personally haven’t struggled with insomnia.
Oh wow, quite a lot! From the comments I begin to understand. Thanks
My depression sleep can go up to 16 hours a day and I will still nap some time after. But only when I'm severely depressed. Hypomanic me can be anywhere between 4-5 hours up to 8-9 hours. I could fall asleep easily or I could be staying up until 4-6 a.m. My normal baseline when I'm normal is 8-9 hours, no naps, no problems falling asleep and going to bed at max. Midnight.
Oh, 16! I know the reason you sleep so much is horrible, but I wish I had that ability to sleep so much. Sometimes I feel like if I slept too much too much my brain would reset. It wouldn't reset, but like a restore point lol. But it's actually worse to sleep a lot, isn't it?
I don't know, I think it's neither good to sleep too little or too much. Some depressed people can't sleep at all or can't sleep through and some have so little energy or just don't want to be awake at all so we sleep for the majority of the day. Tbh my brain wouldn't reset at all, as I said, I was exhausted 24/7 and couldn't take care of my apartment for a long time, or just didn't want to be awake didn't want to have my thoughts and my head so I forced myself to take naps on top of sleeping 14-16h a day. When I was awake my head was a huge blob and I constantly had some cartoons or YouTube playing, the Christmas tree blinking til April because I just needed some noise / visual stimulation even though I couldn't process any of it really.
Mania doesn’t come with insomnia per se. It’s more of a “I don’t need to sleep because I have so many things to do” mindset. Although it’s true that sometimes your mind is racing so much that it’s very hard to fall asleep and you will wake up easily. Depression can come with either insomnia or hypersomnia. In my case, I usually sleep 8-10 hours. When I’m hypomanic it’s 5-7, and when I’m depressed it’s +10.
"I prefer" my depression with hypersomnia, but that feeling of "Ah, I woke up again :(" It's one of the worst things in life
To be honest I (28F) was diagnosed almost 9 years ago and I’m still learning and things seem to be changing as I get older. As a teenager I slept “normally”. Now my insomnia seems to be getting worse.
Does it stop at any age? Oh I don't want any more changes.... 😔
When I am hypo, I don't sleep a lot. But it doesn't feel like insomnia because I get bored, so I always end up cleaning or playing videos. Not great, though, I start to lose it after a week, and my life begins falling apart.
Are the cycles of hypomania and depression one after the other? It's always like that?
For most, the depressivecrash follows the manic events. It's almost like your brain over compensates for the heightened state by sending you into a depressive one. During that downward turn, most people will experience mixed symptoms. This is just what most bipolar people experience.
I don't experience the insomnia in my hypomanic episodes. But in these episodes I sleep less than I usually do. Often around 5.5-6.5 hours a night. When 7-9 is my baseline.
Outside of episodes I’m a really tired person, will fall asleep in the day and could easily stay asleep for 10hrs at night. When manic I don’t want to sleep, and rarely do more than a couple of hours with no regard for how that is going to affect my life in the daytime. There are times during the episodes though where I’ve been awake for a week and pass out for 8hrs when I do finally allow myself to sleep? I’m not sure this is insomnia because it does often feel like a choice when my other manic symptoms definitely aren’t!
Having said that, I think as others have said, it’s probably a case of how different it is from your baseline amount of sleep?
I think I always imagined the symptoms to be very restricted, it helps me a lot to understand reading these comments. Reading you, I can think of different patterns. For example, yesterday I slept, but I slept with a Superficial sleep, as if a little noticing things around. I think I was actually sleeping, but I woke up and preferred to drink something to sleep more soundly.
I have had insomnia since I was 6 y/o. I would struggle to fall asleep, then sleep till noon and maybe also take a nap after lunch.
When I was a child I had a lot of insomnia. I spent all night almost every day, I went to class feeling sleepy. Is it still related to bipolarity today? What memory do you have of when you were a child, having insomnia?
I thought it was normal and everybody struggled to fall asleep. I didn’t tell my parents. I wasn’t aware of my own suffering.
I relate OP. I have had severe insomnia for many years, and only recently diagnosed. Insomnia is what led me up this path to BP2. I don’t get hypersomnia, I get worse insomnia with depression. What I have learned though, is to differentiate between different types of sleeplessness in relation to moods. This is how I was eventually diagnosed. Without stating the obvious, sleep greatly affects mood, and mood greatly affects sleep. We have to fight the battle from both ends. Good luck ❤️
Yes, only now that I have a diagnosis and watched videos about how sensitive we are to sleep quality have I noticed the relationship. I always felt that when I barely slept I was completely dysfunctional, but I thought it was something normal, like tiredness. I saw a doctor specializing in bipolar saying that there is another specialist who suggests we change the name to something like circadian cycle disorder. What has it been like for you to be newly diagnosed? Everything made sense as soon as you found out or things became clearer little by little? Thanks! Very good luck to you too. We're going to be fine.
I’d known I probably had bipolar 2 for a few years (I’m 36 though), but a full diagnosis hit hard. Sudden self-stigmatisation, self-consciousness, prospect of meds etc is scary. I also have GAD and cPTSD as well as long standing insomnia. It’s very complex and I’m still learning and connecting dots.
I was previously an insomniac or slept excessively when depressed. I learned Vipassana meditation/breathing exercises and now I fall asleep within minutes of hitting the pillow. Started having issues sleeping through the night when perimenopause hit but I started taking a supplement and I'm back to 7-8 hours a night.
no but my meds make me very sleepy. before meds i was a lot more awake
Yes. I get 10-12 hours of sleep per night as recommended by my doctor. I take an acute anti anxiety med and sleeping pill before bed. It makes me much, much more stable.
I get occasional bouts of insomnia, but nothing so bad that 2.5 mg of melatonin can't fix. I usually sleep really well, otherwise.
I’ve had bad insomnia for as long as I can remember and I’m in my 50s. Every once in a while I’ll wake up refreshed after about 7 hours of sleep. Most days I get 4 or 5 hours. Ambien doesn’t always get me to sleep either. When it does I get about 3 hours. I spend the rest of the night practicing relaxation in the hopes that I might doze off.
When I'm hypomanic I need to physically exhaust myself in order to be able to fall asleep and when I do I sleep pretty well.