Sleep regulation and Bipolar

[TH Anonymous]

[SIZE="a"]Last week I lapsed, for the first time in many years, into a very manic state that could have been potentially dangerous, but thankfully I was in a good place and stayed safe. Turns out that although I've been getting much less and much more inconsistent sleep for six months, the insomnia was affecting me more than I thought, and it may have just finally caused things to snap.

In the last six months I've been doing all I can to regulate sleep and practice good "sleep hygiene." I don't hang out in my bed anymore, unless I am going to sleep soon, I wind down before bed, try to go to bed at a similar time every night, and do have sleep medication, but nothing has seemed to work well in that time. I am not sure what to do to fix this, because I can't afford for something like this to happen again.

Does anyone have any suggestions?[/size]

[Stacey]

It's great that you've noticed the connection between your sleep and an increase in symptoms - so many people brush off that connection when it comes to managing mental health (and physical health) concerns.

It sounds like you're doing a lot of great things in terms of your sleep hygiene and I would definitely continue to keep that up. Sleep is just one of those things that's incredibly difficult to regulate, especially when we end up on an out-of-whack sleep schedule due to things like insomnia.

Do you exercise regularly? This can have a big impact on your ability to fall asleep as well as your sleep quality. Even something like a short walk can make a huge difference. If you already exercise regularly, pay attention to what time of day you typically workout and how you feel afterwards. For some, exercise can energize them, in which case exercising earlier in the day may be best but if you're like me, exercise makes me sleepy so I tend to focus on exercising about 2-3 hours before bed.

If you drink coffee or anything caffeinated/with a high sugar content you may want to try cutting that out entirely for a bit or limiting it to once per day, ideally before noon.

What do you do to wind down before bed? Is it something relaxing that promotes sleep like reading, stretching, meditation? Or is it TV/screen time? You may need to switch up some of the activities you do in the hours before bedtime.

Additionally, if you're already on sleep medication and find it's not helping you may need to talk to your doctor about dosage or trying something new. In general, it can be helpful to check in with your doctor and let them know that you're still struggling with sleep despite your medication and lifestyle changes as they may be able to offer more advice tailored to your needs.