Insomnia and pychosis.

Hi im on a depressive episode but I can't sleep even though I take sleeping pills. As I type it's 2:00am here. The other problem is I just can't do anything at all I don't clean I don't go out I don't watch tv. My mother has taken over the care of my kids. I'm also pychotic and paranoid this is partly why I can't sleep because I'm so scared someone will break in and take my children. I'm scared to send them to school in case someone takes them from there. I just feel so dead sometimes I can't even remember how to talk so my family text me instead as I have no problems writing stuff down.

Is sounds like you're going through bad distress. Do you have a psychiatrist you can contact perhaps through text, or email? Maybe some family who could help you? Psychosis and insomnia make for a horrible combo and there is no quality in life living that way. We can't do much on here but listen, and hopefully give you some suggestions that may help. But we definitely are all ears.

Crawling wrote:Hi im on a depressive episode but I can't sleep even though I take sleeping pills. As I type it's 2:00am here. The other problem is I just can't do anything at all I don't clean I don't go out I don't watch tv. My mother has taken over the care of my kids. I'm also pychotic and paranoid this is partly why I can't sleep because I'm so scared someone will break in and take my children. I'm scared to send them to school in case someone takes them from there. I just feel so dead sometimes I can't even remember how to talk so my family text me instead as I have no problems writing stuff down.

Hi Crawling

Huge hugs to you -sounds like things are difficult. What is you Dr doing to try to address all of this? Do they know how much you are struggling with the paranoia? I really hope you managed to sleep in the end.

More hugs and here for you

Cracked

Thanks both my pychiatrist has upped my meds but that is all he is willing to do for now. I have 9 voices spinning in my head everytime I lie down to sleep which is mostly what's keeping me awake that and the paranoia. I managed about two hours sleep last night so now I'm exhausted. I seem to have entered a viscous circle the less I sleep the more pychotic I'm getting. The more pychotic I am the less I sleep. I take sleeping pills but they are just not working. I keep begging my pychiatrist to change my anti psychotic as I've been on this one a year and it's not working but he keeps saying it's a perfectly good anti psychotic.

Crawling wrote:Thanks both my pychiatrist has upped my meds but that is all he is willing to do for now. I have 9 voices spinning in my head everytime I lie down to sleep which is mostly what's keeping me awake that and the paranoia. I managed about two hours sleep last night so now I'm exhausted. I seem to have entered a viscous circle the less I sleep the more pychotic I'm getting. The more pychotic I am the less I sleep. I take sleeping pills but they are just not working. I keep begging my pychiatrist to change my anti psychotic as I've been on this one a year and it's not working but he keeps saying it's a perfectly good anti psychotic.

Sounds like you need to change psychiatrist. No drug for sleeping should take that long to work. I have come down with voices in the head but my case is extreme that physical attacks r also involved. They didn't let me sleep all night last nite. My problem started 1/1/14 so it's been 2 months. I have like 3 voices that won't let me sleep. They can prevent me from going into sleep state. I saw my first private psychiatrist and he diagnosed me as schitzo, and prescribed me Saphris. Is your problem just voices that's keeping you awake or anything physical ?

Thanks for replying I'm in a country where it's not easy to change psychiatrist. Also as they have slapped a borderline label on me in addition to bipolar if I speak up I'm considered to be acting out my borderline symptoms.

It was very difficult for me to change my psychiatrist as well. It took three conversations and a letter to the hospital -- I wrote the letter, then had someone read it before sending to ensure it doesn't come off as too emotional -- until I got what I wanted. It doesn't matter if you have a borderline diagnosis or not. You should receive treatment of high quality and the correct medication. If you are not receiving it, and your doctor insists that your complaints are caused by your borderline, make a written complaint to whoever his supervisor is. If it doesn't help, make a written complaint with your insurance company. Send everything with registered post and keep copies.

May I ask what sleeping pills do you take and in what dosage? I'm a bit of sleeping pill veteran :/ (this does not make me happy) You shouldn't need to take sleeping pills for a very long time in any case, but even more so if they don't work.

Big hugs -- hope you have some sleep soon -- I go quite literally crazy without it.

They are not generic sleeping pills rather pills that have a side effect of making you sleep I take 2mg clonazepam in the evening to help me sleep and reduce my anxiety. In order to switch psychiatrist I have to go through a formal complaints procedure and attend a board and everything and I'm just not strong enough to argue ATM.

Crawling wrote:The more pychotic I am the less I sleep.

It might have also started the other way round, because lack of sleep usually can lead to psychotic episodes - I am always reminded that proper sleep is among the most important things with bipolar; perhaps you are having a mixed episode if you can't sleep despite depression. In my case, this is what happens when I am in mixed state; when I am experiencing only depression then I sleep basically all the time... When I can't sleep I take at night, apart from the usual medicines, Olanzapine as recommended by my doctor, and it does work well for me because it helps me sleep.

I keep begging my pychiatrist to change my anti psychotic as I've been on this one a year and it's not working but he keeps saying it's a perfectly good anti psychotic.

which antipsychotic? just out of curiosity

Crawling wrote:and prescribed me Saphris

I've also been on Saphris (Sycrest) for 3 weeks now; how is it working for you? Any side effects?

Crawling wrote:Thanks for replying I'm in a country where it's not easy to change psychiatrist. Also as they have slapped a borderline label on me in addition to bipolar if I speak up I'm considered to be acting out my borderline symptoms.

I've also been diagnosed with borderline besides bipolar; sometimes it's hard ti distinguish between symptoms of bipolar from those of borderline...

I was on olanzapine wonderful stuff except it made me gain too much weight. Now I'm on aripiprazole (Abilify) and whilst I'm sure it is a good anti psychotic it just doesn't seem to suit me.

-- Wed Mar 05, 2014 3:17 pm --

Oh a and yes it is very difficult to distinguish between the borderline and bipolar.