Can't sleep thoughts racing what do i do with myself

pretty self explanatory from the title. i've been recently diagnosed and I'm having a manic episode and I never know what to do when I'm kept up all night into the wee hours of the morning. I want to drive around and stuff but i feel like if i do that i'll drive way too dangerously (especially since I saw baby driver yesterday). If i do nothing i'll start having psychotic thoughts like starting a cult or becoming a dictator so I need to occupy my mind.

Probably kind of late for this episode, though it may happen again for a few nights, but I have a few "healthy obsessions" (if there is such a thing) like genealogy. You can research a dead end on a family tree for days.
I also access the catalog for inter library loans (sometimes it is an obscure link, but most local libraries participate) and find rare, out of print, and/or too expensive books on various subjects of interest that no local library has. I do feel a little guilty sometimes when a book comes from a university across the country and I have lost interest and moved on by the time it arrives. But sometimes I have not moved and and so some nights I have one of these books to read.
I research places to live in retirement (about 6 years out for me). This one is a little dangerous because sometimes I end up running numbers to see if I could swing it sooner. One of the things I factor in is attorney fees and likely settlement in a divorce (that's not a joke). Even when I am a reasonable person I realize it is likely we won't retire together, but splitting up shouldn't be a sheme hatched in the wee hours.
maybe you should scratch the last suggestion...

UpDownAround wrote:Probably kind of late for this episode, though it may happen again for a few nights, but I have a few "healthy obsessions" (if there is such a thing) like genealogy. You can research a dead end on a family tree for days.
I also access the catalog for inter library loans (sometimes it is an obscure link, but most local libraries participate) and find rare, out of print, and/or too expensive books on various subjects of interest that no local library has. I do feel a little guilty sometimes when a book comes from a university across the country and I have lost interest and moved on by the time it arrives. But sometimes I have not moved and and so some nights I have one of these books to read.
I research places to live in retirement (about 6 years out for me). This one is a little dangerous because sometimes I end up running numbers to see if I could swing it sooner. One of the things I factor in is attorney fees and likely settlement in a divorce (that's not a joke). Even when I am a reasonable person I realize it is likely we won't retire together, but splitting up shouldn't be a sheme hatched in the wee hours.
maybe you should scratch the last suggestion...

Genealogy actually does sound like an interesting topic especially since some of my other family members have already done some research into it. Looking at retirement won't work as I'm decades away from that and the career i'm going in may make it so i'm never able to retire

I had racing thoughts for 20 years. Abilify maintena injections wiped them out lock stock and barrel.It also wiped out my alcohol problem. A miracle injection.

When I have racing thoughts I usually get up and clean house, or take a sleeping pill, or both.
My old shrink had me on Temazepam for sleep, which is a benzo, so it calmed me down pretty good most nights...
These days I tend to go on walks... Got four dogs, so I just leash up one or two of them and go play Pokemon GO for a while... it's a good distraction and night time pokemon tend to be ghosts... so it's kind of a good time... and the dogs like it, obviously.

Exercise: cardio: long distance and sprints, weightlifting, yoga, swimming.
Meditation, reading: I can speed read like no other when I'm hypomanic and it calms me down, I drink hoppy beers to relax, take a benzo to sleep.
If it gets bad I talk to pdoc about med changes, if it gets real bad I go to inpatient.

It's close to 2 am and stuff is bouncing all around in my head. About to take my night time Saphris and that will put a stop to it; I will be sleeping soundly within a few minutes.

hmm i've started just writing my thoughts down as they race through my head and that helps. I've started drawing too, but unfortunately I'm a terrible drawer. I think I'm going to start writing poetry.

Hi!
I was fascinated by your post and peoples responses - I'm a big (or was) racing thoughts man.
the general trend seems to be do something else other than give in to the thoughts. For me it first involved driving a standard 40 mile circuit late at night. Every time the same circuit. I found that very calming. That also lead to 0300 visits to all night supermarkets! Walking is of course good if its safe to do so.
As with another poster above, I found writing a diary released masses and masses of mental energy and got rid of a lot of bad stuff out of my head.
I did not compose, edit or consider what I was writing, I simply wrote what was in my head as it arrived. I did not write To anyone either BTW, in my head I wrote ' With me, Alongside myself ' if that makes sense- the subject was 'This is me..right now'.
Because it was so good I actually became somewhat manic about it and wrote some 40 - 50 pages a day from around midnight to 0600 just on and on and on. I don't regret it at all, getting it out of my head onto the page totally purged my head of much manic nonsense and proved very calming - very therapeutic; almost beautiful!
It was also, wonderfully, totally honest, every last word of it - ' This is me....'.
For that reason I never read any of it back nor in any way edit it. I wanted and only felt right if the words beneath the knib were of Me. It was both voluminous and very pure. In the end I actually gave lots of it to my pdoc to my benefit - even tho' it took a lot of persuasion to do it. When I really zoom now - I write; its so good. So darned honest!
Hmm, its a good subject this, it happens such a lot. I hope you get lots of good ideas! Thanks for posting!

I will say it again

You NEED an *mod edit*. Why do you think the scientists invented them? I believe that abilfy maintena injections are the best on the market. Others can argue that but either way it is as obvious as the nose on rudolfs face that you need an *mod edit*.