It's now almost 2:30am and I'm still wide awake. I've been level all day, but by evening my moods began to escalate to the point where I'm now hypomanic. I took a Klonopin this morning, but don't want to take another because I'm enjoying the way I feel. I've noticed that ever since my pdoc prescribed Klonopin for my rapid cycling, I don't cycle into extreme irritability or severe depression when I'm hypomanic. Hypomanic episodes are pleasurable for me now as a result. I wish this feeling would last forever. I'm trying to keep myself busy, but nothing seems to hold my attention long enough. When I listen to the TV or radio, people don't speak fast enough. If I listen to music, I start playing one song for 20 seconds before I want to listen to another. The only thing I've been able to turn to is this board since I'm able to type and keep busy through writing. Speaking of writing, I've tried to do that earlier as well, but I don't know what to write about. As a result, all I end up doing is writing thoughts that don't make sense. What do some of you do to keep yourself busy when you're hypomanic? I've tried listening to soft, relaxing music, but it makes me irritable because I want to hear something that has a good beat. I'd go outside for a walk, but it's obviously too late. I'd distract myself by making something to eat, but I'm not hungry. I could go to bed, but I don't want to because I'm enjoying the way I feel. What else can I do to keep myself occupied? What kind of activities help keep you busy when you're hypomanic? I've run out of ideas and don't know what else to do.
__________________
Atypical Bipolar I Disorder with Rapid Cycling
Meds:
Depakote 1500mg
Prozac 40mg
Risperdal 1mg titrating to 6mg/day
Klonopin .5mg (2x/day)
Trazodone 100mg or 200mg PRN
I'm up too. Shoulda gone to bed before 2, but didn't. My insomnia is caused by my strong urge to whack my husband upside the head with a hard object. He made a wrong decision after going to bed, and that decision sent me to the sofa, where I got a sketchy 90 mins of sleep.
He's got some weird rash that requires a strong ointment 2x/day. If it gets in your eyes, it'll cause glaucoma. So I've asked him to wear a t-shirt to bed so that I don't get ointment on my hands accidentally and then rub it into my eyes. He wore A-shirts for the 1st 2 nights, but I didn't know the clean ones were used up, and he would have to wear a regular tee. So he peeled it off at some point, as he's used to sleeping bare-chested. When I came to bed around 2, I realized that not only might I get ointment on my hands, but now it was on the sheets, and his putting on a t-shirt was pointless. So I went to the sofa, tossed and turned, and then went up and quietly asked him to put one on while I spread a clean sheet over the "contaminated" one. He put the t on, I spread the sheet, and we lay down to sleep. Of course, I'm really ticked that I've not slept much so far, and lay there feeling ticked. He makes some kind of movement, I started to drift, and then I turn over and he's taken the t off again!!! So I took my pillow, told him, "You are not a nice person!" and came down here. The stinking birds have been singing since 4:10, and now they're even louder. So I'm going to have a crappy day. And I really needed to be rested to work on my research paper.
Sorry for hijacking your thread, Dreams. I just had to vent. And since you were up...
BTW, have a ready list of writing ideas next time this happens, so you can get the most out of it. Hope that helps.
Angry, angry Elf
__________________
Bipolar II, dx in 2008 in my late 30's
900mg lithium
ativan as needed
I'm up too. Shoulda gone to bed before 2, but didn't. My insomnia is caused by my strong urge to whack my husband upside the head with a hard object. He made a wrong decision after going to bed, and that decision sent me to the sofa, where I got a sketchy 90 mins of sleep.
He's got some weird rash that requires a strong ointment 2x/day. If it gets in your eyes, it'll cause glaucoma. So I've asked him to wear a t-shirt to bed so that I don't get ointment on my hands accidentally and then rub it into my eyes. He wore A-shirts for the 1st 2 nights, but I didn't know the clean ones were used up, and he would have to wear a regular tee. So he peeled it off at some point, as he's used to sleeping bare-chested. When I came to bed around 2, I realized that not only might I get ointment on my hands, but now it was on the sheets, and his putting on a t-shirt was pointless. So I went to the sofa, tossed and turned, and then went up and quietly asked him to put one on while I spread a clean sheet over the "contaminated" one. He put the t on, I spread the sheet, and we lay down to sleep. Of course, I'm really ticked that I've not slept much so far, and lay there feeling ticked. He makes some kind of movement, I started to drift, and then I turn over and he's taken the t off again!!! So I took my pillow, told him, "You are not a nice person!" and came down here. The stinking birds have been singing since 4:10, and now they're even louder. So I'm going to have a crappy day. And I really needed to be rested to work on my research paper.
Sorry for hijacking your thread, Dreams. I just had to vent. And since you were up...
BTW, have a ready list of writing ideas next time this happens, so you can get the most out of it. Hope that helps.
Angry, angry Elf
Elf,
If I were in your shoes, I'd be ticked off too. Glaucoma is nothing to take lightly. My sister has glaucoma even though she has close to 20/20 vision. However, it's always something she pays close attention to because obviously she doesn't want to lose her vision.
Someone on another bipolar message board told me that when they're hypomanic, they look through the dictionary for strange words and try to make a sentence out of them. I thought that was a very creative idea and is something I'll try doing later today.
In order to force myself to do one activity, I turned on one of the digital music channels and listened for awhile. Eventually I became impatient and then starting turning from one channel to the next because I didn't know what I wanted to listen to. I started off listening to 80s music, then 70s music, then classic rock and finally, a little smooth jazz in the hopes of calming down. Listening to jazz didn't work and only made me feel irritable.
It's now 4:15am and I can hear the birds singing outside my window. One of the advantages I have is the fact that I can remove my cochlear implants at night and enjoy complete silence. I feel sorry for hearing people like you who have to put up with hearing birds sing so early in the morning. One of my sisters often tells me how they wake her up at 4am even though she doesn't need to wake up for work until 5am. The repetitive chirps are grating on my nerves although I don't know why because I ordinarily love to hear the sound of birds singing. I'm guessing that the reason I'm irritable is because I'm tired and frustrated because I can't sleep despite trying Kat's idea of counting to 100 and then back down again to 1. I also tried listening to talk radio at a soft volume, but it's just a bunch of "noise" since I don't have the concentration necessary to focus on what is being said.
Today's tdoc appointment should be interesting. I hope I don't end up snapping at my tdoc like I've done once before. I think I might take an extra Klonopin so I can calm down a little before my appointment.
__________________
Atypical Bipolar I Disorder with Rapid Cycling
Meds:
Depakote 1500mg
Prozac 40mg
Risperdal 1mg titrating to 6mg/day
Klonopin .5mg (2x/day)
Trazodone 100mg or 200mg PRN
It's now almost 2:30am and I'm still wide awake. I've been level all day, but by evening my moods began to escalate to the point where I'm now hypomanic. I took a Klonopin this morning, but don't want to take another because I'm enjoying the way I feel. I've noticed that ever since my pdoc prescribed Klonopin for my rapid cycling, I don't cycle into extreme irritability or severe depression when I'm hypomanic. Hypomanic episodes are pleasurable for me now as a result. I wish this feeling would last forever. I'm trying to keep myself busy, but nothing seems to hold my attention long enough. When I listen to the TV or radio, people don't speak fast enough. If I listen to music, I start playing one song for 20 seconds before I want to listen to another. The only thing I've been able to turn to is this board since I'm able to type and keep busy through writing. Speaking of writing, I've tried to do that earlier as well, but I don't know what to write about. As a result, all I end up doing is writing thoughts that don't make sense. What do some of you do to keep yourself busy when you're hypomanic? I've tried listening to soft, relaxing music, but it makes me irritable because I want to hear something that has a good beat. I'd go outside for a walk, but it's obviously too late. I'd distract myself by making something to eat, but I'm not hungry. I could go to bed, but I don't want to because I'm enjoying the way I feel. What else can I do to keep myself occupied? What kind of activities help keep you busy when you're hypomanic? I've run out of ideas and don't know what else to do.
Dreams,
when I'm hypomanic I clean, scrub floors, clean out closets, go through my sons room and throw out all broken toys, etc. I also cook large batches of sauces and stuff and freeze them. I'll go to the market and buy a ton of onions and bell peppers and chop them up and freeze them, just because I love to use my knives and chop stuff. And I write alot, I actually find it easier to write when I'm hypomanic, since I'm normally pretty much depressed, the ideas just flow out of my head and I can't get them on paper soon enough.
These are just some things I do, oh yeah and catch up on TIVO'd stuff while yakking on the board also.
k
__________________
Degenerative Cartilage Disease - Knees & Osteoarthritis
1995-2008 13 surgeries- both knees
'09 L knee reconstruction and Tibia Tubercle Ostiotomy
Bilateral Carpal Tunnel
Bipolar/SH
I'm up too. Shoulda gone to bed before 2, but didn't. My insomnia is caused by my strong urge to whack my husband upside the head with a hard object. He made a wrong decision after going to bed, and that decision sent me to the sofa, where I got a sketchy 90 mins of sleep.
He's got some weird rash that requires a strong ointment 2x/day. If it gets in your eyes, it'll cause glaucoma. So I've asked him to wear a t-shirt to bed so that I don't get ointment on my hands accidentally and then rub it into my eyes. He wore A-shirts for the 1st 2 nights, but I didn't know the clean ones were used up, and he would have to wear a regular tee. So he peeled it off at some point, as he's used to sleeping bare-chested. When I came to bed around 2, I realized that not only might I get ointment on my hands, but now it was on the sheets, and his putting on a t-shirt was pointless. So I went to the sofa, tossed and turned, and then went up and quietly asked him to put one on while I spread a clean sheet over the "contaminated" one. He put the t on, I spread the sheet, and we lay down to sleep. Of course, I'm really ticked that I've not slept much so far, and lay there feeling ticked. He makes some kind of movement, I started to drift, and then I turn over and he's taken the t off again!!! So I took my pillow, told him, "You are not a nice person!" and came down here. The stinking birds have been singing since 4:10, and now they're even louder. So I'm going to have a crappy day. And I really needed to be rested to work on my research paper.
Sorry for hijacking your thread, Dreams. I just had to vent. And since you were up...
BTW, have a ready list of writing ideas next time this happens, so you can get the most out of it. Hope that helps.
Angry, angry Elf
Elf,
I have a shotgun you could borrow...for the ummm...birds, yeah for the birds of course.
kat
__________________
Degenerative Cartilage Disease - Knees & Osteoarthritis
1995-2008 13 surgeries- both knees
'09 L knee reconstruction and Tibia Tubercle Ostiotomy
Bilateral Carpal Tunnel
Bipolar/SH
He made a wrong decision after going to bed, and that decision sent me to the sofa, where I got a sketchy 90 mins of sleep. 
, and his putting on a t-shirt was pointless. So I went to the sofa, tossed and turned, and then went up and quietly asked him to put one on while I spread a clean sheet over the "contaminated" one. He put the t on, I spread the sheet, and we lay down to sleep. Of course, I'm really ticked that I've not slept much so far, and lay there feeling ticked. He makes some kind of movement, I started to drift, and then I turn over and he's taken the t off again!!! 
Linear Mode
