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Posted 7/23/2011 6:39 PM (GMT 0)
2 months ago I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. At that time, and when I visited my doctor, I was sleeping very poorly (about 4/5 hours each night) and was feeling very anxious and agitated. I was prescribed Valproate 1000 mg and Olanzapine 500 mg. My sleep improved immediately but now I am sleeping 10 hours each night and during the day I feel sleepy. I am with low energy and some symptoms of depression.

I do not know what to do. My doctor said that it is normal to feel sleepy. Maybe I have to try to get up early. I would like to ear the experience of other members.

Posted 7/24/2011 10:02 AM (GMT 0)
hi eleveno,

Firstly I'm glad that you insomnia has subsided. That is great news. I imagine your anxiety and agitation have subsided too? I don't know if 10 hours is considered hypersomnia? Is the length of sleep a problem for you? The day time fatigue/depression I suppose it the biggest issue???

When in the 2 month period did this marked change happen? It may just be a depressive episode as part of the bipolar which is being moderated somewhat by the mood stabilisers?? The pdoc may even want to increase them to give you better coverage for each mood state? smhair You also might like to ask your pdoc whether the epilum and zyprexa might be swinging the pendulum to the other side? If so, your pdoc prolly has an opinion of which mood stabilisers they may want you to scale back on? Regardless of dose, timing can make a difference to and "mood stabiliser hangover" and you might like to work with your pdoc to discover the most effective timing for dose?

I also feel my mood stabiliser may be creating fatigue/depression. I have my pdoc's okay to pull back the dose one increment but I'm scared that I might be just going through a depression and if I lighten my dose, it won't cover me well enough for hypomania. I'm lucky she trusts me and authorises me to make small adjustments. I take my mood stabiliser early evening (7pm). I'm out like a light and can sleep for 12 hours. I find that that timing can help eliminate the hangover, to help getting out of bed easier.

So all I can suggest is for you to talk with your pdoc about dosage and timing. It's not unusual to go through this streamlining on a new meds - esp two types. I wish you all the best with it, mate.

TC,

Jade
Posted 7/24/2011 1:03 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, Eleveno, you're taking Depakote and Zyprexa (trade names), according to your post. Depakote is a particularly good mood stabilizer for some people. Zyprexa is an antipsychotic and can cause
sedation. You may wish to discuss reduction of the dosage of Zyprexa with your psychiatrist.

In the meantime, drink plenty of water to help clear the acidic residue
of these medications from your system. If you go online and search olanzapine, you'll read what the side effects are; some of them may be a little scary. While you may need it at the moment, there might not be a need to take it long-term. Only you and your doctor can determine that.

All medications leave an acidic residue that requires the kidneys to
eliminate for you. If that residue isn't removed in 24 hours, it just
keeps circulating in your bloodstream until your kidneys can manage it sufficiently and remove it from your system.

Frankly, it's probably the high levels of medication dosage that are prompting you to have such prolonged sleepiness. As your body becomes used to the medications, the side effects may lessen. That
frequently happens with antidepressants.

Watch for hair loss with high dosage of Depakote. If you sense it,
talk to your doctor about switching to another med. There are some
other very good mood stabilizers out there now: Lamictal (or lamotrigine) and Abilify (for bipolar, type I). Ask him about those if you begin to experience loss of hair.

My best advice to you is the need to drink plenty of water. Bipolar patients should not drink or eat anything with caffeine in it and they should not use alcohol in any form. Both make the illness worse. You
will feel much better if you avoid them altogether. Get your rest and
take your medications. Those are the four laws given to me when I
first saw a psychiatrist many years ago. As a result of following his
orders, I have been able to eliminate the need for medications almost entirely.

It could happen to anyone who is willing to give up the things that are known to be toxic to the brain. Remember, coffee, (or anything with caffeine) and alcohol need to be eliminated.

Take care of yourself.

It's Genetic
Posted 7/24/2011 6:31 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you living well and it's Genetic for your replies. My main problem is to get up and feeling sleepy during the day. This is aggravated because I am not working right now due to a nervous breakdown last year. The switch from poor sleep to excessive sleep happened about 3 weeks ago.

I think I have to get up at the same time everyday which is not happening.
Posted 7/24/2011 10:42 PM (GMT 0)
Hi eleveno,
I hear you about the wish to get up at the same time each day. It does make us feel good about ourselves and it also does help when we have sufficient get up and go, to go about our daily business. Recently I've been "caught" in bed until 2.30pm and just to have a shower feels like I'm scaling Mt Everest. Thinking of you. You aren't alone. It's always a challenge to make the meds work for us, not against us. It's like sailing and harnessing the medication's powers like the winds power to maximum effectiveness. Good luck with your journey.
Jade

ps. IG is obviously correct in zyprexa being an antipsychotic. (It is also an effective mood stabiliser and was prescribed to me as such.) I am fortunate to no suffer psychosis, but IG's post clarified that it was prescribed to you for as an antipsychotic and the epilum was to balance moods. I must admit I was confused, Cheers.

Post Edited (living well) : 7/24/2011 4:47:19 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/25/2011 2:21 PM (GMT 0)
This morning I am feeling very depressed and I already have booked a visit to my doctor this wednesday to see if I need some adjustment in my meds.
Posted 7/25/2011 2:41 PM (GMT 0)
Good thinking, Eleveno, you're taking care of yourself well now.

Keep up the good work!

It's Genetic

Post Edited (It's Genetic) : 7/27/2011 2:06:07 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 7/27/2011 7:50 PM (GMT 0)
Just do write an update. Today I visited my doctor and he add me Lexapro 5 mg on the mornings. If this dosage do not work increase to 10 mg. I hope to feel better soon.
Posted 7/28/2011 7:22 PM (GMT 0)
Acidic is good. Keeps the nasties from growing. :)



eleveno - hope your med change will help you!
Posted 7/28/2011 11:02 PM (GMT 0)
Hey eleveno, antidepressants can take a while to gradually build up... If you "swing" out of the depression, let your doctor know. You should have enough drugs with mood stablisation properties in your system to put the brakes on any mania, but your doctor has prolly explained all that to you.

Can you clarify whether you are bipolar 1 or 2? Psychosis would indicate BP1, prolonged depression would indicate BP2).
Do you have post traumatic stress disorder or anything traumatic in your history?

Hope that Lexapro kicks in soon! ;)

Jade
Posted 7/29/2011 9:44 AM (GMT 0)
Hello Jade. My doctor didn't said what type of bipolarity I have. Thus the confusion. I had about 3 psychosis episodes in my life and I remember being most of the time depressed.

I had some events in my life which could be considered traumatic. My father died when I was 15 years old (now I am 37) and the nervous breakdown (accompanied by a psychotic episode) that I had last year was very traumatic for me.
Posted 7/29/2011 10:05 AM (GMT 0)
I'm sorry to hear that eleveno..... let's hope that the meds will work a treat even if there is some crossover in dx.... can anyone explain that is all about... severe prolonged depression with infrequent manic episodes?
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