Posted by cybercafe on October 28, 2003, at 1:24:45
In reply to Re: Why lowering cortisol is not always good » cybercafe, posted by BarbaraCat on October 23, 2003, at 12:21:09
> So the main thing is that whatever the reason, the air flow stops long enough to send the body into understandable alarm and wakeup. Mostly you're not aware of waking but sometimes you definitely are and have a rotten night. My sleep lab study showed I was waking up 10-12 times an hour never fully reaching stage IV sleep. That's where all the good stuff happens in sleep, like muscle repair and deep rest. That's when the pituitary makes Human Growth Hormone without which the HPA-axis malfunctions.
i'm curious... what do you feel like in the morning? would you sleep all day if you could?
> It feels like what you'd expect to feel like after only a few hours sleep night after bloody night. As far as ADD, when I'm really tired from a string of bad nights I'm inattentive and unfocussed and have alot of ADD-like symptoms. But I'm not ADD, just tired, and when I'm sleeping well those symptoms go away - for the most part ;-)ah so you don't do things like hyperfocus or display other hyperactive components ... makes sense
>
> Do you have sleep problems? It seems that most bipolars do at some point in the cycle and I doubt they all have sleep apnea. But then again, who knows? As you might imagine, anything that interferes with sleep is going to cause major problems, and sleep apnea is more prevalent than most people imagine.i want to take as many stimulating meds during the day as i can (i.e. abilify, parnate, ritalin) so i have problems staying asleep
> > i thought lithium was no good for mixed states? that's great if it's working for you
>
> ***I don't think it works for mixed states by itself but I don't think its destabilizing either. By itself I was still getting very depressed but they weren't mixed state nightmares. I need the lithium/lamictal combo. It must be working since I haven't had a mixed state episode since getting on that combo last year.yeah i've heard some really good things about the lithium/lamictal combo on the board
> ***Do these APs have mood stabilizer properties? I tried Zyprexa for a time but hated the effects. But I can see how taking an antipsychotic is a good idea during mixed states. Don't know about you, but mine were psychotic for sure. I lived inside a Vicent van Gogh painting. An bad acid trip that goes on and on and on... Are these the only meds you're taking for BP or otherwise?
yeah i found they had really good mood stabilizing properties... too good... i havn't had any mania in years
>then. Have you ever tried lamictal for the depression? Sorry if you've answered all these questions before. I don't have a steeltrap memory these days.
yeah i've tried lamictal to try and provide mood stability, but they only took me up to 125 mg and then i went off it ... it didn't work at these levels
> > ah but i'm bipolar and i have low cortisol :)
>
> ***How did you find out about your cortisol levels? One thing I'm convinced of is the need to get to sleep before cortisol levels start rising again. For me, that's no later than 11. But do I do it? Nooooo. I'm just hitting my stride around 11pm.blood tests, had a few
> ***So, what is your bipolar like? Do you feel your treatment is effective? Do you know what contributes to an episode and what helps? - BCat
my bipolar is mainly depressive .... i'm waiting for parnate to kick in ...... and see how much ritalin i can take with it for ADD
poster:cybercafe
thread:269316
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031025/msgs/274141.html