on meds for bipolar and not even seroquel will make me sleep
What can I take to sleep and not dream, I have been of meds after meds nothing is working?
Question posted by rapture65 on 25 Oct 2012
Last updated on 18 January 2019 by Smith9999
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13 Answers
Smith9999
18 Jan 2019
One of my therapist gave me name of a drug that helps with your issue which I also suffer from bi polar type one but I can't remember the name I'll try to call him tomorrow and figure it out... On side note marijuana helps tremendously just smoking or eating a small amount before bed 100% guarantees you won't remember you dreams but when you come off it , it will make dreams worse for day or two so it's a trade-off
And no matter what you'll have dreams but you can use certain drugs or substances to not remember your dreams
MuseMyself
9 Sep 2018
Minipress, I have taken for some time now & I don’t dream it’s for PTSD/night terrors. I don’t think I had dreams on Sonata either but, I have been off of it for two years
NNoirphoenix
8 Sep 2018
trazodone as little as 50mg helps me to sleep and not dream as well. I had really bad nightmares until i took it.hope this helps
mistismum
7 Sep 2013
I have been on seroquel for a number of years. and sometime it feels like I have two separate lives one when I'm awake and one when I'm a sleeping, sometimes the dreams are really weird always the same it feels so real life. my cpn says that seroquel causes the dreams. I have been on zopiclone for over a year, so I don't have sleepless nights anymore. but doesn't stop the dreams
mhelcl
14 March 2013
Regularly undertake more physical activity during the day, if you are able to. after exercising more, start on Kava Kava extract and mint tea.
tim h
14 March 2013
A higher dose of temasapam may do the trick.
45/60 mg. Throughout the nite should help sleep and dreams. .. also conidine is good for bad dreams.but had no sleep capabilities. I use it in conjuction with temasapam..im bipolor with lots of sleep issues..
notcrazy_psychotic
8 Dec 2012
I am on resperidone (resperdal) and I do not believe I have had any dreams, and If I did, I do not remember any of them. If you have not tried it already, I am not a doctor, but maybe you can consider that one.
DzooBaby
25 Oct 2012
The mind is supposed to dream during sleep. The REM cycle is when we dream and studies show that people who do not go into REM sleep will not feel well or think well or funtion well. It is how our brains process and file information. Your brain gets hit with a lot of info throughout a day and most of it you may not even consciously be aware of but your brain still processes it and dreams are a large part of this processing. If you are having bad dreams as part of post traumatic stress disorder, then "talk therapy" is essential for you. This will help your brain to process more in the conscious state so it quits trying to do so much during the unconscious/dreaming state. Writing down dreams can help too. It is all part of processing and filing that information and "dealing" with information and how that information makes you feel. When you work through it in your conscious state, you wont dream about it so much, or at all.
Amitriptyline really does help one to sleep but it does have a side effect of bad dry mouth. You do need to be under the care of both, a psychiatrist, and a psychologist for CBT or talk therapy. The psychiatrist will prescribe your meds and the psychologist will help you learn better coping mechanisms and learning to deal with the thoughts and emotions causing the bad dreams.
I learned a long time ago that it is possible to tell yourself to wake up during dreams. When I have nightmares, I am now able to tell myself "This is a dream, wake up now!" and I can bring myself out of a dream. I'm very claustrophobic and many of my nightmares consist of being shut into very small spaces. If this happens in a dream I tell myself to wake up. Sometimes it does give me a bit of a headache and sometimes I have to sit up for a little while before I can go back to sleep so I avoid going right back into the dream. I have also found that it is best to think only positive thought before going to sleep. I have always struggled with insomnia. My mother told me that even when I was a baby, I woke 4-5 times a night wanting a bottle or comfort to go back to sleep. When I was older and didnt take a bottle any longer, my mom would come in and pat my behind or rub my back gently to get me back to sleep. Once I was too old for my mother to do this, I learned to make up little happy stories in my head unitl I drifted off. So rather than dwell on the days unpleasant thoughts over and over, I think up little stories for myself. I know it probably sounds strange but it works better for me than anything. You have to find out what works for you. I used to take amitriptyline and it did help but I hated the dry mouth all the time so when I got pregnant with my oldest son I went off that and never went back to it. Hydroxyzine (or Vistaril) helps for sleep and it is not a controlled drug so it isnt as addictive as drugs like Dalmane, Restoril and other benzodiazepines. Talk to a psychiatrist about the appropriate medications for you but remember that medications are only a tool. If there is a chemical imbalance, meds will help this, but mental disorders also involve behavior (which is why they are sometimes named behavior disorders) and to change behavior one must develop better coping mechanisms. If we learn to cope, we can learn to manage the illness so dont discount the importance of therapy in addition to medications. In many cases therapy is even more important than medications.
endlessPred
25 Oct 2012
I agree, you are on target with what I know, too. Karen
bumblebee90
26 Oct 2012
Wow DzooBaby, you express things so very well. I'm talking tip top incredible advice. I wish all of the time that I could do this the same way you do. But I can't. I think I give some good answers, but nothing like you do. I greatly appreciate you're advice that has helped no telling how many people. I've been concerned my whole life about the dreams and nightmares I have had, and still sometimes still do. I know when I was very young. I'm talking two or three yr.s old, I would have nightmares and my momma could not wake me up in any way for a short while. I would be crying really hard and not wake up. She took me to a child psychiatrist, and the dr. said I had what is called "night terrors" or something like that. Have you ever heard of this. He said it could stem from the constant yelling and fighting from my parent's. I don't know. But I've had them all my life, have been to counseling and evrything, and still have them.
I was extremely frusterated, worried, and physically and mentally getting plum out of sorts a few months ago. Not that long ago. I have extreme insomnia and what has helped me in the past, which was Ambiem and Lunesta, literally quit working. I was getting an average of one to two hours of sleep a night. This was not good having a child at home to have to take care of, when I was so sleep deprived. My dr. tried everything to help get me some sleep. I tried Restoril highest dose, Hydroxyzine, Silenor, certain benzo's, and nothing. i was worried. I was finally put on Trazadone and gradually went up to 300mg at night. Sometimes that doesn't even work. I will wake up several times at night. But sometimes I will get five hrs. but that's it. And it causes me major drowsiness and hard to wake up in the mornings. I'm still at a loss on that one, but back to the vivid dreams and nightmares, I agree about writing them down. My husband swears by this. He says if he talks about the bad dream, and what went on in it. To get it out verbally to me, that it helps him tremendously. I'm not moping about this or overexaggerating, but so much has went on in my life that I've went through, could play a big role in this.Iam able to do the same thing you do regarding being able to wake myself up and tell myself during the dream that it isn't real. I cannot go right back to sleep as you mentioned either, or it will throw me right back in the dream. I'm not sure how I feel about this at all. It kinda scares me some, but my psychiatrist wants to hypmotize me. He said I was a difficult case, but he liked difficult cases. lol. I sure am glad he does, because I can be one messed up crumbled cracker. lol. But he really does try to help me in any way he can. And he has never given up on me. I didn't mean to write a book to you, so I'll end this, but I was letting you know that you gave excellent advise and options. I could talk more about what you wrote, but I will spare you the time of reading it. lol. Hope things are going good for you. You deserve a lot of credit. I really enjoy reading you're answer's. Take care, You're friend, Ruthie
tejas129
8 Dec 2012
I have chronic insomnia as well. I've been in 12 sleep studies and they don't know why I stay up for days at a time.I've tried so many different meds,all the sleep meds,and so many other ones,but they don't work.Lunesta was the best one. I had such a wonderful nights sleep. I woke up feeling incredibly refreshed,I remember thinking " So this is what sleep is supposed to do". But it only worked that 1 time.In the studies, they did find that I don't reach REM 88% of the time.When I do have a dream it's always bad,my fears,and I dream when something is going to happen sometimes too. Like before someone I love dies,I'll have a dream about them that is...
unpleasant.The weird thing is, Something always DOES happen.Sorta spooky,but, I've been dealing with all of these things since I was a very young child.I had one of those last night.I dreamed that I was suddenly on the phone with my SIL,just by the sound of her voice saying"Donna this is Nycki", I did'nt hear who she said she was,and her voice was different so I did'nt recodnize it,I asked "Who?"she told me again who it was,and that was the end of the dream
Anyway, I try to approach my insomnia with the things I can do to help myself. I get up at the same time every morning,and at night I lay down on the couch,watch something I've seen a million times,I do deep breathing exercise too.I exercise 45 minutes a day,I do The Shred by Jillian Micheals,and I go for a walk. I play little games with myself on those walks to make them less boring.I've started drinking YOGI brand tea, STRESS RELIEF at night too,right before I lay down Even though I take 8 mg of Xanax and 20g of Valium,AND I'm resistant to so many hardcore meds,this tea DOES seem to make me feel more relaxed,but I only use it at night,and not every night.I'm afraid it will quit helping!! LOL
Something else that helped soooo much, we got a sleep number bed. I rest and feel so much better during the night and in the mornings.I used to have to get up,or should I say roll out? of bed every morning grab a pain pill for my back on my to the kitchen to get a drink.I'm going through a manic phase right now,and as of now, I've been up for... 54 hours.Not feeling sleepy right now either but I'm getiing offline and going to the couch. Sorry, like I said,I'm going through a manic phase... Night, tejas129
Inactive
25 Oct 2012
Hello rapture. I suggest you ask your doctor about Remeron/Mirtazapine.. I use it and certainly helps me to nod off. Regards pledge
Inactive
10 Sep 2013
Pledge = I use Remeron also. Although it was prescribed for Depressive Disorder, it does help me sleep at night.
Delila
25 Oct 2012
HI, you might want to talk to your psychiatrist or doctor about adding another medication. I take Seroquel but it isn't enough to let me sleep soundly, so i also take Amitriptyline. Amitriptyline is primarily an antidepressant but it is also used to aid sleep and relieve pain. Taken together my sleep is much improved. It's far from perfect but using the combination of medications has helped a lot.
endlessPred
25 Oct 2012
Dreams are a natural part of the mind learning at night. There is no way to stop them.
Sometimes dreams can actually help when we write them down. Even scary ones. They tell,us about what we think about in symbols. They are not hallucinations and they are not harmful, even when we wakeup scared. They are a real part of us.
I don't know what it is like to deal with schizophrenia. I do know that your psychiatrist is very important. Have you talked about this? Wishing you peace and quiet dreams, karen
anthony30
25 Oct 2012
You may have schizophrenia and probably no seditives will give you the sleep you want. Sodium oxybate may work though. Also a major tranqulizer such as Risperdal may help as well. Some peoples brains are just wired like that. I've experienced that before and I was full of energy and up for 4 days... no drugs.
tejas129
25 Oct 2012
Yes, that's the manic side of bipolar disorder.And if you have BiPolar1 it can be particularly bad. That's why it is so important to go to the pros. Pdocs DO know what they are doing and can mix meds to alleviate alot of issues.
notanexactscience
14 March 2013
I was up for 1 week straight omg before i was hospitalized for the first time. Thank god i know im bipolar1. Resperdal makes u lactate milk effects pituitary gland be carefull decalcification teeth will happen.
tejas129
14 March 2013
I had to have my teeth removed after 10 years on antiD's.They were rotting from the inside out.Dentist said it was the AntiD's. We don't allways realize it but our mouths become dry because of somes meds, plus certain unknown chemicals in the AntiD's causes mouth disease in some.
tejas129
25 Oct 2012
Hi rapture. The only thing I know of that will put you to sleep without dreaming is anesthesia. I assume you are having nightmares?.Hopefully you are in therapy and these dreams will pass. I must say that dreaming is a part of normal sleep. Have you been diagnosed by a Psychiatrist?If you are having nightmares,this is often caused by PTSD(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder),and CAN be treated. But often we need to talk about things too.In fact, talking about our problems helps the most in many areas of mental illness. So, if you are not seeing a Psych, I strongly urge you to do so.Yes, None of us WANT to do that, but once you find the right Pdoc AND the right meds to address your disorder, what ever that may be,you'll be rewarded with peaceful sleep,and a better life,which most certainly makes a better you!! tejas129
Related topics
seroquel, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, insomnia, sleep disorders, generalized anxiety disorder, sleep
Further information
- Seroquel uses and safety info
- Seroquel prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Seroquel (detailed)
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