Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

Over the last few months I've been experience nights sweats.  And these sweats are major.  They're full-blown soak the sheets, blanket and pillow case sweats.  When they wake me up I can feel droplets of sweat dripping down my back.  It feels like bugs crawling on my skin.  I've had to change the sheets many nights because there was simply not a square inch of the bed that was dry.

This goes beyond annoying, it disrupts my sleep--what precious bit of it I can get, thank you ever so much agitation and hypomania.

So, I've decided to hunt around and see if people with bipolar disorder have a higher incidence of night sweats.  I did a lot of searching on the internet and really didn't find any reports of the disorder causing night sweats.  But, I did find a lot of reports of common medications used to treat bipolar disorder as causing night sweats.

One report I found was particularly informative.  eHealthMe.com conducted a study of night sweats experienced by people with bipolar disorder.  The results were based on data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The data showed that 62.54% of the subjects studied were women (and thus, 35.48% men).  And, the highest incidence occurred in people between 40 and 49 years of age (43.86%.  22.81% for the 30-39 group; 17.54% for the 50-59 group; 10.53% for the 60+ group).

What was interesting to me was the link between night sweats and medications.  Here's a list of the medications and the percentage of night-sweaters using them.

Lamictal -- 37.93%
Seroquel -- 32.76%
Depakote -- 25.86%
Aspirin -- 13.79%
Geodon -- 13.79%
Abilify -- 13.79%
Zyprexa -- 12.07%
Klonopin -- 12.07%
Zoloft -- 10.34%
Risperdal -- 10.34%

Well, that suggests something about my particular situation.  I've taken Cymbalta and Lamictal for years, and would take Abilify when I was able to sense depression coming on.  For the past few months, though, I've had to adjust my meds and have been taking the Abilify daily.  Hmmmmm, interesting.  I think I've found the culprit.  Apparently, for me, the Lamictal doesn't cause the sweats, but the combination of Abilify and Lamictal does.

Well, I can't exactly go off of the Abilify, so I guess I'll just have to sweat it out.

Up Half the Night Redux

Again, I find myself sleepless.  Am I entering a hypomania?  I always ask myself that question when this happens.  Preparing for the ride.  But now that I'm on meds, the ride's not that fun anymore.  It's just annoying.

Used to be a hypomania was wonderful.  I got things done! My house was always spotless and scrubbed! I could work on multiple projects at one time -- and finish them!  I exercised!  I cooked!  I was the smartest person on the face of the earth and I had sooo many ideas!

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm glad that I'm stabilized.  Stabilization means that I don't have to drop into the "Big Bad."  The endless weeks of pain, despair and inertia.  I'm glad for the stabilization from that perspective.

Now, however, when I'm sleepless I have motivation for nothing other than sitting on my butt, chain smoking, and watching TV.  And let me tell you about mid-night television.  It sucks.

This is what my choices are tonight:  Sexy Adult Toy Shopping; Inspiration Today Camp Meeting; Dr. Phil reruns; Color Splash Watches: May Day Hot for Summer Event; Smooth Legs for Summer; Total Gym for $14.99; Miracle-Ear; Want More Sex?; Big Buying Secrets; Steam Clean for a Healthy Home; World's Best Blender; Fashion Star Beauty by Maybelline NY; Travel Tips and Hotspots; Shepherd's Chapel; Health Inspectors; Sexy Abs; World's Wildest Police Videos; Look Younger Instantly . . . you get the idea.


I finally do find something to watch -- stand up comedy, which I like.  But even that is painful.  The commercials come every five minutes.  In the last half hour I've been urged to purchase: We Are 18 Phone Sex; T-Mobile; Bookings.com; Progressive Insurance; RockAuto.com; DishTV; Durex condoms; Sonic Chicken Club sandwiches; Rhapsody.com; Factory Direct Diamonds; a Buick Concord; Old Spice; Allegra; BigSpot.com; Act Dry Mouth mouthwash; more T-Mobile; 5-Hour Energy; CreditKarma.com; Trivago.com hotel booking;emeralds from The Jewelry Exchange; more Durex condoms; Geico insurance; Xenadrine Weight Loss; Stamps.com; Hulu Plus; Enzyte 24/7 Male Peak Performance; and Adam and Eve adult "entertainment products."

Looks like I need to start subscribing to premium channel cable.