see, I was not sure if the number of hours of sleep were important or the time one woke and slept @ were important... but if it is the routein that is important then times are the priority (always the same number of hours awake and alwaways the same number of hours asleep). thanks.

Wildcat, Establishing a good routine can be helpful when dealing with disturbed sleeping patterns. You may want to try going to bed & rising at the same time each day and see if your mood rises as a result? Danielle, Bilingual Health Educator

hi. i have been looking at my sleep patterns recently. I have been trying to put more details to my mood charts. right now I only write the number of hours slept. and I have noticed that with 8 to 9 hours I write sleepy / and mildly depressed more... and 9 to 11 hours get the normal to tiny bit elevated mood are more closely associated. i wonder if bed-time would be an important detail - especially on week-ends?

This is good tactics, Wildcat... you are right,in my opinion, to take as many days off as you need when you're feeling out of balance... and not heaping stress on more stress...

hi . I think that when I "kissed the porcelin goddess" last night I woofed up my meds and that is the reason for the lack of sleep and REALLY STRANGE dreams. This is becoming my marker for a lack in my "proper" dose. I never remember my dreams and without the seroquel I have the weird and the scary come up to mix me up ... it takes about a half hour to see the difference the dream senarios and what I did yesterday. I am finally seeing the benefits of taking care of my emotional / mood wellbeing. A day of rest is worth two of work sufferings. thanks Josie. and I hope your day runs smoothly!

Wildcat, Good for you for venting and being active! Stay home, rest and relax. Keep those babies comfortable and take a rest for yourself :) We are here for you! Josie, Health Educator

okay, i decided to stay home and try to put myself back to rights and PREVENT!! an over-stimulation and a too quick mood change. and the kids are home resting with flu!

hi gang, oh yes i am in trouble! i am writing this at 1am Sunday nite! which means I am not getting the sleep I really need. Part of being BiPo is an energy fluxtuation... depression brings me the need to SSS-LLLLEEEEE-PPP!! and the up-swing (to hypomania) is less sleep, more speed, more energy and LOTS of distractions. I am in accounting and this is the big! week of the month (closing the books for the month). I do not need to be distracted - by lots of nonsense... So I am MORE worried and this feeds anxiety that keeps me MORE awake. I can't even decide what dream character I want to be. I usually distract the worst of these moments by creating a fantasy story with me as the hero... it's one of the ways I was able to get to sleep as a youngster (I had regular nightmares as of 10 yrs old and was afraid to sleep and discovered if I told myself a story in my head till I fell asleep then the monsters would not come). I know what provoked this bout ... my daughter's cold is the flu; fever, pains, and hightened gumpiness. She slept lousy Sat nite and maman sat up with her. I caught a few ZZZ Sunday morning and relaxed all day watching Memaidia. So I am not exhausted. I threw up what I OVERATE at supper and am woried about being sick. Also, I have been thinking ... and as Maurice in Beauty and the Beast sings "it's a dangerous past-time; i know". I am not the same person I was two years ago... * I used to shower with a good brush and two soaps every morning to remove every speck of dead skin, of bacteria, and sebum. Now I use one soap and shower every second evening. I even go to work the second morning with greasy hair. :8o: * I used to change out of my infested work clothing as soon as I got home. Now, I have worn the friday office stuff a second (and a few times a third time) on the week-end. * I used to be so patient and easy going. And my husband has seen me change since the birth of our son (10 yrs ago on march 2nd). I am less patient, more agressive, less energetic and outgoing. * I am less interested in being intimate. Okay, sex was never the basis of our relationship but a tumble once a week or one in two weeks was fun. Now we kid each other with a twist on the old pick up line - do you live with your parents (we sub parents with babies). We now measure moment-times in months. I miss my husband. Also, I do not want to be seen in the shape I have become. I turn myself off! So have I slipped into a depressed long term mood that has a few good days? Have I become a lazy, fat, crazy woman? I this just a part of my illness that i have to learn to manage? I think -I know; dangerous- I think i am learning so much about what this illness really is... I am starting to understand what it means to be mildly depressed for months/years and have a few "normal" days. all this from insight from mucking up my sleep cycle. BOY, AM I IN TROUBLE! :8o: