Sleep Disorders

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Anyone else have a sleep disorder along with SZ/SZA?

I have Non-24 Sleep Wake Disorder. Basically my circadian rhythm is out of sync with the normal day-night cycle so my sleep time shifts by a few hours every night around the clock until it comes full circle. I spend half my time up at night and half of it up at day. If I try to fix it using hypnotics I get very ill eventually.

I kind of like it because I get to experience the day life and the night life but it causes severe issues with getting to my pdoc appointments.

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I do not have it as severe as you do, but I tend to get very tired + bored of being awake in the evenings.

It means I go to sleep at like 8pm, then wake at about 3/4am

Really hoping that the structure of working will help with this…

But who knows.

It’s nice waking early when everything is quiet, but I have no one with me and for some reason I feel most alone when I wake up and there is no one there

Can’t even play with the dog, as he’s sparko asleep rn

I guess he’s observing the Circadian Rhythm!

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I’ve been to the sleep doctor and they said having a schedule is very helpful for fixing sleep schedule issues, so working should help you out a lot.

Unfortunately mine is more of a brain problem and can’t be fixed, but yours should be able to.

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Sorry to hear that :frowning: Have you tried to participate in one of those sleep studies? Could something like that help you get a treatment or something?

Mine is intermittent, and is dependent on what AP/dose I am on

It has recovered from 2/3 hrs a night to c6 hrs

Olanzapine did that, but I have been on many meds for sleep, and they never seem to work for very long - with one exception

Do they have more specialist meds for your disorder outside Z drugs etc?

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I did have a sleep study done for sleep apnea but mine wasn’t very severe. Usually it’s caused by blindness because their eyes can no longer adjust to the day-night cycle. The disorder is pretty rare for non-blind people so it’s hard to find information about it. It can be caused by bipolar and SZ. I’ll have to look and see if I can find any studies for it I could possibly attend.

Seroquel does help if I need to sleep at a certain time but I get sick eventually from being out of my circadian rhythm for too long so I only use it when I have appointments I need to go to.

There is a new med out for it called Hetlioz but I haven’t tried it.

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Is this something you can get access to?

Wasn’t sure if you were in the US. I understand the insurance model very basically from what people post here

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Yeah I’m in the US. Not sure, I’ll ask my doctor about it next time I visit. No idea how expensive it is either.

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Fingers crossed you can try it - and I am glad they’re working on treatments

Hang in there @Mars !

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I slept 4 hours last night. It’s about 3 a.m. right now and I have to sleep more eventually this Tuesday. I make early a.m. doctor appointments so I can make them, maybe sleep when I come home.

I wake up in the middle of the night and absolutely have to get up so no I wouldn’t be suited to institutional life. It cost the government less to give me my room. It sucks but I think it’s age-related. And zyprexa related? I am still on it, just half what I used to take.

When I was on 5 mg zyprexa for two months and did well my disease got triggered by lack of sleep.

I’m a little manic. When I turned 50 death became a reality for me and I’ve got things I want to do before I die. After 30+ years of being sza I learned how to get by without work and occupy myself all day. It’s all a matter of stamina. I preach intellect for beating the disease.

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I have an unhealthy relationship with sleep. I think of all things, missing sleep is a huge trigger for my erratic behavior. I’m scared when I don’t sleep; sleepy H is an untrustworthy H (to myself).

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