Hi all,
I was recently diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. I go to the Psychiatrist today to get my meds adjusted. First appt with this guy. Anyway, I am on Lamictal, Abilify, Cymbalta and Ambien. And I can't sleep for more that 4-5 hours. I have no trouble falling asleep even without the Ambien. It is staying asleep. I wake up at 3 or 4am and then fall back asleep at 6am. Then I have to be up at 7a. Nasty sleep cycle has me so tired that I can't exercise because I am a tired slug for the rest of the day. I don't want to gain back my 8 lbs. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks for any input.

You may want to switch to Ambien CR or another controlled-release version. A medication like that will release slowly overnight, so you stay asleep.

Regular Ambien only helps you FALL asleep, and maybe sleep for 4-5 hours afterward. It won't keep you asleep after that. The Ambien-CR (CR stands for controlled release) is supposed to.

I'm go glad your going to your doc. Let us know what they do.

Good luck !!

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It pays to go to a Psychiatrist when you have emotional issues. I have PTSD, Panic disorder, Depression, and Generalized Anxiety disorder. He didn't think I was Bipolar, but he is discontinuing one of the meds, so we will see how I do. The benefit to these meds is that I find that I don't binge like I used to. I don't want to lose that! LOL
Thanks for giving me the encouragement. I hope to get better so I can start exercising again.

Yes let us know how it all went.