Lived Experience Forum

[BipolarJ]

It's been 4 days without my bipolar medication, because I haven't been able to get to my doctor for a new prescription (the joys of having no car and my doctors clinic in a seriously annoying position to access by public transport.. a 10 minute drive would be about 2 hours on bus or over an hour walking) and I literally cannot sleep no matter what I try. 

Tonight is the second night I haven't been able to sleep and although I feel physically sick because I'm that tired, my body just won't go to sleep! I've spent the past 5 hours trying! 

And I never had a problem with sleep before starting it! 

And the depressing part is that I promised to take my son to the aquarium today before he goes back to school tomorrow. On a bus and train to the city running on no sleep since Friday and too sick to eat because I haven't been able to sleep.. Lord get me through today! 😞

[greenpea]

@BipolarJ Hi BipolarJ can your doctors surgery fax the scripts through to your chemist that you use? You could ask as a one off.; Or maybe your local chemist could give you half a supply of medication until you get your scripts.

[Margot]

Hi @BipolarJ

I'm Margot, one of the Community Managers. Great to have you in the forums community. 

It would feel incredibly frustrating to be without sleep - particuarly when it's influencing your appetite and capacity to do the things you want to do with family.

As @greenpea, it could be worth giving your doctor a call to see if they can fax through a script to your pharmacy until you can make it in to see them for your next appointment. I wonder whether there's anybody who might be able to assist you with transport to the GP? If youre interested in some behavioural type strategies to try out for sleep, you can check out this factsheet. Smiling Mind also have a sleep meditation  here that might help. 

I can see you're new to the forums too so welcome. If you’d like to connect with more people around your experience, you can use the search function to look up some other posts that might relate to sleep or living with bipolar disorder. You might also like to introduce yourself to the community  here.

Take care @BipolarJ and I do hope you manage to get a bit of sleep tonight ⭐️

[BipolarJ]

Hi Margot,

Thank you for the tips! 

I managed to see my doctor yesterday afternoon. Had a great sleep last night! The lady at the chemist even went out of her way to to go to another chemist where the medication was in stock and bring it to me. It's a great community I live in😏

[BipolarJ]

Hi Greenpea,
I never knew they could do that? I'll have to remember that for next time (hopefully there won't be a next time though!)