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Continuing on the chronotherapy experiment…
Thus ends the first sleep. It was supposed to be 7 hours but apparently, that was not to be. I went to bed at 6:oo PM as directed, but sleep would not come. I didn’t sleep any sleep medication as I felt that after 36 hours I would actually fall asleep on my own. Ah, have I learned nothing about my brain!?
I gave up around 7:oo PM and took a sleeping pill. I was trying to avoid that as sleeping pills last a minimum of 8 hours and I’m trying to fix my circadian rhythm, not fuck it further. But really, the chronotherapy protocol didn’t say anything about this, so perhaps it’s to be expected.
I then did doze off and on until 12:30 AM when my dawn-simulator started to, um, simulate dawn. The slightest light and I was painfully awake. Again. Lucky fucking me.
Now I am seriously tired and exhausted and with a nasty worsening depression. That’ll happen when you don’t sleep. Everything in the body seems to hurt. Blood pressure returned to normal.
Thursday – stay awake all day and night
Friday – stay awake all day
Friday – 5:00 AM – 7:00 AM – light therapy
Friday – 6:00 PM – 1:00 AM – sleep
Saturday – 5:00 AM – 7:00 AM – light therapy
Saturday – 8:00 PM – 3:00 AM – sleep
Sunday – 5:00 AM – 7:00 AM – light therapy
Sunday – 10:00 PM – 5:00 AM – sleep
Readings:
Depression 6
Anxiety 3
Energy 2
Hypomania 0
Panic 0
And it’s only 18 hours until I get to (try to) go back to sleep. Yay.
Natasha Tracy is an award-winning writer, speaker, advocate, and consultant from the Pacific Northwest. She has been living with bipolar disorder for 26 years and has written more than 2000 articles on the subject.
Find more of Natasha’s work in her acclaimed book: "Lost Marbles: Insights into My Life with Depression & Bipolar" on Amazon.
Connect with Natasha at the social media links below.
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