For some context I suffer from bipolar disorder and take clopixol depot, lithium and promethazine. I’m in the process of trying to come off promethazine with the support of my doctor.
I recently started doing cbt I and I’m about two months in. The first few weeks I tried to stick to it as much as possible but there’s something I’m struggling with.
I set my earliest bed time to 21:30 and my latest rising time to 10:00 although I’m usually up by 08:30. Before this I would be in bed by 20:00 and asleep by 22:30. I’ve found that since staying out of my bed longer at night I just find it still takes me a few hours to fall asleep and just means I sleep less and find it really hard to wake up in the morning.
Waking up in the morning when I’m on a lot of medication has been the thing I’m struggling with the most. I just can’t seem to do it. Sometimes I’m sleeping till 2 in the afternoon. I feel like my body needs this sleep and if I force myself awake I might relapse as my body is just not getting the rest it needs.
Has anyone else on meds for bipolar had similar issues and had success with cbt I?