I was diagnosed as having bipolar II disorder since December, 2006 and I was given by my psychiatrist fluoxetine, later lamotrigine and lately Olanzapin as medications. This is the third occurence of my psychological illness for in the latter part of year 2000, I was diagnosed as having major depression and in December,2003 to January, 2004 I had mild depression. My difficulty now is my sleeping time because it takes 10-12 hours of sleep before I will feel okay and not dizzy/groggy. I also have sleep disorders such as REM behavior disorder and periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD). This long sleeping time led to my frequent tardiness and absences in the office, more so, my monthly compensation is often deducted because I no longer have leave credits left. Am I given the proper medicines? Is it normal that it takes me 10-12 hours sleeping time before I feel okay the following day? Please advise me to facilitate my recovery and how to prevent the recurrence of these illnesses. I hope to receive your response soon and thank you in advance.
Gemini_1969
Dear Gemini 1969,
Thank you very much for your question. As you have mentioned, you were diagnosed to have bipolar disorder by your psychiatrist and is presently taking Olanzapine. It seems that you are doing well with regards to your depression and manic episode but you are complaining about your long hours of sleep which disturbs your work. With regards to your medication, olanzapine is considered one of the drugs of choice for bipolar disorder. What i think is bothering you are the long sleeping hours that you have which might be due to the side effects of your medication olanzapine. This maybe the reason for such long sleep hours. I suggest that you go back to your doctor and discuss him/her the side effects that you are experiencing. Ask him/her also about other treatment options that can help prevent recurrence of your bipolar episode and at the same time give you less sedation so that you can have a better quality of life.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. M. Hembra for DepNet.ph