Sleep Deprivation Stinks

One of the most difficult things to deal with is the lack of sleep due to the bipolar.  When my depression was so severe five years ago, I was sleeping most of the time.  As I have come out of that extreme low I have had continual issues with not getting enough rest.  I wish it was as simple as cutting out any caffeine intake. Without fail my brain will turn on in the middle of the night and I have no control after that.  Thoughts swirl through my head and will not shut off, that is if I am even able to get to sleep in the first place.  When my sleep cycle is at it's worst, I am up until five or six in the morning and then I have to get my eight hours or I am an emotional wreck.  My doctor calls it day/night reversal.  It seems to run it's cycle and will slowly correct itself, but only slightly.  Even in my best sleep place, I wake up every hour or so and have to try to get back to sleep.  I can't remember the last time I have had a solid seven to eight hours of rest.  I don't know how that feels anymore, to be completely rested.  The bummer is that even when I try to get rested and feel somewhat okay when I wake up, I then have to take my morning medication which has drowsiness as one of the side effects, so the yawning begins about thirty minutes after that. We have tried many so called sleep remedies and all sorts of medication but with no success. The prescription sleep aids actually made my mood cycling worse.So to all those who are able to sleep...may you rest in peace, as for me the day has just begun.