Posted by bipolarized on November 1, 2008, at 12:58:39
In reply to Re: Sleep problems--anxiety-HELP!, posted by KimberlyS on October 31, 2008, at 0:24:00
Kim,
My specific sleep disorder is called:
Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder
AKA--if not on meds I'd naturally go to sleep around sunrise and wake up around 2pm-5pm. Which doesn't work well if you have a day job.
My father was bipolar so I am forever on the lookout for signs that I might have tendancies, which is why I ended up in this cyclothymia thread since a year ago I wasn't sure.
I've since gotten a Sleep Medicine doctor, and attended talk-individual therapy sessions for 8 months where we discovered I am not bipolar. Also, I took a genetic test (which is somewhat in it's infancy but has some valid science behind it) I'll put a link in another reply later.
Essentially though, from hearing about your symptoms my advice would be to contact a doctor who specializes in sleep. There are a growing number of Sleep Medicine Clinics or Institutes in America and you can usually research the Doctor's credentials online to make sure they're good.
If you're in California near the Bay Area I can reccomend some great Sleep Centers, but otherwise you can use searches on the National Sleep Foundation website to locate sleep docs in your area.
Regular doctors and psychiatrists will NOT be able to correctly diagnose you without collaboration with a sleep expert. So, push whatever insurance you have to get you a sleep institute referral. My psychiatrist made the referral for me, so luckily my insurance covered my trips to the Sleep Institute in my area.
poster:bipolarized
thread:9730
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20081027/msgs/860207.html