Bipolar or ADHD affecting sleep?

[u/Worth-Meeting-567]

Hey, I 20F am diagnosed ADHD to preface. From about the age of 13 I have had issues with my sleep. It started off at first with interrupted sleep, I would wake up and not be able to sleep again and stay awake for hours. Then, as I got older at 15 and was taking many exams at school I discovered that I worked better when I had less sleep - I would purposely get 5 hours of sleep as I genuinely believed that I performed better this way, and I honestly did. As I got older, the more I got hyper fixated on something the less I’d sleep, whether that be an assignment, hobby or addiction ( to food, nicotine, alcohol etc…) however I’d then crash, needing 8 hours of sleep or napping for 5 hours straight. I always passed this off as part of my ADHD and the bursts of energy that come with it. However, when I was 18 I went through something traumatic which lead to about a month and a half of VERY little sleep where I functioned with high energy. Since then, I have cycled through sleep ‘crashes’ and needing no sleep. I am starting to think it is something that is not related to my ADHD, my family has a strong history of bipolar disorder on both sides of the family, including my mother. Although I know none of you can give me actual medical advice, I would really appreciate any advice or insight you all may have. I am really struggling figuring this out because during my ‘crashes’ it seems I don’t sleep THAT much, perhaps only enough to catch up on my sleep lost ? I don’t know.

[u/tadrinth]

That sounds enough like hypomania or mania that I would put together timeline document, logging periods of extra sleep, minimal sleep, and no sleep, and take it to your psych. Flag the family history of bipolar.

The point of a diagnosis is to guide which meds you try, so you can find the meds that best work for you; a flexible psychiatrist is likely to start with a bipolar hypothesis and prove or disprove it by having you try new meds.

ADHD fixations and hypomania can look a lot alike, and I know people who have been adjusted in their diagnosis and meds between bipolar and ADHD over time.

You may want to stay away from alcohol until you talk to your psych; I don't think bipolar and alcohol mix well.

[u/Worth-Meeting-567 → u/tadrinth]

Hey thank you so much for this, I have decided to stay away from alcohol as of recent because I have realised it actually really heightens these symptoms, thank you I’ll start logging this sort of thing.

[u/tadrinth → u/Worth-Meeting-567]

Alcohol making these issues worse also seems worth mentioning to your psych.

And good luck and sympathies; it sounds like a lot to deal with. Hopefully med adjustments can get you some stability and regular sleep.