Managing Mania at Work: Seeking Advice

I would explain it to your boss. I did recently and he has been very supportive. The way I see it, I’d rather be thought of as “crazy” than stupid or lazy.

Yeah that’s why I mentioned trazodone. A lot of people with bipolar have had some sort of drug history. Me included.

Oo gotcha gotcha. I probably wouldn’t qualify for it anyway due to my drug history lol but I’m glad it works out for you!

Yeah the ambien helps a lot. The only thing you have to watch out for is after a while taking it every night you will build up a tolerance to it. And the max dose is 10mg

Does the ambien seem to help?

Yeah I’ve always had problems with sleep even when I was very young. I didn’t really start to get bad until I was about 11. And it just kept getting worse from there.

My sleep goes first too! I had hypomanic episodes when I was a kid, but it developed in my early 20s and I always noticed w/ both kinds of episodes I’d just stop being tired haha. Always thought of it as a superpower when I was young.

It definitely would! That’s usually one of the first things to go for me when I’m manic. And my head starts buzzing.

I used to take trazadone and I did like it - that’s a great idea. I’ve been sleeping okay recently but when I stop being able to sleep it’d be good to have for sure.

Yeah no problem. I would say just watch your sleep. Maybe see if your GP could prescribe something for sleep to take as needed. I know sleep is a huge factor for me. My doctor prescribes me ambien but if you’re looking to stay away from controlled substances trazodone can work for sleep too. Granted I was taking 150mg of it most people only need about 50mg.

Thanks for the support, and you’re so right about not being able to help others when you’re in a bad place! I’ll try and make a plan w my therapist soon, but I wanted thoughts from ppl who also actually have bipolar disorder so I appreciate it

Yeah I don’t really have any other advice besides that. Last time I had a manic episode at work I ended up fired then in the hospital. I’m sorry meds haven’t worked out in the past and I hope your episode is short. Mine tend to last months without meds. It’s hard to help people in crisis when you’re in crisis yourself.

In the past I’ve used drugs but I’ve been sober almost a year now. Hypersexuality, fast talking, intense spending, not sleeping or eating much. I finished my masters last year and work with the police department now (ugh… but it pays well..) and I interact w/ cops, community members in crisis, etc. I can’t really work from home unfortunately, not on a long term basis at least. I do like the idea of trying to focus on not talking to others too much and “keeping my head down” as you said

I guess it all depends on how you get when you’re manic. It’s different for everyone. Just try to keep busy and keep your head down. A lot can wrong really fast when manic. Maybe try working from home if possible