by quietgirl2538 » Wed Jul 25, 2018 1:18 pm
Hi living_the_phoenix,
Yes, I relate a lot to how you describe your rapid cycling. Lately (like in a year), I've not had mania. But more recently I've been bouncing up and down with hypomania and crashing with depression. Usually it lasts a week each low and each high. But it's been continuous. A lot. It's true that irl, I've been dealing with more stress on some days and I believe that is what triggers it the most. But it's like I can't get a break from these depressive phases. Sometimes it's not so bad, I back down on the stress inducing things if I am able to, and that helps a lot. I slow down in the busyness of life, because I do have a lot of anxiety as well. But like I said, it's been up and down so often these last few months. It's like my new "normal." In the past I've not always been on the right meds, and yes, I did get manic. I'd skip depression (which the pdoc said was normal too), then hypomanic and mania. Thankfully, no mixed episode lately. And hopefully none in sight. I used to go months with my mood being completely stable, now I've changed. My meds work. But these ups and downs don't stop coming. I also have ADD. When stable periods are present, I am the most alert, can focus, and feel so good. I can sleep well without a sleep aid now. The pdoc did say to stop the Ritalin if I became hypomanic because of the danger of it sending me into mania or a mixed episode.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I notice that there are a lot of ups and downs that seem to last weeks and months for you. Whereas mine, thus far, have been about week long episodes. I wake up and I don't always know how I'm going to feel that day.
“There’s an Asian expression that ‘a burden shared is halved.’"
Bipolar
ADHD