Mood Swings

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kat11
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2012 12:53 pm
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by kat11 on Sun Oct 21, 2012 8:38 am

Mood Swings

Hi, I would really love to hear your views on this. 18months ago after taking Citalopram I began to have mood swings. I've always had mood swings but nothing compared to what I experience now. I came off the anti-depressant after about 3-4 months of taking it because the mood swings had got so bad however this made no difference, the mood swings have remained. I now experinence 'highs' like Ive never had before. This consists of ridiculously high energy, mind racing with thoughts but more often lots of flashing images, feeling of love and happieness like my whole being is expanding, I will laugh for no reason, make lots of plans and call people up with the excitement of all that im going to do i.e. fly to Japan to save the doplins which I didnt end up doing but instead donated £100s of pounds to a doplin charity, I sleep far less and it doesnt seem to matter, I feel like I know everything and this can upset people when I presume to know too much about them, its a speeded up feeling which always becomes the problem as things continue to speed up and usualy after a couple of days the happy/giddy/hyper feeling is taken over by anxiety and irritability, I get frustrated because people around me dont seem to get where I'm at and cant keep up...then it turns really bad as the high energy remains and the agitation increases and eventually after 4-5 days I crash. Quite often depression follows but not always. I rarely feel "normal" most of the time I feel very depressed and suicidal to the point of writing my son a letter and driving to the the bridge. I would say the cycles are happening about every 6 weeks. When I was on anti-depressants they were happening much faster. There seems to be no trigger for the highs apart from general stress and sometimes lack of sleep. A year ago when this began I was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder as the psychiatrist that I saw said the highs were caused by the antidepressants and the cycles were happening far to quickly to be Bioplar. However, I now question this as like I say have not been on antidepressants for over a year yet the highs and lows are still happening and in fact each time the highs are getting higher and lows lower. I would love to hear what your thoughts are regarding this and what you might reccomend? Thanks.

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Wendy Green
Posts: 159
Joined: Thu May 24, 2012 11:27 am
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by Wendy Green on Sun Oct 21, 2012 6:30 pm

Re: Mood Swings

Hi Kat,

As you are no longer taking antidepressants, but are still experiencing high and low moods, I think you need to ask for another referral to see a psychiatrist. There is a form of bipolar known as rapid cycling in which mood swings can happen frequently, so I don't understand why the psychiatrist you saw said you couldn't be suffering from bipolar. Please do go and get a second opinion. No one should have to suffer like this when there are treatments that could help - such as mood stabilisers, lifestyle changes and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

By the way, the higher your highs, the lower your low are likely to be - it's rather like bouncing a rubber ball - the further it falls, the higher it bounces back up - if that makes sense.


Good luck and best wishes,

Wendy
Wendy Green
Health Expert and Author

http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/on ... _green.php

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Dr Trevor Friedman
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Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 10:21 am
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by Dr Trevor Friedman on Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:27 am

Re: Mood Swings

Hi. It can be difficult to make the diagnosis of Biploar Disorder and because it is an important diagnosis psychiatrists may want to be certain before making that diagnosis. A proportion of people who are depressed do have an elation of mood on antidepressants as they get better which then settles. If your problmes are lasting for such a long time then it would be reasonable to have a further review by a psychiatrist. It would be helpful to keep a mood diary before you go for a few weeks to your appointment where you could rate your mood each day (0 - Very Depressed, 5 - Normal, 10 - very high) with notes describing your thoughts or unusual behaviour. It will help to inform your discussion about your problem.
Dr Trevor Friedman
Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist
BSc MB BS FRCPsych

http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/on ... iedman.php

kat11
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2012 12:53 pm
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by kat11 on Mon Oct 22, 2012 5:40 pm

Re: Mood Swings

Thanks Wendy and Dr Friedman. These responses are very useful and I will ask my GP and ask for a referral for a second opinion, she believes I am on the Bipolar spectrum so I'm sure she will be happy to do this.

Thanks.

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