Posted by Ritch on March 11, 2003, at 13:40:18
In reply to Re: For Dr. Bowden: More Q's on BP II » Ritch, posted by SLS on March 11, 2003, at 10:41:58
> > > Speaking for myself, there are times and situations in which I become aroused and more animated, but it does not reduce in the slightest the dementia and anhedonia that are most prominent in my case of bipolar disorder.
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> > Scott, whenever I have my bipolar seasonal depressions (which are very atypical depressive in nature) good/bad news events can change my mood very markedly. In the case of good news making me feel better during a depression it is primarily the *duration* of the positive reaction that is stymied and short-lived. Sometimes it can last a few days, but more often the temporary positive response is just a few hours. I can feel quite good in contrast to how I was previously feeling. It feels kind of like a rubber band that "snaps" me back into my default mood for the time (when it fades).
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> Hi Mitch.
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> What features or events of your illness demonstrate bipolarity? Can you describe the magnitude and duration of your manic episodes? Have these been in association with medication changes of any kind? Are you definitely SAD? If so, I wonder if it is valid to classify your depression as bipolar proper.
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> For two years, I was an ultra rapid cycler. As I mentioned above, my cycle was of 8 days of depression followed by 3 days of euthymia. On "switch" day, my mood would change completely within an hour, many times 30 minutes. I know what it feels like to experience a true lifting of depression within a short period of time. At no time do my temporary reactive states of arousal in response to good stuff feel anything like remission, either in quality or magnitude. It is possible that my depression is unusual in this respect.
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> - Scott
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>Scott, I have three "sets" of cycles that are more or less remarkable during the course of the year. Everything is very predictable and seasonal. The first "macro" cycle is recurrent seasonal major depressions (if it weren't for these I would just be cyclothymic). There are two of these every year. One starts in mid-November and lasts through January. The second starts in mid-June and lasts through early September. Throughout this entire time I have approx. 20 day cycles. During the major depressions I might not experience any highs at all, just waxing and waning of the depression as I course through these 20 day cycles. When I am out of these two MDE's the rest of the year the highs start becoming really obvious. Without AD's I would see about half of that time (10 days) feeling depressed, and the remaining ten days about equally divided between feeling generally high or euthymic. My highs are the peakiest in April and May and October. I've had them without antidepressants triggering them, but without an AD I am so miserable during the depressive parts.... SSRI's are the worst for making me hypomanic, but they work well for anxiety so I keep the dose WAY down. The third set of "cycling" is morning/evening. I generally always feel pretty good in the mornings/midday, and then in the evenings my mood tends to worsen. I've had an anticycling response to stimulants, but they make me too anxious.
poster:Ritch
thread:205791
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030310/msgs/208087.html