SSRIs

Question:

Ralph, I explained it to my Pdoc as, "Every thing hits me three times harder." Mine too, has been triggered by events. Take care, — PBTrue

Response:

me too me too me too me too! — -judy **I can live my life without a man, but damn, my hand gets tired!** – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I love bubble baths too but I certainly don’t do them often enough. I like mine >by candle light, how about you? >Kayann >Awwwww, yeahhhhh….

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I saw my PDoc this evening, and I was trying to explain to him what I >thought was going on with my moods. He gave me the following >explanations: >I am Bi-Polar II. A Bi-Polar two is depressed most of the time with >infrequent (hypo)manic episodes. He said that my "guestiment" that I >have 1 or 2 hypo days every 6 weeks of depression is not unreasonable >for a BPII. He has asked me to keep a diary because he is interested >in documenting my cycles, especially the "sawtooth effect" (see below) >That which I thought was "mixed states", that is my ability to go from >low to high back to low in just a matter of hours, is what my PDoc >calls the "sawtooth effect". That I am not imagining it, I do go from >depressession to manic and back to depressed in a matter of hours, >even minutes. This "sawtooth" effect is the result of SSRIs on a  BPII >when the mood stablizer isn’t working perfectly. But he did explain >that it was spikes of extreme mood swings. >Thought you might be interested in hearing about that "sawtooth" >effect.      Ralph

Ack! Ack! Sounds familiar. Duringr my first (only) hospitilisation, I was put on carbomarzipine (sp?) which sorta worked for me, but…. But it ruined my stamina (no energy), gave me bouts of severe dizzyness (falling over like), and something similar to the above. Actually what happened was several times a day I would spike to manic, for about 10-15 minuets and then down to severe depression for a similar amount of time. The doc’s and nurses didn’t really take much notice. So anyway, they release me to my mothers house for christmass day, with my sister and (then) girlfriend. At about 3pm I jump to real bad mania, you know, trying to put a chair through a window, storming off into a snow storm etc, to viscious depression. My sister had to hide the knives while my mother and girlfriend held me. Then the men in white coats took me back to hospital. After this they took my complaints a little more seriously, and changed my meds. This is my first post here, hope it’s taken well.         -Simon Marks ICQ #36899670 "What do I want?" He says "I want to ascend the heavens on wings of fire. I want to burn in the minds of all those who hear of me. I want to affect everyone who comes into contact with me.  I want to be remembered forever by those whose  lives I touch. I want to inspire those as those have inspired me. I want to make a difference. I want all that and more. But seeing as I’ll probably never get all that, I’ll settle for another pint of Hoegarden."  - Becca, Quoting Dom. From the unpublished (and unfinished) play "Failed Under Continuous Testing" By, er me.

Response:

Hi Simon, Welcome to our ngs! We are glad you have posted with us. I have sent you a copy of the FAQs for the ngs. Peace, Lynda — Lynda

Response:

Hmmm…I kinda do the same myself I think, but how do I tell if mine is more situational i.e., a particular situation depressing me, but then I let go of it and get happy again…what do you think? -judy – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >I saw my PDoc this evening, and I was trying to explain to him what I >thought was going on with my moods. He gave me the following >explanations: >I am Bi-Polar II. A Bi-Polar two is depressed most of the time with >infrequent (hypo)manic episodes. He said that my "guestiment" that I >have 1 or 2 hypo days every 6 weeks of depression is not unreasonable >for a BPII. He has asked me to keep a diary because he is interested >in documenting my cycles, especially the "sawtooth effect" (see below) >That which I thought was "mixed states", that is my ability to go from >low to high back to low in just a matter of hours, is what my PDoc >calls the "sawtooth effect". That I am not imagining it, I do go from >depressession to manic and back to depressed in a matter of hours, >even minutes. This "sawtooth" effect is the result of SSRIs on a  BPII >when the mood stablizer isn’t working perfectly. But he did explain >that it was spikes of extreme mood swings. >Thought you might be interested in hearing about that "sawtooth" >effect.      Ralph

Response:

me too, me too, me too, me too! — -judy **I can live my life without a man, but damn, my hand gets tired!** – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >I love bubble baths too but I certainly don’t do them often enough. I like mine >by candle light, how about you? >Kayann > >I hadn’t heard it called that to my knowledge though I  most certainly > >have felt it. I don’t take any anti-depressants. I had too many headaches > >and they could make me terribly irritable. My son doesn’t take them > >anymore either. > >I think I’m going to start tracking my moods too. I just feel like there > >could be more to my life. I wasn’t too happy to hear you say 1 or 2 > >hypomanic days every six weeks. I thought I was feeling normal every now > >and then and could get things done and that FINALLY I  was getting better. > >You didn’t get me down btw I was already here. I awoke to a  vicious > >migraine at 6:30 am and I still feel nowhere near normal or pain free. > >Another wasted day. > >kayann > I’m so sorry you are feeling bad, sweet-sweet angel Kayann. > I wish there was something I could do. > Go soak in a bubble bath, please. > I’m going to.  Sounds silly, but it helps. > Know this: you are loved. > Gina

Response:

I saw my PDoc this evening, and I was trying to explain to him what I thought was going on with my moods. He gave me the following explanations: I am Bi-Polar II. A Bi-Polar two is depressed most of the time with infrequent (hypo)manic episodes. He said that my "guestiment" that I have 1 or 2 hypo days every 6 weeks of depression is not unreasonable for a BPII. He has asked me to keep a diary because he is interested in documenting my cycles, especially the "sawtooth effect" (see below) That which I thought was "mixed states", that is my ability to go from low to high back to low in just a matter of hours, is what my PDoc calls the "sawtooth effect". That I am not imagining it, I do go from depressession to manic and back to depressed in a matter of hours, even minutes. This "sawtooth" effect is the result of SSRIs on a  BPII when the mood stablizer isn’t working perfectly. But he did explain that it was spikes of extreme mood swings. Thought you might be interested in hearing about that "sawtooth" effect.      Ralph

Response:

I hadn’t heard it called that to my knowledge though I  most certainly have felt it. I don’t take any anti-depressants. I had too many headaches and they could make me terribly irritable. My son doesn’t take them anymore either. I think I’m going to start tracking my moods too. I just feel like there could be more to my life. I wasn’t too happy to hear you say 1 or 2 hypomanic days every six weeks. I thought I was feeling normal every now and then and could get things done and that FINALLY I  was getting better. You didn’t get me down btw I was already here. I awoke to a  vicious migraine at 6:30 am and I still feel nowhere near normal or pain free. Another wasted day. kayann – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > I saw my PDoc this evening, and I was trying to explain to him what I > thought was going on with my moods. He gave me the following > explanations: > I am Bi-Polar II. A Bi-Polar two is depressed most of the time with > infrequent (hypo)manic episodes. He said that my "guestiment" that I > have 1 or 2 hypo days every 6 weeks of depression is not unreasonable > for a BPII. He has asked me to keep a diary because he is interested > in documenting my cycles, especially the "sawtooth effect" (see below) > That which I thought was "mixed states", that is my ability to go from > low to high back to low in just a matter of hours, is what my PDoc > calls the "sawtooth effect". That I am not imagining it, I do go from > depressession to manic and back to depressed in a matter of hours, > even minutes. This "sawtooth" effect is the result of SSRIs on a  BPII > when the mood stablizer isn’t working perfectly. But he did explain > that it was spikes of extreme mood swings. > Thought you might be interested in hearing about that "sawtooth" > effect.      Ralph

Response:

Journals are excellent.  The self discipline it takes  to be consistant can sometimes be a problem. Don’t let yourself become paranoid about, "I wonder what mood will happen next?" Try to smile and do one nice thing everyday. Works for me. — PBTrue

Response:

>Hmmm…I kinda do the same myself I think, but how do I tell if mine is more >situational i.e., a particular situation depressing me, but then I let go of >it and get happy again…what do you think? >-judy

My personal experience is that many of my moodswings are triggered by events. However the difference between a quote-unquote "normal emotion" and a "mood swing" is that the "moodswing" definately goes too far. For example someone says something that annoys me, on the scale of ten, this annoyance is worth an anger level of 3; well I go to a level of three and then I keep right on going. Or, something will happen that disappoints me, and instead of getting mildly sad, I keep right on going into a deep and dark depression.         Of course there is always the question "Which came first, the chicken or the egg". Did the event trigger the Bi-Polar OR was the Bi-Polar event already happening and just waiting for an excuse to manifest itself? That’s the hell of this condition, you never are quite sure which emotions are actually yours and which one’s belong to the Bi-Polar.           Ralph

Response:

> My main mood stabilizer is >depakote–what is yours? Dot

Hi Dot,         My mood stablizer is neurontin. Anpther interesting thing that my PDoc explained, which I should have known, but I didn’t realize…. One med that you are on can either increase the effect of, or help control the effect of, another med that you are on. The example that my PDoc gave me is Buspar. Buspar is for anxiety however it aids the effect of the prozac as an antidepressant. It makes something more receptive to the prozac.  Hugs,  Ralph

Response:

> I saw my PDoc this evening, and I was trying to explain to him what I > thought was going on with my moods. He gave me the following > explanations: > I am Bi-Polar II. A Bi-Polar two is depressed most of the time with > infrequent (hypo)manic episodes. He said that my "guestiment" that I > have 1 or 2 hypo days every 6 weeks of depression is not unreasonable > for a BPII. He has asked me to keep a diary because he is interested > in documenting my cycles, especially the "sawtooth effect" (see below)

hmm, this sounds a lot like me. in my case it seems to go in cycles of about 3 months.. during that 3 months ill be depressed for 2 months…. then start to get a little hyper…. then get very hypomanic and irritable for a few weeks….. the get really irritable and ‘mixy’, then crash very hard for another couple months. yukk! i hadnt heard the term sawtooth either. interesting ) anna > That which I thought was "mixed states", that is my ability to go from > low to high back to low in just a matter of hours, is what my PDoc > calls the "sawtooth effect". That I am not imagining it, I do go from > depressession to manic and back to depressed in a matter of hours, > even minutes. This "sawtooth" effect is the result of SSRIs on a  BPII > when the mood stablizer isn’t working perfectly. But he did explain > that it was spikes of extreme mood swings. > Thought you might be interested in hearing about that "sawtooth" > effect.      Ralph

– ‘the softest of all soft things overrides the hardest of things….’ — i ching "blessed am i to dwell in this beautiful temple"

Response:

I love bubble baths too but I certainly don’t do them often enough. I like mine by candle light, how about you? Kayann – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I hadn’t heard it called that to my knowledge though I  most certainly >have felt it. I don’t take any anti-depressants. I had too many headaches >and they could make me terribly irritable. My son doesn’t take them >anymore either. >I think I’m going to start tracking my moods too. I just feel like there >could be more to my life. I wasn’t too happy to hear you say 1 or 2 >hypomanic days every six weeks. I thought I was feeling normal every now >and then and could get things done and that FINALLY I  was getting better. >You didn’t get me down btw I was already here. I awoke to a  vicious >migraine at 6:30 am and I still feel nowhere near normal or pain free. >Another wasted day. >kayann > I’m so sorry you are feeling bad, sweet-sweet angel Kayann. > I wish there was something I could do. > Go soak in a bubble bath, please. > I’m going to.  Sounds silly, but it helps. > Know this: you are loved. > Gina

Response:

Ralph: 1st time I;ve been in this group, so I hope I can relate.  I am bipolar, but my moods are much more manic than depressive. But,my recent drpression lasted 4 weeks, then today I "snapped" out–and am watching diligently to be sure I’m not manic now. I may be. I think I’d like to keep a journal, too, good idea. My main mood stabilizer is depakote–what is yours? Dot

Response:

For a few years I kept an daily  mood chart that way; made it on graph paper and just a dot/line graph with -5 to +5 on the Y axis.  I guess to accurately chart moods such as Ralph’s pdoc wants the day would have to be broken up into smaller increments.  But it really was useful to be able to see patterns and tendencies. take care, Amy

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> > I saw my PDoc this evening, and I was trying to explain to him what I > > thought was going on with my moods. He gave me the following > > explanations: > > I am Bi-Polar II. A Bi-Polar two is depressed most of the time with > > infrequent (hypo)manic episodes. He said that my "guestiment" that I > > have 1 or 2 hypo days every 6 weeks of depression is not unreasonable > > for a BPII. He has asked me to keep a diary because he is interested > > in documenting my cycles, especially the "sawtooth effect" (see below) > hmm, this sounds a lot like me. in my case it seems to go in cycles of > about 3 months.. during that 3 months ill be depressed for 2 months…. > then start to get a little hyper…. then get very hypomanic and > irritable for a few weeks….. the get really irritable and ‘mixy’, then > crash very hard for another couple months. yukk! > i hadnt heard the term sawtooth either. interesting ) > anna > V. added: > Speculating about the term "sawtooth" as applied to mood swings. It sounds > to me like a method of graphing the mood > swings. Picture the teeth on a saw blade, there are endless > patterns, some are triangular, same rate of change going up > as going down the tooths profile.  Like wise some sawteeth > may have a short rate of change on one side, and a long rate > of change on the other.  Simply said: "like graphing electronic > wave forms on an oscilloscope, in this case "sawtooth" wave > forms. By graphing the shape of the sawtooth and the frequency > of the sawtooth, a picture of moodswing type and frequency > can be examined. > V. >  > That which I thought was "mixed states", that is my ability to go from > > low to high back to low in just a matter of hours, is what my PDoc > > calls the "sawtooth effect". That I am not imagining it, I do go from > > depressession to manic and back to depressed in a matter of hours, > > even minutes. This "sawtooth" effect is the result of SSRIs on a  BPII > > when the mood stablizer isn’t working perfectly. But he did explain > > that it was spikes of extreme mood swings. > > Thought you might be interested in hearing about that "sawtooth" > > effect.      Ralph > — > ‘the softest of all soft things > overrides the hardest of things….’ > — i ching > "blessed am i to dwell in this beautiful temple"

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I saw my PDoc this evening, and I was trying to explain to him what I > thought was going on with my moods. He gave me the following > explanations: > I am Bi-Polar II. A Bi-Polar two is depressed most of the time with > infrequent (hypo)manic episodes. He said that my "guestiment" that I > have 1 or 2 hypo days every 6 weeks of depression is not unreasonable > for a BPII. He has asked me to keep a diary because he is interested > in documenting my cycles, especially the "sawtooth effect" (see below) > hmm, this sounds a lot like me. in my case it seems to go in cycles of > about 3 months.. during that 3 months ill be depressed for 2 months…. > then start to get a little hyper…. then get very hypomanic and > irritable for a few weeks….. the get really irritable and ‘mixy’, then > crash very hard for another couple months. yukk! > i hadnt heard the term sawtooth either. interesting ) > anna

V. added: Speculating about the term "sawtooth" as applied to mood swings. It sounds to me like a method of graphing the mood swings. Picture the teeth on a saw blade, there are endless patterns, some are triangular, same rate of change going up as going down the tooths profile.  Like wise some sawteeth may have a short rate of change on one side, and a long rate of change on the other.  Simply said: "like graphing electronic wave forms on an oscilloscope, in this case "sawtooth" wave forms. By graphing the shape of the sawtooth and the frequency of the sawtooth, a picture of moodswing type and frequency can be examined. V.  > That which I thought was "mixed states", that is my ability to go from – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> low to high back to low in just a matter of hours, is what my PDoc > calls the "sawtooth effect". That I am not imagining it, I do go from > depressession to manic and back to depressed in a matter of hours, > even minutes. This "sawtooth" effect is the result of SSRIs on a  BPII > when the mood stablizer isn’t working perfectly. But he did explain > that it was spikes of extreme mood swings. > Thought you might be interested in hearing about that "sawtooth" > effect.      Ralph > — > ‘the softest of all soft things > overrides the hardest of things….’ > — i ching > "blessed am i to dwell in this beautiful temple"

Response: