question about hypomania/mania

Post Reply New Topic

Are there ways to bring down hypomania/mania?
the last few days ive been having way more energy than usual while for now it feels good i know its not good for me to be in this state plus it is likely that i will start being very irritable soon is there any ways to bring this hypomania/mania down any particular vitamins or minerals or techniques ect?

I've heard good things about fish oil.

From a bipolar website: "I wanted to try something different since I was having no luck with the different meds I was taking. My doc says we will just see how it goes. I've been taking 6000 mg of fish oil (3 pills am and pm). As far as I can tell, the fish oil (after about 2 months) seems to control my hypomania pretty well. It seems to have the same effect as the Tegretol I was taking - that being it flattens out my highs. I still have a lot of problem with depression though."

You don't know how hypomania has affected my life. I literally can't sleep and need to "run" just go go go until I get tired. Like a puppy when you let him free. I don't think it's necessarily bipolar, just sometimes, I have to reign it in. Then when I become down, from some life crisis, such as now that I've lost my job and my bf, I just don't move. I become insecure and don't feel attractive at all. So I don't like to be seen. I know if I exercise and eat right I will feel better in 2 weeks. I just have to "gearup" for it. That was the problem with my old bf and I. He was the same way, but we never talked about it because we were both trying to hide it. I tried to tell him, but all I could say was, "I am so hyper right now" as I was sitting completely still trying to control myself. We both have AS and ours made it impossible to talk about. So we couldn't communicate. I wanted to, but I think he was resigned to never being able to sustain a good relationship. He self medicated by drinking twice a week and thought I couldn't live with it. I will never know now. He told me I was better off. But why do I feel like I'm not?
Anyway, my point is that some of the hypomania can be controlled by self discipline. Recognizing when you are becming this way and learning coping mechanisms to keep it in check. Trying to strike a balance between the extremes.

I sometimes get hypomania but that's if I have a problem I think I really need to solve and I automatically have this mechanism to put much more effort into it than would be considered normal. Usually things I tackle like this end up getting mastered. I think it's best to avoid high energy foods, especially energy drinks (they just make me really overstressed if something bad happens). I've looked up "relaxing foods" on google and got a supply of brazil nuts, walnuts, broccoli and the correct amount of fruit and veg. Even worse things happened in my life in the past week that would probably have stressed me to death if I was on the junk food, but they didn't, luckily, because I'd been having these relaxing foods. Hope this helps.

Nothing works for my hypomania but meds. I'm pretty sure there aren't any vitamins out there that affect that sort of thing. Do avoid St. John's wort tho, messes with your serotonin..

The sad thing is that lithium is so underprescribed since the atypical anti-psychotics came around. But it's a natural salt and the best proven anti-manic agent since its introduction in 1949.

Antipsychotics help , Antidepressents kind of..

Mood stabilizers, or antimanics, are typically prescribed, the most common being lithium carbonate; anticonvulsants may also be prescribed. Some atypical antipsychotics may also be prescribed. Sometimes an SSRI or other antidepressant is used to treat the depressive symptoms of bipolar disorder but almost always in conjunction with a mood stabilizer.

I've had hypomania ie agitation for a few days now. It doesn't seem to go away. It gets so bad it's causing voices.
My own advice is to take benzos. I have lots of ativan I take as needed. They completely releive the symptoms.

Ativan was the med that turnned my hypomaina into real mania. It's a shame people don't all respond to them the same. I wish it had worked well so I could've taken it when I needed like you do. Instead of what I had happen. I prefer to control my hypo mania with meditation and physical activity. It's better than real mania and far better than depression or poverty of will. Sometimes I consider it blessing after being unmotivated or depressed for a long period of time. I don't like when something triggers agitation during it though. It's kinda like a bad trip in the wrong environment.

This is an old post but I thought I would add that it helps me to avoid any stress or stimulation for at least a few days. This will be contrary to what you naturally feel like doing when hypomanic, but it works. Don't watch any news, violence, crime etc on the tv. Dont go to the shops unless you have to, then go at quiet times and only with a hand basket not a trolley. Supress the urge to chat at length with the counter staff about yourself, your ideas or theories. Keep lighting at home soft and play music that soothes you Do relaxation or mindfulness exercises (you can get them on CD); do your favourite hobby like knitting - turn off your phone to stressful people and keep conversations brief and to the point.

Eat healthy food - fruit and vegetables - and avoid sugar, caffiene or anything else stimulating. Review your medication with you doctor. Drink chammomile tea or warm milk. Obviously avoid drugs and alcohol - not even a glass of wine, your nervous system is extremely sensitive. In the long term it's best to quit smoking, but if you are already addicted now is not the time to start withdrawing.

Very important - keep a stable sleep routine - go to bed and wake up at the same time each day - and if the above tips don't help your sleep, then get a sleeping tablet from the doctor - try not to get addicted to these, use with discretion.

You will probably have to much energy at this point to follow all those tips, so if you find yourself restless, my number one tip is to do a chore that you absolutely hate, such as scrubbing down the shower. It won't take long to run out of enthusiasm for that task! Exercise can help as well, but don't overdo it.

I've heard good things about fish oil and vitamin d, but always consult your doctor. Vitamin supplements don't generally help unless you are deficient in something. Be wary of any 'natural' product - natural does not mean safe (many illegal drugs are 'natural' products) - basically don't go around eating any old tree until you're sure of it's efficacy. Every information pamphlet you pick up at the health food store is basically marketing spin. I'm sure some of these remedies are helpful but it's best to approach it with a healthy degree of scepticism - just as you would for prescribed medicines.

When the storm has passed, and your mood has settled again, reflect for a while, and write down any of your mood or behaviour changes that might be considered an 'early warning sign', so that you can act even more quickly next time to head off a mood swing.

Put nobody else's needs ahead of yours. It's very important that you take the edge off your mood before it gets much much worse,, and you don't have the insight to control your behaviour any more.

There are some good tips here already but one thing I would add that could be useful long term is to keep a mood diary.

In it you could list any symptoms you are having on a daily or weekly basis for example:

- How much sleep you are getting
- How happy/sad/tearful/angry etc. you feel
- How well you are eating, are you eating healthily, regularly etc.
- Are you struggling to motivate yourself to do things/doing a lot more than usual
- Are you behaving more recklessly than normal
- How much money are you spending as a percentage of your income/budget (doing it this way eliminates any anomalies like an increase in your spending after a promotion or if you get a cash gift for your birthday)
- Are you having more negative or suicidal thoughts

You can add any of your own of course and don't forget to write in the days/weeks that are just "OK" and everything is stable.

Alongside this, make notes of any changes you make to your lifestyle, for example:

- Any changes to your medication or new medications, including natural remedies or ones bought without a prescription
- Anything particularly stressful (or positive changes) going on in your life
- Any changes in your diet
- Any new therapies you have started
- Any new tips or techniques you are trying to manage your moods
- Any new relationships, or changes in your existing relationships

And any other changes you can think of.

It takes a bit of time and discipline to do this, but it probably wouldn't take much more than about 10 minutes a day and over time you will probably start to see patterns emerging which will help you to pinpoint what triggers some of your moods, spot them before you become seriously unwell, and know what is helpful (or harmful) to you in trying to break out of them.

+1 for mood diary to keep track of triggers etc. There's a self help book called the "Cyclothymia workbook" that has a detailed outline for such a diary, although for some of us with short attention spans it's hard to stick with. I try to avoid the temptation to take on big exciting projects, Eat properly and exercise. Also try to stay in bed for a reasonable amount of time even if I can't sleep.

I remember when I expressed concerns about hypomanic symptoms (racing thoughts, mood swings, little need for sleep) to my physician he was pretty dismissive-- saying that when you really have a problem with mania- it's someone else who drags you into the doctors office and usually against your will. I was pretty little ticked about that response, and it certainly was not helpful for staying on top of anything, but I think that it is good to know that if you are aware that you have a problem, especially in the midst of and episode, as unpleasant as that experience may be, goes a long way to being able to manage the situation. Having seen full on mania in a couple of friends and family members,it's marked by a complete lack of self awareness: you honestly believe everything is great and you can't understand why all the people around you are such killjoys, it's scary stuff.

https://www.moodtracker.com/ is a really good resource for keeping data on these things. If you want to, you can share with your doctors so they can see the data as well.

Yes, I have AS and bipolar and lithium really helps to rein in the extremes.
For me there are way less side affects from lithium than the a-typicals. I had heaps of problems with them.

Best, Zel.