mood swings are getting out of control and don' know why!!?

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hi all

i am really struggling at the moment and i feel like i can't talk to any of my friends or family about it. so this is the only place...

I don't know why but sometimes my sleep pattern gets messed up and my mood gets messed up too. I'm not sure if lack of sleep is the reason for this or other issues? But it seems my mood keeps cycles between extremely happy/hyperactive, then back down to depression. and lack of sleep makes it even worse. Sometimes the cycles last a few days to even a few weeks/months. But at the moment my good mood of about 1 month has drastically gone the opposite way.

I am so confused. Just last month I was so incredibly happy. Even to the point when I was up until 4 in the morning because I was so excited and happy for absolutely no reason. I was even dancing around my room to music (embarrassing I know ). Even some people thought I was high on drugs because I was so happy. Which I wasn't!! ! And this mood was fantastic and it was the best few weeks of my life. Then all of a sudden in just the span of a few days I have gone the other way...

So for the past 3 weeks I have been feeling really down. I feel like I have been buried underground and I'm suffocating. I've started trying new things to make myself feel better, but I know they aren't the healthiest alternative.

My doctor put me on antidepressants. But it seems that only made my ups and downs more extreme? Is it normal for antidepressants to make your moods change quickly like that or more severe highs and lows?

i dont know why my mind is like that...but im just getting sick of the mood changes getting in the way of my school work

I'd recommend giving the doctor's office a call and letting them know what's going on.

Gracey,

You need to speak with this Doctor, immediately. Something sounds dangerously wrong, here.

Was this Doctor aware of the fact that you've had "up" cycles as well as "down" cycles and problems with sleep patterns? You don't mention the name of the antidepressant...some work fairly quickly, others take 4 -6 weeks to really be fully active. I'm not sure it's appropriate to mention the precise name of the medication and I'm not a Psychiatrist, but it sounds to me as though you need to go back to this Doctor and mention the fact that you were "so happy" and dancing around at 4 AM and were feeling down and miserable when you decided to go to the office for an appointment. It seems to me that the objective is to find a balance, rather than to move you from one extreme mood to another. The lack of sleep is the result of whatever is out of balance in your brain/body chemistry. When we don't get enough sleep or sleep at fairly regular intervals, it can and does mess with our moods. When you are unable to sleep or can only sleep for short periods of time, your will begin to feel irritable and lacking in energy and your moods will seem empty. If this Doctor does not realize that you are experiencing extremes in moods that are high and then rapidly plummeting into moods that are low and will not consider that perhaps treatment for depression may not be appropriate or optimal for you, my recommendation is that you look for another Doctor.

I wish that you would speak with a friend or family member, because you need the support of someone nearby who is close to you. Doctors do not always make the correct diagnosis the first time out. Or maybe this Doctor has you on the wrong sort of antidepressant or needs to add a second medication to help lessen the intensity of the moods you've been experiencing. Or maybe they haven't got "clue one." It helps to have someone you know and trust give you feedback about the way medications seem to be affecting you. When we are taking medications, we are often not able to see how we are changing in an objective way..

You may feel embarrassed but there is no reason to be. Things happen to us: chemical imbalances, hormonal changes. I don't know what it is that you are trying that are not healthy alternatives, but at least you have a handle on this and are aware that some things just aren't a good idea. In my opinion regarding antidepressants in general, No -- you ought not to be experiencing such highs and lows and this is something your Doctor needs to be paying attention to. I would be calling this Doctor, leaving voice mail, knocking on their door and if you get no response I would go to an ER -- please read the printout which came with the medication. It will almost certainly tell you to call your Doctor if you experience observable behavioral changes that cause discomfort or if you experience changes in mood which are rapid and intensify. Medication definitely should not interfere with your ability to THINK and get school work done. You don't mention whether this medication has done anything to help improve your sleep patterns. You don't say anything about your appetite -- whether this has changed.

When I go through time of stress (which has been happening to me recently), I have difficulty getting to sleep at a reasonable hour or waking up at a reasonable time. All I am able to do for myself is to remove myself form the stressful situation and pretty quickly my sleep cycles will become reasonable again. But I'm not wildly happy and dancing around the room. I just have a lot on my mind and can't sleep. It seems from what you've written that nothing in particular is triggering these changes in your sleep cycle. It is as though your brain is "getting high" on its own chemicals and does so for a time and then you reach a state of exhaustion and "crash" and have all the symptoms of depression. There are basic blood tests that can determine what is going on in your brain and body -- had this Doctor done any blood test prior to prescribing antidepressants? Had you ever seen this Doctor before?

It is one thing to need to get accustomed to knowing how a medication might affect you before driving a car or operating heavy equipment, but entirely different if you are unable to focus on studying and completing assignments. Call the Doctor, pronto and get in touch with a friend or family member who will be with you because you ought not be going through all of this without someone supportive nearby. Please let us know how you're doing. I (and others here on WP) care.

Antidepressants work only for unipolar depression - if you have ups as well as downs, they can destabilize you further.

i have been having these weird mood swings before being put on the anti-depressants. but i don't think the doctor knows about the up and down mood swings at all. i have suffered from sleep issues for the past 4 years and the meds haven't made this aspect worse. i have a good doctor but have no idea how to explain these things to her?
i have been put on citalopram (also known as celexa) to treat anxiety/depression. which is the same drug my mum has been put on which worked great for her. but hasn't for me??

Recite to the doctor this paragraph:

"I am so confused. Just (in April) I was so incredibly happy. Even to the point when I was up until 4 in the morning because I was so excited and happy for absolutely no reason. I was even dancing around my room to music (embarrassing I know ). Even some people thought I was high on drugs because I was so happy. Which I wasn't!! ! And this mood was fantastic and it was the best few weeks of my life. Then all of a sudden in just the span of a few days I have gone the other way... "

That'll be enough indication for the doctor to dig further and they'll know what questions to ask. Also, make sure to mention you've had this kind of mood before you were put on the antidepressant.

This. Your doctor needs to know about the ups, not just the downs.

Is that ever the truth. f**k Prozac. I've had it screw me up before, then I've recently had it screw up a family member too. Not counting the stories I've read online about what it's done to other bipolar people. I don't know why it's still being prescribed to bipolar people tbh

i've never been diagnosed with bipolar. my issues with my cycling of moods have been happening before i started taking anti depressants. does that mean bipolar is a possibility?

and also my parents marriage broke up because of my dads severe ups and downs. my mum seems to think he has it. can it be genetic?

Yes, it's a possibility, and if you're up till four in the morning because you feel so happy and excited, then that's not normal and there's more than depression going on here. Mood cycling can happen without antidepressants, antidepressants are just known for making the moods in bipolar people worse, especially if you take them without a mood stabilizer. Bipolar can be genetic, you're more likely to have the disorder of one of your parents has it. As it is, most of us bipolar people can identify at least one person in there family who seemed to be bipolar.

Yes, we believe that based on your description you may have bipolar disorder. We don't know what type or even if that is what you have. Nevertheless, a doctor will be able to evaluate you and come up with a diagnosis and a treatment plan that will work for you if you share the symptoms you described in this thread.

i have a lot of trouble i explaining myself verbally, so will it also be acceptable if i wrote down my problems on paper and just handed it to her? then she could ask me questions? as i really struggle with telling people how im feeling verbaly