Alright…so SZA people, i need your experiencial advice on something. Lately …for a few months…i have been cycling between depression and hypomania just about every week, with a couple days of each side plus a few days of …numbness, not really euthymia. It is happening with increasinf frequency and severity. I mentioned it to my pdoc and he said maybe it was caused by my abilify?? I am not on a mood stablizer just APs ADs and some extras. But whats weird is rapid cycling bipolar is supposed to be FOUR such episodes in a year and im going through it way more frequently, its just that its so transitory also with having days where i feel nothing so idk exactly what is going on. Any similar experiences? I am beginning to feel very concerned mostly bc or suicidal depressive episodes
I don’t know for sure but it could be part of the illness maybe a bit of psychosis you are having when I was fully psychotic my mood would change like everyday I would go from crying and trying to kill myself to thinking I was in love, I think I remember you saying in a post a while ago that when your pdoc reduced ur Zyprexa and raised abilify that ur symptoms worsened, do you think its possible the abilify is just not working for you and that is why this is happening?
Yes i am thinking of going back on zyprexa, i have some “in case of emergency”. I am definitely feeling some deja vu with experiences that have occured when psychotic. Certain symtoms are causing some distress…but Last time with my pdoc i just played it down bc i didnt want to increase abilify. Bad, i know…
I used to be on Zyprexa and it worked so well I had almost no symptoms I bet if my dose was increased a little I would have had none I just hate it made me gain so much weight for that reason I can never go back on it Ive been on abilify for a few weeks
Yes thats also why i quit…the combo of it and seroquel caused me to gain over 30 lbs…otherwise i would still be taking them probably. My mind was clearer then. But i guess weight wasnt the whole reason i quit them. I missed parts of my “ill” mind such as creativity and the positive parts of hypomania plus ive been fearing that the entities who speak to me are punishing me for what im doing
you have ultra-ultra rapid cycling. I have it too.
I have rapid cycling too, it’s known as ultra-rapid or ultradian cycling, I can have mood swings in a day as well as over several days or a week. I would say it is highly likely your rapid cycling moods are caused by being on an antidepressant without a mood stabiliser - in people with bipolar tendencies an ad without a mood stabiliser can trigger rapid cycling moods, so you need to speak to your doctor about this asap, as swapping the ad for a mood stabiliser or at least adding a mood stabiliser would probably improve this significantly.
I’m a rapid cycler.
Up, down and mixed.
It gets tiring.
I’m not on a mood stabilizer either, and I’ve been experiencing weird mood swings that I can’t explain. It’s mostly downs than ups and even some mixed? I’m not too familiar with bipolar/SZA but I’m going to talk to my doctor about it. My nurse suggested adding mood stabilizer to the mix.
No. It’s FOUR OR MORE. That’s rapid cycling.
I’m similar to @Vertigo I have it all. Ups downs and mixed episodes. Sometimes I get up and down all within a day and never know what tomorrow will bring.
For me getting on w mood stabiliser was the best thing that happened in 7 years… !!!
My pdoc called me a “rapid cycler”, My moods could switch within hours. It has been documented in the hospital quite a few times.
I just call it “Life.”
Welcome back @anon80629714! 
@Vertigo. Soooo glad to be back !!! 
Ah, okay. Thanks for the clarification!
Now that I think about it, Ive had rapid cycling ever since I started ADs in my later teenage years…before that is was weeks or of hypomania, followed by the same with depression- though I didn’t realize what was going on at the time. But it seems as Ive gotten older the rapidness has increased and I am on 2 ADs now, was on 3. But when I brought it up to my pdoc I could have sworn he said ABILIFY might be to blame. Maybe I misunderstood
My moods can cycle every week, to as much as every day, there is no consistency.
Some times the moods last for hours only.
I don’t know, did you have rapid moods shortly after starting Abilify?
with tegretol my mood is normal again after so long…
It’s an old med but good. I’m on it too.
I couldn’t remember how it’s like to feel normal again.