[mtnannie]

Boy have I had a long awful trip to get to a diagnosis of bipolar. I started having periods of fast heartbeat, sweating, shaking, and inability to think clearly. Went to regular doc, who gave me hormones for menopause. That didn't work. Things kept getting worse, new symptoms developed, and I have had depressive episodes since my 20's. Doc kept telling me everything was ok, but I knew it wasn't. Then one day I had a full blown manic attack. Turns out I am now "rapid cycling" meaning that four times a day I switch. I wish I could just be me, but I've lost that person somewhere along the line. I'm unable to work, or be of use for much of anything for more than a few hours. I HATE this. It has been suggested that I look for "triggers" to my switching - like Jeckle and Hyde! My questions, after this rant, is: Is it worth looking for triggers? How do you know what one is? Once you know, what do you do about it?

YIKES!

[Moose72]

Yes it is worth it to know your triggers. You can recognize them in advance and hopefully circumvent them. I am bp1 and don't cycled that often- maybe 4 times a year but at least one is a true manic episode with psychosis or dissociation. I saw trigees last week but couldn't stop it. (I posted here under "OMG! psychotic!" but it might be triggering so use discretion.)

[mgran]

I have been using the mood tracker to keep an eye on my swings. It's really well organised and should help you see a pattern, and identify triggers.

www.medhelp.org

[Tsunamisurfer]

Originally Posted by mtnannie

... Is it worth looking for triggers? How do you know what one is? Once you know, what do you do about it?

YIKES!

Yeow, MtnAnnie.
That isn't a happy situation to be in.

Not all switching can be tied clearly to a trigger. Sometimes it is just our chemistry swinging around unprovoked. But there certainly are situations that trigger us, and it helps to be prepared so we can minimise the impact.

This is something I believe a good therapist should be able to help you with. There are various options for dealing with triggers, including reducing their influence on you, or even avoiding them in some cases.

e.g. well known triggers for switching include substance abuse and irregular sleep patterns. Getting those under control would be critical to stabilising. I avoid alcohol completely if I'm even slightly unstable, and if I start going manic, I deliberately ensure I get at least 8 hrs sleep at the next bedtime.

Stressful environments, such as jobs that require you to work long hours with clients or bosses that are abusive and press your buttons on a regular basis may be cause to look for a different job with conditions that don't trigger you. e.g. I don't respond well to being ignored or treated as a lesser being by arrogant people. I chose not to work in a particular market segment where the clients tend to view themselves as god, and everyone else as worth no more than the minimal pay they are prepared to pay them. Not having that as a daily stressor in my life is a profoundly good thing

I hope you make rapid progress in your cycling soon.
Peter

[yagalada]

I think with rapid cycling it feels useless to even try, everything feels like its triggering something different all the time, but it really does help to identify what you can control and what you cant control and how you'll deal with each.

I know that I can control my reactions to stress, I try to remove myself from situations to calm down, then communicate my feelings calmly and rationally. I know that I need to do things to relax every day consistently, whether I'm depressed or
manic, I'm always anxious.

Coping skills are important for anyone, mental health diagnosis or not. Positive Coping skills make life more bearable. For me when I'm manic, art soothes all the chaos and give my energy somewhere to go. When I'm depressed, doing things that comfort me like cooking, reading, or gentle exercise make me feel better and more active.

[wing]

I have so many triggers every day that it has been more useful to me to focus on the reaction to them and how to maintain an inner calm throughout the episode with DBT and meditation techniques. I would have a list a mile long if I tried to keep track of "what" triggers me.

[mtnannie]

Thanks to you all! I think I'll keep a mood journal and let my psychologist or psychiatrist try to figure out triggers, because right now I feel overwhelmed. This is all new to me. I do avoid alcohol and try to sleep, but it depends on which part of the rollercoaster I'm on at the time. I've found that the day after a particularly rapid set of cycles is usually mostly one or the other for a few days. Then it starts slowly and here we go again.

I did read your post OMG, psychotic and laughed MAO. My husband always asks me how much of my symptoms I'm aware of and it is nice to know that if appliances start talking to me that I am likely to know that they really can't talk, but it might be interesting to have a conversation with it.....

Today I'm ok right now, but didn't sleep much last night, so I expect that once I get working on something I will be manic or depressed. At least if I'm depressed I can catch up on my sleep.

This is a bizarre disease.

[mgran]

Way to find a positive about being depressed... chance to catch up on sleep! I'll remember that next time I crash.

[kitty004567]

[QUOTE=yagalada;172940 it really does help to identify what you can control and what you cant control and how you'll deal with each.
[/QUOTE]

This is some fantastic advice. It really helps me to know what I can and can't control. I try to just ignore/deal with things I can't control so that I have the energy required to work with the things I can control (or at least make a difference in). Perhaps you could make a list of things that upset you and categorize them into things you can control and things you can't. Maybe that will help you decide where to focus your energy. For instance, keeping a mood diary and going to see your T are things you can control. Your boss' attitude is beyond your control (although it's amazing how much you can help someone's attitude by simply being nice/thoughtful towards them).