So after years of being on the same AD I have changed to a new one, and so far so good! But, one of my side effects was mood changes throughout the day. I would go from hypomanic first thing in the morning, to depressed by group time at 9am, then up again by 11 and down by 3, up again then until the drugs knocked me out to sleep. It wasnt the same pattern daily and the majority of the time there was no trigger. I have now found more level ground but having only been on the med 7 days I am still having mood changes throughout the day. Yesterday I got mixed in the afternoon, just to add something different in I guess haha (thanks brain) then cycled back to baseline with the help of meds. This morning I got mixed again but this time was during group so used the supports I had around me and once again got to baseline. I dropped into depression this afternoon but meditation has brought me into a more relaxed and stress free state. I feel I am on the up/happy baseline again now.

This has happened to me before - only when changing antidepressants. So I am not concerned as even this early in I am having more "good" than "bad" and I expect this to level out.

This made me wonder though - how many of the self diagnosed ultra rapid cyclers are on AD's? Can this be causing the rapid cycling?

As I have had this side effect before I am not concerned and look forward to when the depression and mixed leave me. Luckily each does not last longer than a few hours and coping skills or PRN have got me through. I am certainly going to keep going on this med despite the side effects I am having which the pdoc says are straight out "weird" (couple of other strange things going on with my body since the med change) but as said I am not concerned as the side effects from most meds I have been in subside after a few weeks. But I thought this may be an interesting discussion. I'll add a poll just out of curiosity to see who is on ADs and having this reaction.

TL;DR Can antidepressants be the cause of "ultra rapid cycles" throughout the day?

[HopeForChange]

I've had full-blown manic episodes when on an AD alone, but am fine now taking Zoloft in conjunction with an antipsychotic (perphenazine). I can definitely see how ADs could cause this kind of side effect, though, especially initially. My thoughts are with you, and I hope the ultra rapid cycling eventually evens out so that you can enjoy the effects of the AD without all of the mood swings!

All the Best,
Hope

[Smileonmyface]

I don't really know if I'm bipolar I think my doc suspected I may be bipolar 2 but wouldn't really tell me �� but I am on Zoloft and my moods cycle all day it makes me crazy but it does help with the depression a lot

[Velouria]

I think you may just be experiencing switching, or a mixed episode -- including switching from purely up to purely down, as well as experiencing both at the same time -- which can happen with ADs and bipolar. I'm not sure if it's ultra-rapid cycling you're experiencing.

That said, I'm on an AD but do not experience mood shifts throughout the day. I'll experience emotional swings based on my mood state, but my mood won't go from down to up in the same day.

Once I'm depressed, I stay there like a lead balloon and have to wait until it slowly lifts. Once I'm "up," I stay there for a while. And then I get back to the inevitable mixed state, which I seem to stay in the longest, but I'm not sure. It could just feel like the longest because it's the worst.

I haven't tracked for long enough to get a specific timing pattern down, and my whole climate seems to have changed after the past couple years, so I'm trying to grasp the pattern of things. I definitely don't cycle that rapidly though (if I am bipolar at all, which I don't even know, but I do suspect it).

No this is not a mixed episode. I know what my mixed is and its certainly not this. I used "ultra rapid cycling" as the title as many do not know what ultradian cycling is, which is pretty much exactly what I am experiencing and I wanted to use terms that the people on this forum can understand.

This is definitely not a mixed episode because the majority of the time I am happy. My mixed are and have only every been both manic and depressed at the same time, not switching between the two. And I have cycled into a mixed state and back out over the last two days.

I am going from hypomania, to mixed, to depressed, to baseline in any order throughout the day. For example just 5 hours ago I was hypomanic and full bottle on my craft project. Suddenly I got

Possible trigger:

suicidal

and had to be sedated by the nurses. There was no trigger, all I was doing was my craft project and suddenly I was

Possible trigger:

planning suicide and have a plan in place

.

I am confident this will settle and level in a few weeks. My brain is mush at the moment with the heavy duty drugging they have been doing to me the last 3 weeks. My cycles are generally months, so switching rapidly is a very big change for me, but as said I am majority baseline/content so its not so bad to deal with. Being inpatient helps too as I have access to nurses and pdocs 24/7.

I am interested in if other people have these symptoms long term on antidepressants.

[sleepless0515]

I have Ultradian mood states as well, but I don't think my AD is the cause as I've had them before being put on one. They're no fun, and drive people around me "crazy" (pun intended lol).

If you think your AD is causing it, you might want to speak with your doctor. These mood states are no fun, and for a lot of people, they're caused by a new AD.

Good luck!

I experiences ultra rapid cycling without AD, but when I was taking only Welbutrin, they became so intense and I was switching several times an hour. I came off that after 2 years of cray and on to a stabilizer which stabilized me on the depressed side. We now added a low dose of prozac to the mix which brought me back to baseline. I don't experience cycling with that dose of AD. 5 mg more though makes me hypo.

[Velouria]

Originally Posted by Supanova

No this is not a mixed episode. I know what my mixed is and its certainly not this. I used "ultra rapid cycling" as the title as many do not know what ultradian cycling is, which is pretty much exactly what I am experiencing and I wanted to use terms that the people on this forum can understand.

This is definitely not a mixed episode because the majority of the time I am happy. My mixed are and have only every been both manic and depressed at the same time, not switching between the two. And I have cycled into a mixed state and back out over the last two days.

I am going from hypomania, to mixed, to depressed, to baseline in any order throughout the day. For example just 5 hours ago I was hypomanic and full bottle on my craft project. Suddenly I got

Possible trigger:

suicidal

and had to be sedated by the nurses. There was no trigger, all I was doing was my craft project and suddenly I was

Possible trigger:

planning suicide and have a plan in place

.

I am confident this will settle and level in a few weeks. My brain is mush at the moment with the heavy duty drugging they have been doing to me the last 3 weeks. My cycles are generally months, so switching rapidly is a very big change for me, but as said I am majority baseline/content so its not so bad to deal with. Being inpatient helps too as I have access to nurses and pdocs 24/7.

I am interested in if other people have these symptoms long term on antidepressants.

Ah, I understand. That sucks, I'm sorry that's happening. But it's good you have 24/7 support and that you also cognizantly make an effort yourself to get back to baseline.

[Nammu]

Antidepressants with or without mood stabilizers cause severe mania so I don't take them any more. I'm mood stable and not on antidepressants.

[Resident Bipolar]

I am not able to have one or the other. If I have a mood stabiliser by itself, I tend to fall into a deep depression. If I am on only an antidepressant, I get manic. So I'm on a much higher dose of mood stabiliser (Lamotrigine) than the comparative dose of the antidepressant (Mirtazipine) - getting the benefit of the antidepressant at a medium dose, with the stability of a mood stabiliser at a high dose.

Originally Posted by Resident Bipolar

I am not able to have one or the other. If I have a mood stabiliser by itself, I tend to fall into a deep depression. If I am on only an antidepressant, I get manic. So I'm on a much higher dose of mood stabiliser (Lamotrigine) than the comparative dose of the antidepressant (Mirtazipine) - getting the benefit of the antidepressant at a medium dose, with the stability of a mood stabiliser at a high dose.

Me2! I feels so great! If I want a little hypo I just bump up my AD a little bit and I'll feel it in 8 hours. I call it designer moods.

Thanks for participating

Thankfully this side effect has worn off. I am back to my baseline again (even a bit better I think!). My mood is stable through out the day and night, and I am able to feel emotions normally. I still feel like my brain is a bit mush, but we did drop the Zyprexa and nitrazempam from 20mg in the last few days, quicker than my pdoc would have liked.

Unfortunatelty I am still suffering a few other side effects that I hope wear off in time as they are getting better slowly each day (legs on fire, ants biting me, headaches, dizzyness, falls, sore teeth, easily fatigued to name a few).

I had some day leave today, 6 hours at home and I am absolutely exhausted and I thought I had taken it relatively easy! But now my head is pounding, my legs ache like nothing on earth and Im still coughing from taking up cigarettes again. Going to be much less of that this week as many of the smokers I spoke with were dishcharged today.

But mood is good and stable, just very very very tired now. Time for bed I think but my chat mates just came online.... I am all in bed now mostly worried about dropping the laptop when I inevitabley fall asleep chatting.