mild physical events causing large changes in mood or brain function

About 2 weeks ago, something changed with me physically. I've had a couple cycles now, a few days with really intense brain fog, not really able to think right, get into a bleary ADHD hyperfocus and can't make myself do anything else. Then a day or two about average. Then I'm waking up with a physical sense of anxiety and being keyed up, which will often develop into extreme irritability or, rarely, euphoria, depending how the day goes. (I have bipolar II with ultrarapid/ultradian cycling, and raging ADHD-inattentive.)

I've been tracking things pretty darn closely for a while now because my pdoc and I are on a mission to very carefully evaluate meds after 20 years of them mostly not working, and being applied haphazardly. But I'm not sure what changed, MAYBE i'm taking magnesium supplements more regularly, and I am eating healthier now.

The only thing that really stands out, my roommate had a very mild cold, barely any sneezing and stuffiness, but it made her badly fatigued for a couple days. I got that same mild cold coming on, and a day later the first severe fog happened. It came with fatigue for a day or two, since then that hasn't been an issue. But something happened. The weird fog/agitation cycle is worse than usual and not normal. Both phases of it feel driven, biologically, much more so than my usual - it's hard to describe, but I don't wake up feeling keyed up and anxious ever, until this started.

What the hell.

Ideally it would be an opportunity to maybe do some tests and get an idea of what's going on, but that's not how our health care system works, especially when you're on Medicaid.

The one other issue I wanted to toss in where physical events seem to cause a mood ripple, sometimes I'll have a strange-feeling bad day the day after I do some exercise, in my case it will happen the day after I've walked a few miles with a heavy pack - I try to keep in shape for backpacking and so forth because being out in the trees makes me feel a hell of a lot better than most other things.

Just curious if weird little illnesses, or exercise, or other minor things affecting the body will set off mood turbulence or brain fog or whatever else for others.

Are you on meds? If you are, what are they?

seroquel 100, lamictal 200, dexedrine 10, valium 2.

We almost take the same meds...except for the seroquel. I was put on dexedrine a few years ago. The first couple weeks were fine but then I started to get very foggy. I had a hard time carrying on a conversation. I went off it and the foggy feeling went away.

I've actually heard that and it seems amazing to me, dexedrine does the exact opposite for me. I can get foggy sometimes when it wears off in the evening but that's about it.

I'm actually very keyed up today and agitated. It's damn lucky for me and everybody around me that the Mask Of No Emotion is so damn effective in my case and that I have good self control because I had multiple points today where if I were more hot-tempered I would have flipped the f out for completely ridiculous reasons.

I've been grinding my teeth tolerating kid shrieks and other bustling household activity for an hour or so here since getting home and doing some research. Thinking about my mood tracking and how the seroquel has gone for the 9 weeks I've been on it, I'm starting to think that some of this - namely, the agitation and severe irritability - may be a side effect of the seroquel that took a while to get going.

I'll probably post a separate thread about it.

This is getting weird. I had another episode yesterday where I felt like I might be getting a subtle cold, and also my whole body hurt like all the normal pain signals were amplified. I was doing some physical labor and tweaked my back slightly and it hurt way more than it should have (it's an old injury and I'm familiar with it). All the other random owies hurt a lot worse. No feeling of fever though. Took naproxen and it didn't help. Smoked CBD and it helped. But then I was just absolutely destroyed dead tired and ended up passing out at 9pm barely remembering to take my meds, forgot the mood tracker and all that. Very unusual for me.

Granted I am going through stressful stuff and I'm on a friend's couch right now but typically that would keep me up later, not make me tired in the sleepy way. This is weird.

Last time these physical symptoms happened (subtle upper respiratory ick, exhaustion, increased pain) after a day or so I had a few cycles of extreme brain fog as I mentioned upthread. I guess we'll see what happens but I am getting suspicious of a weird latent infection. The episodes are so similar.

When my Fibro pain and now psoriaic arthritits gets to bad I either get ramped up and angry hateful to myself or I go lay in bed and wish the ceiling would collapse and I would not care.

Physicaly pain and emotional turmoil is always hand in hand.

Well, the strange pain was basically over today, and only a mild fog that could have been just "normal" ... so if it was the same thing it's milder this time. But it's been so good to work outside for hours a day that I just took a lot of CBD and worked despite the owies. And I didn't hurt each morning so far.

Sorry you get the fibro type owies Christina. Those are rough. I have a relative I love a lot who has owies that flare like that.

Pain and mood go hand in hand. The level of my neuropathic pain has a direct effect on my mood. When my nerves are screaming, my mood is low regardless whatever else may be going on. I don’t believe it puts me into an episode per se, but until I have relief from the nerve pain nothing else matters.