Pattern of Depression

I suffer from depression and anxiety. I've had intense therapy, ECT, and am on medication. It's been just over a year since I had the breakdown. Recently I've started to feel better only to relapse a few days later. The change over takes about two or three days and the depressed or improved mood lasts a day or two longer. The highs are getting higher and the lows are getting lower. I don't meet the criteria for bipolar. My highs never get manic. At first I would get very depressed and cry for hours when I realized the improvement was temporary and I was cycling down. Now I am more resigned to it. I can't plan anything. I make doctor appointments and can only hope it will be a day I can get out of bed. Is this a sign of improvement? Am I becoming bipolar? Is this common occurrence in depression? Any insight you could share would be much appreciated.

That is very similar to my recent experience. My recent experience is not at all like my past experience. In April I started a new med called Fetzima. It has worked very well. Better than any other med. Yet I am cycling between good periods of two or three weeks and then I will crash big time for three or four days. Lately the depressions have been lasting longer. I have been in a moderate one for a week and a half now. I have no idea why this is happening and it is so different than it always has been. My doc says there is a battle waging in my brain between the med and the real me and the depression and sometimes the depression wins for awhile. I go through the motions of functioning and it can snap me out of it. It is getting harder though.

It might be a form of rapid cycling but I don't think it fits the exact definition. Its a baffling and horrible disease to fight.

I've found my body has a certain level of tolerance before it needs to balance out a bit again. My baseline functioning has been depressed for so long that my body has no concept of how to run "normal" (read that to mean:not severely, suicidally depressed). I will have times of relief from the depression, but I always come back to a lower baseline functioning than the average person.
For me, this is easier to handle without medications because my fluctuations are shorter overall, and it is easier to come out of a really bad spell.
There is disagreement in my records over my diagnosis though, so I have a feeling no one knows for sure if they should classify me as mdd or bipolar 2. I do not ever get "manic" but my functioning sometimes resembles hypomanic when the depression starts to lift... I would suggest talking to your treatment providers, as they may have a better picture of what is going on, and can actually make a diagnosis based on what they are seeing and what you tell them.

Thank you for your response. It's good to hear from someone who has been there, done that. One things never changes for me and that's the anxiety. It's been a lifelong problem and my parents had it also. Thanks again.

I have an appointment today, in fact I should be leaving now. At least that's proof that I've improved. It wasn't long ago that I couldn't drive myself as I would become disoriented at intersections or get lost in familiar neighborhoods. Thanks for your input.