[Claritytoo]

For the past month or more I have been jumping in and out. It seems like there is someone new every ten minutes. I can't seem to control it like I used to. This time instead of just changing thoughts it is changing emotions. I can't seem to hold back my emotions. It feels like everything is welling up behind a dam and it is about to burst. I used to have mostly good days now I am having more and more days where I am emotional. Just feeling fear, sadness, anger, coming one after another for hours. I have tried grounding but that is not working like it has in the past. Has anyone had this happen? It is not a panic attack it is my emotions doing what ever they want when ever they want. I feel like I am coming undone.

[shlump]

Yes, I have had this happen before for months at a time. I't been years since it has been as bad as you are describing.

I was completely unable to ground myself until I learned my own techniques.

My meds helped.

Getting-yes, I know it is impossible-but getting at least 4 hrs of sleep a night helped.

The up and the no sleep rip it to crap, but getting sleep may help. Meds helped me sleep, but it ended up being high doses.

Do you have something that bores the heck out of you to do in the evenings?

Do you or can you turn off all computers...get off net? I find I can stay awake for over a day if I get caught up in the online world. It's a kind of stimulation I can't handle at night.

Sleep is a priority and yes, I do know how hard it is.

Hugs and I hope you somehow slow down with the ups and downs.

Emotions and thoughts changing so rapidly is killer.

Would it be possible for you to pick an activity that requires you to keep in a consistent state to work on it? A creative activity helps, but maybe something that requires the logical mind can push your emotions to the back a little when you need a break.

Text twist, scrabble-with a friend, sudoku, tetris

Maybe set a schedule or a timer and do these things when you find you need a break-but schduling time out a few times a day will give you that break from emotions even when you do not need it-this will also help. Retraining your mind a bit to shift into another zone.

It took me a long time to come up with a way to get outside of myself and I relied HEAVILY on having a list to refer to, because I really could not think of what I WANTED to do and that led to further anxiety. So, maybe a list of things that can be picked up and dropped pretty easily.

Hope some of this is helpful...

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by Claritytoo

For the past month or more I have been jumping in and out. It seems like there is someone new every ten minutes. I can't seem to control it like I used to. This time instead of just changing thoughts it is changing emotions. I can't seem to hold back my emotions. It feels like everything is welling up behind a dam and it is about to burst. I used to have mostly good days now I am having more and more days where I am emotional. Just feeling fear, sadness, anger, coming one after another for hours. I have tried grounding but that is not working like it has in the past. Has anyone had this happen? It is not a panic attack it is my emotions doing what ever they want when ever they want. I feel like I am coming undone.

when this would happen to me my treatment providers called it rapid switching. I have also heard it called the revolving door by others I know with DID.

with me when this would happen it meant different things depending on what was going on in my life at that moment...

sometimes it meant those alters and I were integrating/merging together/becoming one whole person

Sometimes it meant there was something going on that was triggering me and the alters, usually it was something had triggered new memories into coming to the surface.

sometimes it meant co consciousness was being established/developed between me and those alters that were doing the rapid switching.

bottom line with me it was a positive thing that this happened with me because it showed I was becoming stronger and more able to handle knowing what had happened to me and strong enough to take care of what ever those alters chose to share with me.

I know other people where this kind of thing was age related menopause. during this time a woman's emotions are erratic, switching from one emotion to another. there is medication for this that has helped those I know that went through this phase of life.

I also go through this with my bipolar, sometimes its so hard to be cycling through all the emotions and phases that bipolar brings to me. thankfully my medication helps to slow things down and keep this from happening more often.

I have also noticed that this sometimes happens when I havent gotten enough sleep or when I havent been eating right. in those situations getting back to basics of getting enough sleep and following my dietary needs helps things get back on track for me.

I also go through rapid mood switching because of my MS, and all the different medications that I am on..

my suggestion...since this can be so many different things and what ever I may suggest may end up going against what ever treatment plans your treatment providers have you on, my suggestion is contact your treatment provider, they will tell you what you need to do in order to get this rapid mood switching back in control for you.

[Claritytoo]

Originally Posted by amandalouise

when this would happen to me my treatment providers called it rapid switching. I have also heard it called the revolving door by others I know with DID.

with me when this would happen it meant different things depending on what was going on in my life at that moment...

sometimes it meant those alters and I were integrating/merging together/becoming one whole person

Sometimes it meant there was something going on that was triggering me and the alters, usually it was something had triggered new memories into coming to the surface.

sometimes it meant co consciousness was being established/developed between me and those alters that were doing the rapid switching.

bottom line with me it was a positive thing that this happened with me because it showed I was becoming stronger and more able to handle knowing what had happened to me and strong enough to take care of what ever those alters chose to share with me.

I know other people where this kind of thing was age related menopause. during this time a woman's emotions are erratic, switching from one emotion to another. there is medication for this that has helped those I know that went through this phase of life.

I also go through this with my bipolar, sometimes its so hard to be cycling through all the emotions and phases that bipolar brings to me. thankfully my medication helps to slow things down and keep this from happening more often.

I have also noticed that this sometimes happens when I havent gotten enough sleep or when I havent been eating right. in those situations getting back to basics of getting enough sleep and following my dietary needs helps things get back on track for me.

I also go through rapid mood switching because of my MS, and all the different medications that I am on..

my suggestion...since this can be so many different things and what ever I may suggest may end up going against what ever treatment plans your treatment providers have you on, my suggestion is contact your treatment provider, they will tell you what you need to do in order to get this rapid mood switching back in control for you.

I would like to think they are trying to intergrate but I think there is something I need to know before they can. So when I start having so many feelings like fear, pain, anger, sadness I feel overwhelmed. And I can't get it to stop. I got out of the house yesterday to force me to have to focus on driving but after a short time I had to get home. I didn't leave for the rest of the day. Today started off bad. Really bad so I took my medication plus a little more. I had to stop the feelings from consuming me. My t told me that my flood of emotions maybe flashbacks because I feel as though the pain and fear is all of me. As though it is happening in that moment. When this happens I am unable to think past the feelings. It isn't until these feelings start to subside that thoughts of grounding come to mind. Prior to that I am back in the same place as when the feelings were happening. They are real and they are happening to me in that moment. They are not memories. This insight has helped me to cope to some degree but it also seems to have opened a door filled with feelings that I can't control. I am exhausted but have not been sleeping well. My dreams are odd and sometimes they cause me to wake up several times a night. And I agree, this is affecting how I am functioning in the day. I am going to take what is happening to me as a sign that my alters are trying to open some doors so I can move through the pain in my past and into the present. My system has been good to me, like a family should be. Thanks for taking the time to talk.

[Claritytoo]

I went to session today. It was painful. One of my little ones wanted to talk but she wasn't sure what her voice would sound like. I also was having feelngs of embarrassment at her show of emotion and that her voice might like a child. I know it is not fair for me to feel embarrassment. She has a right to talk so I am going to work on that. This is the first time she has wanted to talk and actually sat in session. It was exhausting. Has anyone else ever felt embarrasses at how they will behave while a child is talking?