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Thread: Do you seem to go through mood & energy "cycles"?

  1. #1
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    Do you seem to go through mood & energy "cycles"?

    I've always tried to analyze and figure out what and why I have a bad day (did I not sleep well? Did I eat the wrong foods? Did someone upset me? Am I physically ill?) The never-ending analysis (that's been going on for decades) is all with the hope that if I find what and why the anxiety days happen, I can prevent them from happening in the future. I know, how naive but I'm the eternal optimist.

    Lately I've wondered if perhaps I (and others) just go through cycles where they have a period of a few good, stress-free, pleasant and high energy days, followed by an anxiety-filled, exhausting crash in energy or mood. Not severe enough to be considered manic-depressive, but gentler and less severe ebbs and flows in mood and energy. When I've casually mentioned to my doctor that I can have a run of great days and then, for no reason, it's gone and I crash, she smiles and tells me that we all go through high and low cycles, no one stays the same every day.

    Anyone else notice a cycle? Mine seem to be about 3 good days followed by 3 not so good days. I'm going to start tracking it.
    Sue

  2. #2
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    Re: Do you seem to go through mood & energy "cycles"?

    Yes, this is absolutely me! When I had the breakdown I didn't have this but after the relapse things changed when I went on a med that massively ramped up my anxiety and brought all this OCD out in me when before was never an issue, merely low level traits like anyone can have. I also started having mood swings.

    I will have documented all this on here in the past so I might try to find that rather than explain it all again. However I definitely have this issue.

    Something I have found that stops the low moods in these swings is high strength Omega 3. I can go without it now but I've been taking it for a couple of years. Before if I stopped taking it I would experience a rebound which only went away as I restarted the stuff.

    I've found with much of my anxiety experience that it's a very slow burn of changing the body. The horrendous cycles I used to experience in the first couple of years are long gone. I still have cycles now but they are spaced out and they are seldom more than a blip compared to the past.

    Something I found very interesting was a book called Mood Mapping. The author is a doctor who is bipolar and she builds her methods of management around 4 types of mood. Each mood means a different strategy so you pace yourself and don't overdo things, which can bring the depression on in bipolar, but also how to manage the manic periods. I found this really interesting and relevant to us as we seem to have these swings from motivated to demotivated, running around cleaning the house top to toe then another week we can't bothered to even hoover.

    And yes, I went down the route of questioning whether I was bipolar too because of these swings. They weren't enough to warrant what we know to be bipolar but there are lower level conditions that less harsh swings and these are harder to diagnose. In the end I traced my situation back to starting a med and with the aid of Omega 3 have greatly improved it.
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  3. #3
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    Re: Do you seem to go through mood & energy "cycles"?

    Thank you for sharing that! I will definitely look up the book, and info about Omega 3!
    Sue

  4. #4
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    Re: Do you seem to go through mood & energy "cycles"?

    Absolutely, even now I don't suffer anxiety any more.

    What you feel today is often a result of what happened last week, or even last month.

    The way to look at anxiety is like the tides of the ocean (I know, flowery right....). When a tide comes in, waves can still come in and out. When a tide is going out, waves still come in and out. That's the same with anxiety/stress etc. Even though you're recovering, you can still have good and bad days. This is where the mindfulness can help as it allows you to step back a bit and just be ok with the ups and downs. It's the trend that's important, not the single data point (you must have dealt with this metric in corporation land).

    I think it's important to understand what's going on without necessarily over analysing it too much. When you do that, you're just creating a problem that might not really be there. It's just part of how things are right now.

  5. #5
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    Re: Do you seem to go through mood & energy "cycles"?

    Thanks, Joe.... that kinda helps, and I trust and agree with what you say. BUT, none of that will really help when these attacks seem to hit out of the blue and almost take me down without warning. This is the type of thing that fuels my fear of ever making plans to go anywhere or socialize with anyone... not knowing if one of these will hit while I'm out. If I'm home when it hits, fine, I'll accept it, give in to it, hit the couch, and let it pass. But if I'm out and about trying to live life and I have to keep excusing myself to go meditate in the ladies room stall, it gets very upsetting. Or, maybe I should take the knowledge and explanation you provided and just agree to be OK with taking a tranquilizer the next time this happens while I'm out with others. Knowing that I can do something to get me through the rest of the event might cause me to fear them less and not react as strongly when they do happen?

    If I were aware that my anxiety "waves" were starting to ramp up and calm them before they peaked, that would be great, but I had no idea anything was going wrong until it almost knocked me down (literally almost off my chair between the dizzy spell and the extreme fatigue).
    Sue

  6. #6
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    Re: Do you seem to go through mood & energy "cycles"?

    It is part of the process.

    Personally I would avoid taking a pill to tranq you into submission if you don't absolutely have to. There's a lot of value in facing the symptoms in a situation you don't want to face them in. This is something I had to force myself to do for a long time to re-learn normality.

    Instead of excusing yourself, confide in one or two select friends that this is what you're experiencing. It takes such a load off knowing that you know that they know etc etc. This comes back to the mantra of already having proven yourself, now it's time to nurture yourself. Exposing yourself to a full force wave of panic and riding it out is about as strong as a person can be in a 'normal' situation. Maybe look at it that way? And yes, using that experience with self talk later, proving to yourself that you can face it without serious consequence (the only consequence is unpleasant sensations) really is the CBT method of unlearning anxiety.
    Last edited by ankietyjoe; 20-06-19 at 19:02.

  7. #7
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    Re: Do you seem to go through mood & energy "cycles"?

    Makes sense, Joe, and I think being prepared that this might happen again in the future and being mentally prepared for the possibility is key. Since I used to love going to the casino, getting hit with negative stuff while there throws me for a loop.
    Sue

  8. #8
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    Re: Do you seem to go through mood & energy "cycles"?

    Think about it. A casino is an intense session of risk/reward. It's a situation that's highly likely to cause anxiety. Even under normal circumstances people experience rushes of adrenaline in a casino. Your CNS might not be ready for that particular pastime just yet. Or at least, keep the bets low

  9. #9
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    Re: Do you seem to go through mood & energy "cycles"?

    Quote Originally Posted by ankietyjoe View Post
    Think about it. A casino is an intense session of risk/reward. It's a situation that's highly likely to cause anxiety. Even under normal circumstances people experience rushes of adrenaline in a casino. Your CNS might not be ready for that particular pastime just yet. Or at least, keep the bets low
    But here's the thing, Joe: I have loved the casino for over 25 years! I used to go every Friday night, and then when I slowed that down, it was my 4-5 times a year all day vacation. It was my "Disneyland" and I would check my troubles at the door and not pick them up again until I left. I would even book a hotel for a night or two and stay there for 3 straight days as my stress-reliever and getaway. I needed and loved the rollercoaster, the highs, the lows, the adrenaline and excitement. I was energized by it.

    Once I stopped working, I found I wanted and needed to go less and less. And now, when I do go (because there is a concert my husband wants to see) I'm not enjoying it as much and these negative physical feelings are occurring. So I guess when I was in constant high-wired mode, the casino was a nice change for me, but perhaps now that I'm learning to slow down and relax in life, the contrast is shocking my system?
    Sue

  10. #10
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    Re: Do you seem to go through mood & energy "cycles"?

    And I used to love drinking coffee by the gallon, sniffing coke and staying up all night.

    When you were working, I think you were riding a long wave of adrenaline and ego (I don't mean ego in a negative sense).

    I've mentioned it before, but anxiety is often like falling off a cliff. It's not a slow drop down, it tends to happen hard and fast. To the point that within a week or two, your CNS can't cope with things it could even relatively recently.

    I was a hedonistic dickhead for 20 years. I took drugs, stayed out late all the time, I used to own powerful motorbikes and ride them too fast etc etc blah blah. I can't even drink a beer now. My body doesn't like it, it literally exhausts me and causes significant drops in mood the next day. It's just something I accepted and moved on. There's so much more out there that you can do that doesn't involve the things you used to live for. It did take me a little while to let the old life go though, it's just a transition period you're in now.

    The thing about living for the buzz, is that the cost is something called adrenal fatigue. It's probably worth looking at a couple of videos on Youtube about it. The casino was just a buzz away from the buzz. You're unwinding in one way, but winding up in another.

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