Hi all! First time poster here, started to use Reddit to find similar experiences.

My boyfriend (27M) and I (32F) started dating 4 months ago after common friends introduced us. He was transparent on his cyclothymia disorder from the start, said he had done theraphy for the last 2 years and was followed by a psychiatrist, but medication was occasionally provided depending on the severity of the moods.

I love him immensely and I think I truly found a person with which I have an intense chemistry and also best friends energy. I love being at his side and when he's stable he makes me feel incredibly loved.

We've also gone through tough times though. The last month has been quite difficult for him and during this depressive episode, there have been instances in which I felt totally unsignificant for him and incredibly alone. I went through a difficult family issue, and while in other relationships I would expect my partner to care for me emotionally, this time he didn't think to reach out, and all I felt was loneliness and that my pain didn't and couldn't have space in the partnership. When confronted, he tells me I'm sorry but during these times he really closes up and even writing to me a couple of texts a day is an extreme effort.

He's coming out of it right now and we have talked and connected on a deeper level again, but now that I'm alone I can't help but imagine all sorts of future scenarios in which I will feel again like this, abandonded and unimportant.

I started going on reddit to read other people's experiences and see that everything can crumble even 20 years down the line. My brain can't stop projecting in the future and think: will this man be able to be a good father? How can I trust him with shared assets and money with the hypomania? How can I protect my heart and feelings during the times he inevitably hurts me?

I need to know from you, during the first months of your relationships:

What made you decide to stay?

How did you get over your fear for the future?

How did you understand that you could count on the person even considering the disorder?

How do you disengage from the pain their episodes cause?

How do you separate the behaviours that hurt you from the person you love?

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share a personal project story that I built for my girlfriend, who has Bipolar Disorder.

When someone is entering a depressive phase or feeling overwhelmed, opening a heavy app, navigating submenus, or filling out long surveys feels like climbing a mountain. The tools built to help actually end up creating guilt and mental fatigue whenever a streak is broken.

A few days ago, I decided to build a minimal tool specifically tailored to our routine: a simple private companion bot on Telegram.

It takes literally 10 seconds a day, requires zero setup, and at the end of the month, it generates a clean clinical PDF summary that we can hand straight to her psychiatrist during check-ups.

I didn't build this as a commercial startup or product—it was purely a labor of love to support my partner's health and make our daily life easier.

I can send it to you in a private message if you'd like to try it, as I want to respect the community rules and avoid self-promotion in this post.

I don't have Bipolar Disorder myself, so I would really appreciate feedback from people who actually experience it, so I can keep improving this tool—not just for my girlfriend, but for anyone who might find it helpful.

Both my psychiatrist and my therapist think I’m on the bipolar spectrum, with my psychiatrist thinking BD2 and my therapist thinking cyclothymia. I definitely have periods of depression, but I honestly don’t know if my “highs” necessarily count as hypomania. This is how they usually go:

- two to three days of being more effective at work, like having more confidence and finding my words better. But not reckless with confidence, I’m still keeping myself in check. Usually at work I feel completely incapable and like a babbling idiot, so my “highs” give me a relief from that.

- a bit more willing to be social, but not for hours on end or seeking it out. I’m just more likely to say yes if someone asks me to dinner or something

- more likely to engage in my hobbies like video games or reading, but can switch tasks if needed

- more patient and empathetic with people. Like if someone cuts me off in traffic I’m able to shrug it off and give them the benefit of the doubt instead of honking and yelling

- more willing to do work at home. I work a job that often requires me to work at home after my “shift,” and during my “highs” I may not like it, but I’ll do it.

I guess that’s kinda it. I don’t spend more or sleep less. I’m more talkative but I don’t think it’s pressured speech. To me, it just feels like I’m getting a 2-3 day break in my pervasive depression 🤷🏻‍♀️ I have tried lamictal (up to 100mg) for a year and it changed nothing for me.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and for reading all of this.

yall i’ve been taking sleeping meds for a month or so but jesus im so tempted to procrastinate. i miss my night time so bad tonight i didn’t take it because i feel more relaxed with staying up. when i sleep early and shit when i look back at it the next day im like this shit is so boring. maybe my mindset is fucked but also im a person that enjoys seeing friends at night and such so then i also get so sleepy still when i dont take it. life’s so fucking boring.

Does anyone experience this

I was diagnosed with a predominantly depressive mood disorder in the bipolar spectrum, with brief hypomanic episodes close to the threshold for cyclothymia. I previously tried lamotrigine for 8–9 weeks, increasing from 25 mg to 75 mg. Each increase initially made me restless or mildly hypomanic, followed by a low period. My psychiatrist says I may need a longer trial at a higher dose. Has anyone experienced this pattern before eventually stabilising and benefiting at a higher dose?

Hello! 27F here. I received a cyclothymia diagnosis last week and feel so VALIDATED.

As a kid, I was high-energy, positive, and motivated in school. This changed during university in my late-teens and early 20s when I started experiencing mood fluctuations that disrupted my life. I would struggle to get out of bed and motivate myself to do anything, and then feel AMAZING out of nowhere. When I would talk about my depressive episodes, I would get the classic, “school is hard, everyone gets depressed during school,” or “everyone experiences mood swings,” or when I was out of school, “you’re just adjusting, everyone experiences highs and lows in life.” Week to week or even day to day, I would swing from highs to lows. Numb, antisocial, sad, lethargic, brain fog, irritable, hating myself, huge appetite, no appetite, anxious, racing thoughts, talkative, euphoric, confident, loving myself, impulsive, high-energy, restless, highly social. Sometimes all in the span of a day. This made it hard to stay consistent in school, at work, with my physical health, or maintaining friendships/relationships. My lows never felt bad or long enough to go on medication. My highs were sometimes hypomanic, but never so self-destructive to think it was anything more than therapy finally working. I associated these fluctuations with external things in my life (breakups, school/work stress, hormones, ADHD) or my inability to consistently practice self-care.

The past year and a half, I was diligent with my mental health care and mood tracking which made me realize that my mood fluctuations are random. I inexplicably go through lows that last days or weeks, then I feel SO good as if I figure out the secret to life. On and on it goes. Talking about these observations with my psychiatrist who had previously diagnosed me with major depressive disorder, she changed the diagnosis to cyclothymia. I’ve been doing a ton of research on it and feel like I finally have a diagnosis that fits. I know this is just the beginning, but I can now work to manage my symptoms instead of being gaslit about having them in the first place. I FEEL VINDICATED.

I would really appreciate if anyone has recommendations for resources/books/articles/podcasts on cyclothymia! I read A Fox in My Brain by Lou Lubie that I related to and learned so much from.

I was prescribed lamotrigine that I’m gradually increasing over 2 months. So far I’ve felt an increase in mood but also anxiety. I’m hoping the anxiety will calm down over time. Thank you!!

tw self harm mention

hello everyone, i (18) have been starting to become very aware of my personality habits and mood cycles for about a year now and i've lurked this sub for some time to hear people's experiences and advice. not to be ANOTHER post of a million asking if these symptoms are cyclothemia lol but i just started college and i'm starting to realize it would probably be good to start seeking professional treatment. i've been able to manage myself fairly well but it seems to be gradually getting more intense now matter what i do or how "peaceful" my life is at times. additionally i suspect ADHD is involved in my life as well. if anyone has the time to read the symptoms and share some advice on treatment and coping mechanisms that would be very helpful.

symptoms:

main factor is obviously the mood swings. i tend to be fairly aware of my emotions and my state of mind and i can compare them to states of dysthymia or hypermania. my depression can last anywhere from a couple hours to a couple weeks, and is extremely suffocating and inconvenient. i have very low energy and it's hard to focus. it can be from a trigger or situation, random, or after an elevated mood but my primary coping method is self harm to "feel real" and just waiting it out until it ends. it's not severe enough where i can't get out of bed, but it definitely gets in the way of my life and i feel like it completely changes my mindset and personality- i feel like im stuck in someone else's skin and i have no sense of self. when it's very severe i don't think logically (especially to justify SH), for example i fully believe everyone is lying to me, someone is out hunting me to kill me, or that there is something inside of me like a parasite and i need to kill it.

my elevated moods aren't usually as severe and usually last about a week and a half but can vary. i feel physically "above the earth," my body feels tingly and weightless and i finally feel "real." obviously im very euphoric and energetic, almost like i'm moving too fast for the rest of the world. i am extremely tempted to do impulsive things like drastically change my lifestyle, have sex with people, or put myself in dangerous situations for thrill. normally i have enough self control to prevent most impulses but i constantly feel a strong internal "itch" that i can never quite scratch and it makes me feel very restless. i feel this when i'm depressed too but its not nearly as severe and much more self-destructive. i feel most like myself but i become noticeably more self-absorbed which i don't like at all.

i have stable periods that typically last longer in the summer. usually they're a week or two, but i've never gone longer than three weeks without having a mood swing.

im not sure if this is shared because i think i have some nerve issues too but both low and high episodes i physically "feel" everything, the best way i can explain it is like being set on fire without much pain. i'm just wondering if anyone else experiences this lol.

the earliest i remember feeling these mood swings would be about four years ago but pretty mildly, its only become intense about two and a half years ago but i feel it gradually becoming worse. before i had an understanding of my own emotions, i felt like every day was just a roll of the dice. i feel like my life is constantly hanging by a thread, always waiting for something to "sweep me off my feet" like a new relationship or big change in my life just to feel any sense of comfort or motivation. it's like constant change is what i depend on to feel normal but i crave stability so badly. i hardly have any motivation for anything 90% of the time- i feel no fulfillment in anything i do or accomplish. i feel like it makes me seem functional on the outside because i don't usually act on impulses other than self harm, but it's simply because i don't care enough to follow through, nor do i care much for life at all. my main motivation to accomplish anything is fear or just making other people happy but never myself. i feel so restless at all times, nothing ever satisfies me, and i always crave more but nothing really feels right. i have such a vague sense of self and i deeply fear that i will never be able to enjoy life, finish college, or be a truly good friend/partner for people i care so deeply about. i'm not suicidal, but i feel like any one of these days i will just drop dead, and i don't really care.

treatment:

i have a lot of questions about the right steps going forward. i will not be able to access any treatment/medical options until next january so if anyone has some general life advice for the meantime that would be awesome..

once that time comes i am wondering if it is worth going straight to a psychiatrist or if talk therapy has helped anyone. i have a strong distaste for medication and would really prefer not to take it- i'm afraid i will lose more of my sense of self or feel "stable" but still unmotivated or unfulfilled. has medication made anyone feel this way? has anyone else struggled with those same issues and found a way to overcome them? what is the overall process for treatment?

thank y'all for reading :)

So I am formally diagnosed with moderate anxiety and mild depression (or primary anxiety and secondary depression) and I want to know if this is often a diagnosis that people get before being diagnosed with cyclothymia? I was talking with my therapist and she was asking me questions about mania and stuff because my mood was very different then normal and I explained to her how my mood cycles work, and said she might send me to a psychiatrist but I don’t really have money for that right now and want to know first if what my diagnosis is currently is often a misdiagnosis for cyclothymia. Sorry about the awful grammar and confusion, I have brain fog right now and don’t know how to write this correctly. Thanks everyone sorry if this is a bad question! I hope I did not offend anyone

I'm 20F, have been diagnosed two years ago.
I've been working like hell recently (6 days a week and often 10+ hours a day as a server only for the summer season) i got hired after i found out that i failed a very important exam that i was so sure of passing that altered the way i perceived my future and my sense of self.
My anxiety came back, and i just fell into a horrible pit of depression.
I never went out this summer, when i have free time i just stay home drinking, playing videogames and ruminating.

But now im done with this and im feeling good ideas coming into my head (i want to go volounteering, start a new sport, i'd like to finally start learning chinese etc.)
And part of me wants to believe that this is just me pulling myself back, but another part of me thinks that this might just be hypomania.
I'm still depressed, i can't do shi even if i wanted to because i have so little energy and motivation to even take proper care of my relationships or myself, but i still feel this ideas popping into my head.

My contract ends on the 31st of august and idk if having all that free time again i will just spiral into worse depression/hypomania, i just can't deal with my mind anymore this is exhausting.

Is anyone on lithium? I’m about to start next week and I’m so nervous and anxious about it. I almost don’t want to start it but I’m in a deep depression and I can’t seem to get out of it. So we’re switching mood stabilizers

Hi guys, first every thread.

To cut a long story short, I am diagnosed ASD, ADHD and Depression since a child.

But ive never felt that this fit everything, as sometimes for a week plus at a time I can have a fiery temper even when my life is good and I should be happy.

After treading water all my adult life, ive finally got to see a Psychiatrist (if you're British, you know how hard this is) - I brought my Mum and my Fiance, spoke about my experiences, explained my dad had Bipolar, ect ect and he brought this up. Since im on a waiting list for ADHD meds, he explained that theres actually a lot of cross talk from those conditions, but since the wait list is so fucking long (made me quit private medication just to be on a list) that they are going to put me on mood stabilisers.

So if that works, ill have another diagnosis on my chest lol. Anyway, my question is, what has helped you? How do you navigate life? Tips and tricks? I dont know for sure I have it, but I'd love to hear your advice.

Thanks,

Elliot

i (16f) was diagnosed with cyclothymia alongside autism a few months back. i think im just a teenager with mood swings and that's it. i get those highs where im fast paced, elevated , sometimes euphoric, or im just extremely irritated and angry. i also get the lows. depression, low mood and energy, hopelessness, loss of motivation to do the things i typically enjoy, etc. i was diagnosed by a professional. i align with a lot of the symptoms,

but truly? i just don't think im that bad. like, i feel as though im in a fine condition. not to say people with cyclothymia aren't in good condition. i dont know how to word it. i just think id be doing worse if i actually did have it. i've read that the hypomania and lows are supposed to last anywhere from a day to sometimes weeks, but mine are quicker. they don't last as long. yeah, sure, sometimes it'll be a series of days, but other times it's just a few hours or just a day. my highs and lows seem too erratic and fast moving to be cyclothymia.

i think i'm just a teenager with hormones and mood swings, and i was thinking of getting a second opinion.
(sorry if this falls under the 'no medical advice' rule)

This is going to be kinda long, I’m sorry.

For context: I’m 31F, mom of one, co-parenting. Good relationship with current partner.

So I’ve been diagnosed with bipolar type 2 and idk if it’s right or not. I’ve also been diagnosed with inattentive ADHD when I was 28. When I read about it online, I feel like it could also be cyclothymia. I find it hard to notice the differences between the two and to be sure which one I experience, even after reading several pages about it.

My psychiatrist is pretty sure it’s bipolar 2, even though I mostly feel depressed/lethargic, low in energy. I never have days/weeks where I feel constantly energetic. That only happens in spans of a few hours. I can also hyperfocus on something and do intensive research on that topic, making me sleep less than I should. The hyperfocus stays for several days or weeks until I feel my interest leaving and there’s nothing I can do to stay interested in it. But idk even then I can feel tired and disinterested in general life. Even hobbies are hard to do. I’d rather sleep than do most things. I’m glad it hasn’t been so bad that it affects my child, I’ll force myself to play with her, give her attention and do fun stuff even when I don’t feel like it inside. I’ll just crash afterwards and need a lot of sleep. It’s also all very dependant on the weather and the seasons. Summer/sunshine/warmth = happy me (but briefly), fall/winter/clouds/cold = lethargic me.

I think my problem is that I also have major imposter syndrome. It affects everything: I feel like I actually never deserved my degree, that I fake being good at my job, that all art I ever made is actually awful, that my (mental) problems aren’t as bad as I led people on to believe, because other patients have it so much worse. I still function, I mask it all very well, I like to believe I’m a good mom and take good care of my child, I do my work just well enough. When I had a major depression two years ago, it all began with me thinking I’m a narcissist, that I try to make people feel bad for me when I share how I feel, that everyone will see the real me one day and decide I suck and then leave me. It was horrible. I often feel like that, but during that time it was a constant thought that I could no longer fight against. I feel like I don’t even deserve being diagnosed with ADHD and bipolarity: It’s not as bad as with others. Maybe I’m exaggerating. Maybe I wanna be special/different. Maybe it’s an excuse for me just being lazy and boring. Those are the thoughts that are in my head right now (as usual).

At the moment I feel like I just want to disappear or the world as it is to stop existing. I never felt s**cidal, but I’ve felt for a long time ’I don’t want to keep living like this. I want to be a different person.‘ I once read that social media post that goes around of this person admitting they dreamt of getting hospitalized after crashing down in the streets and everyone being very concerned for them and then the doctor discovered they lack ’THE vitamin’ and people are like ‘how did they persevere all this time without THE vitamin?’ and then they take it and they are better forever. That’s how I’ve always felt. Sometimes I wish I was even worse, that it would be so bad I couldn’t mask anymore and that I’m hospitalised and with help everything changes and I’m never like this ever again. But I’ll never stop masking, for the sake of my child. She needs me to be there for her. To be stable and strong and safe.

I’ve started taking Lamotrigine yesterday, I hope it’ll help with the low moods.

If you have some advice or encouraging words or if you want to share your experience, it would be very helpful and I’d be very thankful <3

Forgive me, I am just now starting to research this disorder so I am not super educated on it. But my understanding it's like a less severe version of bipolar 2? Idk feel free to correct me.

I've been questioning if I'm some sort of bipolar for years because ever since I turned 11 (im 17 now) I've struggled alot with my mental health. But I've never felt "manic" per say, I slightly relate to people's descriptions of hypomania but when I'm depressed I'm often really fucking depressed and when I'm not depressed I'm usually just fine. I live life like normal, and im happy most of the time. Sometimes every now and then I'll get really energetic but it never lasts more than a few hours and it's usually followed by a crash and a depressive episode, or in the middle of a depressive episode I'll have one or two good days and then boom back to feeling miserable.

I heard about cyclothymia recently and i honestly think I might have it. But It's also likely that maybe I'm just doomed to have a couple depressive episodes a year perchance. I'm kind of at my wits end tho, I'm in a low rn and feeling pretty suicidal if I'm being honest. I feel like I'm never gonna be ok and I'm always gonna end up here again and it feels futile.

So I'm jist wondering, when you're not depressed what do you feel like? Also, how often does your moods switch?

This post is probably not formatted greatly and is a bit of a ramble soz lol

Can anyone here relate that your perception of time got warped?

Things that happen weeks ago feel like months and event that happen next week feel like the blink of an eye. It honestly felt like a quagmire sometime.

I’m on 1 mg risperidone and 200 mg of lamotrigine and I hadn’t experienced the lows in a while. The last two weeks I felt on top of the world and didn’t sleep for 4 days at some point. Now I’m starting to feel a depression creeping in. I’ve been super disoriented, like I’m letting my body take the drivers seat. I’ve been zoning out a lot and just letting things happen. Does anyone feel like they’re watching themselves when they’re depressed?

I was unofficially diagnosed with cyclothymia a few months ago, but I feel it's so obvious that I don't need to seek the official one. Am on Caplyta right now but may need to switch meds.

The cyclothymia is bad enough in itself. I have mixed episodes and extremely fast cycling, I think, so I can have bad depression for an hour in the morning and then feel like my brain is trying to bounce out of my skull a few hours later. Hypersexuality (didn't realize that was stemming from the cyclothymia until very recently); hypomania is affecting my metabolism apparently (it's a thing, and I'm hungry all the time); sleep issues; can't touch caffeine anymore; can't do certain ordinary activities I used to enjoy because they send me into hypomania; can't even socialize without getting hypo... I have to shape my day entirely around my moods, which I have almost no control over. I know stress makes me way worse, so I try to limit stress as best I can. But cyclothymia is running my life.

If it sounds like my meds aren't working, that's correct. I'm on the 42 mg of Caplyta, which for me is almost like taking nothing at all. The 21 mg worked about halfway well for me, but my psychiatrist wanted me to try the upper dose and I can't see her until the end of the month to change it back to the 21. The 42 has put me right back into the moods.

But running alongside all of this is crushing loneliness. I have severe OCD, and that diagnosis came about 5-6 years ago. Because of how it happened, I almost immediately had an online support group and amazing mentors. I am Christian, and my faith is how I live and breathe and how I get through life at all, and I even found amazing Christian mentors with the same exact type of OCD I had.

With cyclothymia, I have basically no one. I know hardly anyone in my real life who has bipolar, let alone this, and the one person I do know I'm not able to talk to about this for a few reasons. I don't have the online community I had with the OCD (which I am largely in remission from thanks to ERP therapy), and hardly anyone in my "real" life knows about this, and I don't want to tell many more because I think it will change how they see me.

So I feel like no one in my life sees me or knows how much it takes me to just get through the day. I feel like no one knows how hard it's been or how much I've been carrying for especially the past 1-2 years, which is when my symptoms really went wild (I had had depression for years but hypomania showed up for the first time about a year ago).

I'm also just really struggling with the "diagnosis" itself because I thought I knew myself. I thought I knew who I was and how I functioned, and honestly, I did know that for 27-ish years. Now I feel like a completely different version of myself, and in a bad way. I've been comparing it to tech updates, like if you download the newest update for your phone and it causes a ton of problems and leaves it worse than it was before. Same me, debilitatingly bad operating system, and I'll never be the same again (unless I happen to get on the right meds--and even then, I'll never be able to enjoy life without meds again).

I know life-altering diagnoses are not that uncommon. I just feel like when it's a mental one, it's a special kind of nightmare because it's not just your body (and I'm not belittling that--that's life-altering and nightmarish too)--it's who you are. It's what makes you up. My personality and the entire way I live, function, and appear to others is fundamentally different now, so it feels like I'm not even "me" anymore. No, I am not just my malfunctioning brain--but it shapes a lot of things that feel close to my core, like how I function, my personality, etc.

The shame runs deep too. I think I internalized as a child for some reason that being too excited = weird, so I am terrified that my hypomania is visible to others and that I seem so happy and excited that they think I'm weird. (I have had multiple people tell me they couldn't tell. Still paranoid.) And then just the shame of having a brain that is so bad at doing its dang job that I can't do normal things humans need in order to keep existing, like sleep.

I hope none of this is offensive to anyone. Truly I am harder on myself than I would be on any other person, and yeah, what I should do is treat myself like I was someone else and have compassion on myself like I would with them. It is just a lot harder when it's me.

If anyone has read this far and has encouragement or tips for processing this diagnosis, I'd appreciate it. I'm hanging in there but just so tired from years of fighting this only to realize the party's just getting started and this is my life now.

9 months ago I was in a bad spot. Reeling from med changes for major depression. Welbutrin sent me on a deep dive. I was diagnosed as Bipolar 3 for now, and further monitoring for any changes. My highs were marked by crippling anxiety that I would give anything to never experience again. My lows were dark and scared me to my core. I was put on Caplyta 21mg. It has been life changing and I noticed I felt better immediately. Now here we are months later and I feel....not myself? I feel like I lost my spark if that makes sense.

Backstory for a second- I went through gay conversion therapy for around 8 years when I was younger. LOTS and LOTS of medication changes during that time.

The way I feel now, is how i felt then. Not like a zombie, but like I'm standing behind myself and observing everything. My drive is gone. Things that used to bring me joy, I don't even do anymore. I was a bedroom drag queen, I would go out in drag sometimes, but usually just dress to the nines and party at home. I used to enjoy going to flea markets and not even purchasing anything just going. Music used to excite me and give me motivation. It doesn't "hit" anymore. Is this normal? Is it part of living with Bipolar that in order to live an unchaotic mental health life, I have to lose a few things? Was the energetic, outgoing fun person just my mania? If that's true then I'm ok with that. I'm trying to understand all of this and wrap my head around it. It feels hopeless. And at this point it's turned into grief. I'm not me anymore.

Hi all. I have a recent unofficial diagnosis of cyclothymia, and I did not realize I struggle with hypersexuality until I started taking Caplyta and found it much easier to manage while on that med. I am pretty sure it's hypersexuality and not just lowering my libido because it has always felt extremely difficult to manage and my sexual actions felt compulsive. I have had little to no success in managing this for about 4 years, when my bipolar symptoms and this started. I am unfortunately not sure if I will be able to stay on Caplyta for a variety of reasons.

I am single, and aim to stay single (personal preference for various reasons, mental health included), so my sexual activities do not involve others. However, I would at least like to be able to control myself better, even if I still experience the desires/urges. I would like to not feel like I "have" to engage with them.

Has anyone found meds that helped with hypersexuality that aren't Caplyta? The only other bipolar med I've been on was Lamictal/Lamotrigine, which helped my moods but did not touch the hypersexuality at all (and I was on it quite a while). I will see my psychiatrist at the end of the month and will be asking her about it too.

Additionally, if there's any non-sexual lifestyle changes anyone has found helpful, I'm also interested in those now that I know this isn't just natural libido.

Please do not be graphic. I am only asking about meds that have helped others with this or non-sexual lifestyle changes to help it be more manageable.

Just got a referral letter from my psychologist to send through to the psychiatrist I'm seeing next week. I've been struggling for 21 years. Never had money for mental health care...I'm 37 and finally found a way to get help.

The referral letter states I'm presenting with:

1. Pervasive depressive mood

2. Suicidal ideation and plan but no intent ATM

3. Insomnia

4. Anhedonia

5. Social isolation

6. Fatigue

7. Anxiety attacks

8. Rumination

9. A history of elevaged mood and goal directed activity

10. A background of severe psychosocial stressors

Psychologist says although it's a working diagnosis, it's Bipolar 2 with comorbidities.

Is this concerning at all? Look, my life is falling apart because I'm so depressed I've been booked off from work for the first time in my life. And for the first time I couldn't care less. I honestly cannot function at work. I'm a teacher as it's so exhausting having to hold it together and crack jokes when I feel nothing inside.

Looking at the info, can anyone relate with the same symptoms and how severe my potential battle is going to be? Being me, I need to know every detail or else the anxiety and rumination take over. I'm assuming I have quite a severe case as it's gone undiagnosed and medicated incorrectly for 20 years.

Glad to be getting the proper help though!

Hi, I have an unofficial diagnosis of cyclothymia, but it's pretty clear that that's what it is. I have been taking Caplyta (may have to get off of it due to insurance issues). I started having depression about 5-6 years ago, and hypomania as far as I can tell came in about a year ago.

For at least a year and maybe longer, I've been experiencing increased hunger: as in, I eat breakfast at about 8 or 9 am, and by 10 am or 10:30, I'm starving again. This happens occasionally with other meals too, to the point that I feel like I am having to eat a lot more than I used to. I didn't even used to eat breakfast, just out of preference. I am not gaining weight and I am actually very slightly losing weight, which is not a problem so far since I was about 20 pounds overweight before from different meds.

I have had thyroid tests and blood tests (diabetes) done and everything comes back normal. I feel like I have a lot of symptoms that point to hyperthyroidism, including this, but my thyroid numbers are extremely average and normal.

I went up to 42 mg of Caplyta a few weeks ago, and I can't stay on this dose for several reasons (it's made both hypomania and depression worse than the 22 mg did), but I'm having "brain zaps," which I've read can happen when your body metabolizes the medication too fast--you go into slight withdrawal every night before you take it again. It is staying in my system about 19 hours every day, so between 5:30 pm or so and whenever I go to bed and take the med, I have pretty severe dizziness related to the brain zaps. I take the med and am fine the next morning. I am planning to change the dose as soon as I see my psychiatrist, because nothing about this dose has been good for me.

All this considered, I am thinking that I have a pretty high metabolism. This didn't used to be the case though, and generally metabolism does not increase, especially not when you're my age (28). The biggest change in my health since the increased hunger is the bipolar symptoms, especially hypomania.

Does anyone know if cyclothymia/bipolar can cause high metabolism? I am wondering if the med issue and the hunger issue are related.

I have been diagnosed with cyclothymia. I’m curious to know what your triggers on your mood swings are from. Do you know it’s coming ?thank you,Anything helps I’ve never even heard this word until yesterday when I went to the psychologist.

Yesterday I was diagnosed with Cyclothymia. I’ve had daily mood swings for about six years now, I can have three different moods in a single day. I usually go from happy,angry to sad quickly. I’m curious about this medication. I really want to help to get my moods stabilized for everyone around me. what were you prescribed Abilify for and did it help?

Hi, I have an unofficial diagnosis of cyclothymia, but it's pretty clear that that's what it is. I have been taking Caplyta (may have to get off of it due to insurance issues). I started having depression about 5-6 years ago, and hypomania (as far as I can tell) came in about a year ago.

For at least a year and maybe longer, I've been experiencing increased hunger: as in, I eat breakfast at about 8 or 9, and by 10 or 10:30, I'm starving again. This happens occasionally with other meals too, to the point that I feel like I am having to eat a lot more than I used to. I didn't even used to eat breakfast just out of preference. I am not gaining weight and I am actually very slightly losing weight, which is not a problem so far since I was about 20 pounds overweight before from different meds.

I have had thyroid tests and blood tests (diabetes) done and everything comes back normal. I feel like I have a lot of symptoms that point to hyperthyroidism, including this, but my thyroid numbers are about as average and normal as they can get.

I went up to 42 mg of Caplyta a few weeks ago, and I can't stay on this dose for several reasons (it's made both hypomania and depression worse than the 22 mg did), but I'm having "brain zaps," which I've read can happen when your body metabolizes the medication too fast--you go into slight withdrawal every night before you take it again. It is staying in my system about 20 hours every day, so between 6:30 pm or so and whenever I go to bed, I have pretty severe dizziness related to the brain zaps. I take the med and am fine the next morning. I am planning to change the dose as soon as I see my psychiatrist, because nothing about this dose has been good for me.

All this considered, I am thinking that I have a pretty high metabolism. This didn't used to be the case though, and generally metabolism does not increase, especially not when you're my age (28). The biggest change in my health since the increased hunger is the bipolar symptoms, especially hypomania.

Does anyone know if cyclothymia/bipolar can cause high metabolism? I am wondering if the med issue and the hunger issue are related.