Newbie Hello

Hi there.
Someone over at crazy boards suggested this place so I thought I'd check it out.
I have BP II and seem to have a hard time deciphering my moods. I am not sure if I have rapid cycling or mixed states.

I've also been having severe exhaustion and need to get that figured out. My meds have been a roller coaster too so I need to track that better. I can't remember when I started and stopped so many things (Lamictal, Abilify) Welbutrin etc).

Anyway hello!

Welcome!
Glad to meet you.
Moodtracker.com is one of the easiest places I've found to track moods, events and meds.

It's also a great place to get questions answered and just talk with others that go through the same stuff you do.

Deciphering moods is a tough one. I know i had a real hard time trying to figure out if I was changing mood or emotion. The two can be hard to separate and with your meds changing all over it can be down right impossible sometimes.

Make sure to ask your PDOC when to mark depressed or manic. I know it seems like there is a ton of difference but everyone enters each stage differently and sometimes it's easy to mistake one for the other.
Manic doesn't always mean happy and depressed doesn't always mean sad. I look at it as fast and slow.

Oh dear. I hope i didn't add to your problem by bringing that up.

I'll give you a quick example to maybe clear things up....okay?

I only mark manic if I am talking faster than normal, changing topic quickly, talking too much or telling strangers my life story. For me that is the beginning of mild manic episodes.

I mark mild depression if I am irritated AND anxious at the same time, I find myself asking one of my kids to get things for me so I don't have to get out of my chair, or I feel like crying because the Twix rabbit doesn't get the Twix. (I know that last seems funny but what can I say? It's bothered me since I was a kid.)

If I'm just crying because I'm lonely or moving fast because I have a dead line then those don't count.
I thought I was rapid cycling or having mixed states because I changed EMOTION frequently. I found out differently.
Emotions that match what's happening don't count either.

But that's all me and what my PDOC want's to see.
(I messed mine up until I asked.)

Sorry if that sounded preachy. I just think it's very important.

Not preachy, very helpful!

My pdoc really only does med management so that kind of stinks. I feel like I am on my own trying to figure this out. It never occcured to me that emotion and mood are different.
One thing about my emotions is that before I was medicated, they would often be appropriate for the situation, just overly strong. Something that others found sad, I would find downright unbearable. Its happened mostly since having kids but I can't watch the news anymore because it would absolutely send me over the edge.

Meds make me numb though and that sucks too.

I get irritable and agitated still.

Anyway thanks for the words of wisdom!

i have been using the mood tracker for a little over a month. this gives me a clear cut vision of what is really going on. i love it and hopefully it helps my pdoc. i am also new and will be more informed of the dealings of it, but for now i got the basics down. thank goodness they don't make this rocket science. when i mark meds not taken, they don't let me specify. i take my Lamictal, Abilify and Xanax religiously, but the ambien has had bad effects (except my husband really enjoyed me cleaning his truck asleep, i just hope i had my clothes on). so i mark meds not taken. need a way to specify.

dupserj

If you have sleep walking or sleep truck cleaning while on Ambian your doctor needs to know that and take you off Ambian.
I think that marking that you didn't take your meds is incorrectly showing what is going on.
I'd mark my meds as taken then write in that the Ambian wasn't taken so your caregiver doesn't think you aren't taking anything when they see your chart.
Those little red diamonds are like red flags to a caregiver.
It means you aren't med compliant which you are. You're just avoiding one that is showing bad side effects.

thanks for the advice about tracking fast and slow days as compared to happy/sad days. I've never thought of it that way.

Great topic. I'm new to Mood Tracker although I already track my moods. I too have difficulty with figuring out when I'm manic or not although I'm starting to figure it out I think (and hope)

Also wanted to comment to Mooky, it always bothered me as a child when the rabbit didn't get the Twix too!

I've been with moodtracker for 3 years and this is the 1st time I've paid attention to the forum. I'm a bit sloooooowwwwww.

I like the fast / slow thought...it gives it more clarity.

the red diamond / partial med compliant...do I mark yes I'm taking my meds but list it as...not as prescribed??? Basically do I put a diamond or no diamond.

Princess.

I'm not the authority on little red diamonds but here is what I would do.

If I took the majority of my prescribed pills when prescribed I wouldn't put a diamond.
I would make sure to make of note of any I did not take as perscribed.

Whether or not you put in the diamond is really up to you and your doctor.
The most important thing is to track what you actually took and when and make sure your doctor knows about them.
If you are avoiding one of your meds or taking a lower dose than prescribed make sure to tell your doc as son as possible.

They can't help you if they don't know what's going on.

I respect what you have to say in your post. I've been documenting the happenings in my journal entries.

I'm straight up with my pdoc. you are so right. He can't help me if I'm not giving him all the facts.

I'm feeling good these days. I don't want to blow my feel good stretch but I'm tryin to shave off some fat and I feel like the seroquel is getting in the way. I talk with my pdoc more at my next appointment.

Seems like a very helpful forum.

Di