Roller coaster emotions?

[MSLorrieL]

Recently diagnosed with RRMS, 4 spinal and 3 brain lesions.

I find I have spells of an hour to all day, where severe anxiety and depression descend. Then suddenly it will lift.

It seems to have no relation to my thoughts or activities...feels very much like something related to MS rather than anything psychological.

Conversely, I will have enjoyable periods where I am very calm and happy for hours for no good reason, almost like someone had given me a tranquilizer. Very odd, and didn't happen to me before MS.

I am already on Prozac and feel it works well for me, but these sudden spells of doom are not much fun.

Anyone else experience this? If so, is there anything you have found that makes it more bearable or helps it go away?

Thank you for reading this post and for any help you might be able to give.

[Thinkimjob]

Um, I'm guessing the Prozac was prescribed for a reason. How long have you been taking it? These drugs take time to do what they're meant to. Weeks, rather than days.
Have you told your doctor about the highs and lows? I am not a doctor, but it sounds like anxiety more than depression.
That's just me talking. See a doctor.

[22cyclist]

This can definitely be from your MS. MS sometimes comes with labile emotions, which sounds like you are describing. It depends on where your lesions are located. I get this sometimes. Its like all of a sudden I am depressed, and nothing can get me out of it. Then all of a sudden I am irritated, no reason, just irritated and want to be alone. Then most of the time I am happy and calm and feeling steady. It is weird. I take an antidepressant, but that is not it. I stopped it for a while. My neurologist told me it was a certain lesion in my pseudobulbar region that was causing my mood swings. You can also have them in you limbic area too. It is not you though, but we have to learn to keep the swings in check. It is different from bipolar, we can keep this in check...plus we don't throw things or freak out for the most part.

What do you do?

Take care
Lisa
Moderation Team

[sardi_g]

Oh, I don't mean to hijack this post or create something but, having bipolar, I had to pause re the bipolar comments. There's a definite need in life to generalize or we'd get nowhere but I'm not sure those were the best ones to make. Also, there are two main types and then subtypes that veer to either "pole", to add to the confusion.

Lorrie, sorry to veer off topic and I do agree with Lisa that there are many reasons to feel hopeful and I wish you the best with this.

Sard

[MSLorrieL]

Thank you! I am under the care of a psychiatrist who

Prescribes my Prozac. I have been taking Prozac at the same dose for roughly twenty years. It works very well to manage my chronic depression.

I have talked with my psychiatrist about this, and she does feel it is MS related because of the locations of my lesions.

She didn't have any advice other than "distract yourself" for me so that is why I am asking here...seeing if other MSers have this and if so, if there are any ways of making it less unpleasant to endure.

Thank you very muchnfor sharing your experience with this Lisa. I just wish I could find what works to lift the mood when the effect comes on...all the other things I've learned over the decades to manage chronic depression, don't work for this MS induced black cloud.

Thank you for your advice!

[mercadies25]

I truely wish more people would talk about this.

I also suffer from these episodes. I also take anti-depressants. 3 different ones. Seems like alot but it sort of works for me. I am very afraid of what I would be like without them. Before they added my last one seriquel (sp?)
I really went through ups and downs sometimes for no reason.

I think we sorta have to deal with this the same way we deal with the rest of our issuses (spasms, pain, bladder, cog.)tell your doc and tough it out.

I keep telling myself there is no cure TOUGH IT OUT AND MOVE ON!!!

Doesn't always work, but I'm working on it with therapy.

Good Luck To You!!

[MSLorrieL]

Thank you so much Mercadies!

I am sorry you go through this too. Thank you for letting me know there are others who do experience this too.

Most of the time I am on an even keel and just fine but when those spells come they are tough to endure.

This was very hard for me to post about, and I appreciate the support here very much! Thank you all!

[wendya432]

I have this too. And was having the emotional labile thing, laughing inappropriately, crying randomly over things that weren't sad. And having times that I would just have a rage of anger, etc, etc.

My dr switched me from zoloft to effexor xr and it has made a huge difference. Just a week after my starting dose I was feeling more like myself. Now that they have worked me up to the best dosage, I feel so much better. I haven't had any of the times of laughing inappropriately anymore. Don't get me wrong I still have times where I'm down, angry, etc, just like anyone that is sick (and in my case still doesn't have a diagnosis). But it has been so helpful.

Maybe it is time to talk to your dr about switching to a med that works a little differently?

[lovetherams]

This is what I came searching for today

Boy do I suffer from this on a constant basis and it is very much interfering with my life. My neuro's office is aware of my emotional lability but I have not done well on any anti-depressant I have tried. Plus it sounds like a mixed bag here of them actually working for this lesion related problem.

Wendya432 - the crying and or laughing at inappropriate times they call that Pseudobulbar Affect.

My Emotional labile does not include laughing or crying in an inappropriate setting. It does include most what 22cyclist described where there is no reason at all to be sad or down on myself and minutes before, I wasn't. As well as the getting irritated for no real reason. I get withdrawn. I don't talk. It really stinks.

Unfortunately I have a very heavy lesion load and it doesn't help that many of them are considered tumefactive sized being larger than 2.5 centimeters each and they are everywhere, in all areas. For a long time I had years where most of the time I was happy go lucky and very positive with only occasional bouts of this. Now, it has become an ever present disturbance in my life that affects my social life and I get very down on myself because I can't be the happy go lucky person I used to be and want to be as often as I used to be.

I Pray about it a lot. I can't seem to ever stay on an even consistent keel. I really don't want to start a new med if it isn't going to help as I know how hard they are to get back off of.

I may try relaxation techniques but I don't think those are going to help me from feeling disappointed in myself about the whole crazy cycle. Thank you for posting about this - this has been a burden I am very tired of.

[amyrising]

Wow, this is me right now. I have always been a people pleaser, avoiding confrontation at all costs. I have periods now, where I become a confrontational, crabby lady. I also have some sucicidal thoughts (that was when my pain was constant and severe). This is not like me and I was beginning to think I had severe mental issues.

[kittysmith]

Me too.

I've had an anxiety disorder since I was young. Had it under control until MS came along. Now, I swing back and forth between happiness, utter sadness, and anger.

I've also been on Prozac for decades. Just yesterday, I saw my psychiatrist and told him I was having trouble controling my emotions. He thinks, having been on Prozac for so long, it's lost it's effectiveness and he is starting me on a new drug. I am wary, but will try anything at this point.

Know you are not alone. And now I know that I am not alone! Thanks for bringing up this subject.

[sardi_g]

I'm really happy so many people benefited from this thread. It's and important one and obviously helpful to many. But seeing it again is bringing up all this previous anger I thought I had let go.

It is different from bipolar, we can keep this in check...plus we don't throw things or freak out for the most part.

Just plain wrong. Even if you're not bipolar, hearing that you can (and implying should) keep this in check on your own can put even more pressure on someone and make them feel guilty that they suffer from moodiness. It's just too broad a statement to be helpful. You can be cyclothymic but not bipolar but still need medical help. And it's not your fault you can't 'keep it in check'.

There are obviously many who can keep it in check and just need to hear this is not something serious, but how is that determined here on a forum?

And it makes me so angry to hear abt bipolars "throwing things and freaking out". It's not a good phrase - who doesn't freak out? It doesn't mean anything but is painful to read and yet again, perpetuates a harmful stigma.

It's obvious the poster is a kind helpful knowledgeable individual but this obviously rattled me and hopefully this is my last comment on this and I can put it to rest already.

[sardi_g]

Also I am not a thrower and neither is my bipolar boyfriend. It's neither associated nor strictly unassociated with bipolar. It just doesn't increase understanding in any way.

[BillyL1677]

I myself am a 36 yo male who has emotional issues since the MS. I was always on the positive side but did have an edge to me. I would get excited about certain things and now I am just blah. I care but there is just this side that I can't get excited about anything anymore.

Its hard to deal with and especially hard on my family. I feel like I am just going through the motions on most days. A far cry from where I used to be. I am glad to read others have this issue.

It certainly be nice to turn it on or off or keep it in check, but just doesn't work that way with me. Oh Well!

My wife throws things sometimes, and she is not bipolar... figured I would add that in.

Thanks for the thread

[Squ9idly76]

Depression or Bipolar?

Years before I dx'd ('03) I started to become depressed. The symptoms worsened, just a little bit every year. By the time I was dx'd I had maxed out the doseage for welbutrin and went to a more powerful seritonin uptake inhibitor. It didn't work very well and my moods started to swing big time more and more. I had also started drinking to excess, which I later found out was an attempt to self-medicate. I tried a psychiatrist, but all she did was do a medcheck. I saw a therapist who actually helped with childhood trama, but did nothing as far as trying to determine if I had any serious mental illness. It took a close encounter with suicide to get me in to see the right people. The diagnosis was Type I Bipolar Disorder. Yikes!

The mental illness cost me my family, and the drugs I have to take make days with MS Fatigue just about unbearable. But the upside? I am myself again mentally which means I am usually happy and loving life.

If anyone is on ADs and is experiencing uncontrollable mood swings (and possibly drinking heavily), please find someone to give you a solid checkup on your mental health. Actually, you don't even need to be on ADs, get checked!