Cyclothymia

[JAC]

Hello. I am new here and am looking specifically for other people living with cyclothymia. I have a hard time finding folks in the same boat I am. I got to a point when I started simply telling people that I was bipolar, but I realized that I was not being fair to myself. Cyclothymia, while being a bipolar illness, comes with a different set of criteria and behaviours that just simply don't match bipolar disorder. I need to find someone who can relate to what I live with. Anyone out there, please come forward!

[A.E.V.]

hi JAC, and welcome to the forum.
I do not have cyclothymia but I wanted to tell you that I'm glad you found us, and hopefully you'll find someone going through the same thing you are!

[Atlantis]

Hi JAC and welcome.

I wish I could help you but I'm just a plain ol' Bipolar gal . I'm sure we will still have lots to chat about, I look forward to hearing more from you.

[debbie]

Hello
What I know about Cyclothymia it is a mild form of bipolar . I am bipolar 11 so If you want to chat ,I too am here for you

[AJ]

Welcome to the forum JAC and Debbie. Sorry I think I missed your last post Debbie.

[paul m]

Hello Jac and welcome. I do not have your illness, but I did have very similiar symptoms as my present bp1 took years to develop. I hope you will feel free to ask and answer questions. Take Care. paul m

[Re-O]

hmmm, where have I been that I missed this thread? And 2 new people!

Hi Jac, Welcome to the forum!

I did a bit of reading on Cyclothymia and certainly recognized many similarities to bipolar. Although it differs in some aspects, I certainly share some of those symptoms. I am sure you will be able to relate to many others here on this forum and likely will find someone with the same diagnosis as yourself. Although many of us are diagnosed differently, we each have our own struggles with our illnesses. I have found it's much easier to walk together, supporting one another than it is to walk alone. This forum is filed with support.

Hi Debbie, Welcome to the forum.

[Atlantis]

Welcome to the Group Debbie


p.s. I may have alreadt said welcome but my memory is sooooo bad so I would rather say it twice than think I said it but never.

[paul m]

Hello Debbie and welcome to the forum. I somehow missed your first post, but I hope that you will feel free to ask questions and to answer other peoples. Take Care. paul m

[JAC]

Not sure what just happened here. i am still getting used to a laptop keyboard. blech. anyway, thanks to all for the friendly greetings. like i said, it's hard to find someone who had cyclothymia. i tried to start a support group locally and one person was all that answered my ads. we met a few times but we had very different lives and therefore we didn't get anywhere with it. for me, having cyclothymia has meant not being able to have steady employment, not being able to finish any training i undertake, from day long courses to multi-year courses. i am unpredictable and not reliable. i can make plans for next week or even just a couple of days away and simply change my mind because i am no longer interested. i thought that volunteer work was the answer...not. no different. i just don't stick to things well. i lose interest and just want to move on to something else. i have my down periods and my hypo periods. i get things done when i am hypo but a downer can come on me in an instant and stop me in my tracks. everything gets dropped until it passes. could be days or weeks. never months. never has been. have never been manic and never clinicially depressed. anyway, didn't mean to take up so much space on the screen. thanks again to all of you. please forgive my lack of capitalization, but i am having trouble getting my shift key to stay down....grrrr

[paul m]

Hello JAC. Please do not apologize. However you type we will read it. Sometimes I have large problems with computers, last night I managed to lose 3 complete posts(my own fault).

Your Cyclothymia presents about the same type of problems that I lived with for nearly 20 years. Until I was in my early 30's I had never had a hugely deep depression, nor a true manic episode, but I did flunk out of university because I went for quite a while with no drive and I simply couldn't get out of bed some days because I was so fatigued. I also would have many ideas and I have worked at a variety of careers. I alo had may hypomanic episodes. My illness eventually degraded to all of the classic sypmtoms of Bipolar 1.

The older I got the more my moods would rapid cycle and it is my understanding of Cyclothymia that you can suffer from rapid cycling. Do you take any meds to help you control your symptoms or are you under a doc's care? You of course don't have to answer and I am not trying to be nosey, just I have heard that with Cyclothymia, sometimes a milder form of treatment works. I don't know as I didn't seek help until I was pretty far along my journey. Take Care. paul m

[uni]

Welcome to the forum JAC. I'm not too familiar with cyclothymia but would like to learn more. I look forward to reading more of your posts.

[Phoenix367]

Hi JAC, although I don't have cyclothymia, I have bi-polar II and experience many of the same symptoms. When my meds are working properly, I can maintain fairly well ... still ups and downs but not as severe.

Welcome! I'm new to the forum and so far have found it very helpful and supportive. I hope you can find the same!

[Cubster]

Hello JAC,

I've had a lot of similar behaviours over the years. The number of lost jobs, lost friends and piles of unfinished projects are too many to count. I've dealt with this since I was a teen and a month ago, I was given a diagnosis of BPD (confirmed BPD I, this week). I had my first full manic episode last fall and a second, this past summer.

It's hard to reconcile myself to the fact, after so many years of self loathing, for being a "failure" at everything, that I have an actual illness and I'm not a failure. With treatment I can be successful and I don't have to be the woman who doesn't get asked to help out with things, because I won't follow through anyway. I have an answer to my own question, "What is the matter with me? Why can't I just succeed at something for once?"

It's unfortunate for those who understand what I'm saying because they walk in these same shoes, but it's good to know I'm not alone and I can talk to other people, who won't tell me that I just need to make the choice and follow through with it, oh, and be happy. Like that never occurred to me.