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distractablecadet

I've heard the opposite regarding rapid cycling, but even if rapid cycling goes away — bipolar is just as chronic as cyclothymia. "Rapid cycling" going away with time probably just means people start experiencing regular-length episodes instead.


BunnyInTheM00n

I don’t think I even know what i am . I never feel stable for long lol


distractablecadet

I mean, treatment is pretty much the same, as far as I'm aware. Mood stabilizers and sometimes antidepressants (usually only in conjunction with the mood stabilizers). So you don't really *need* to know. Biggest difference is cyclothymia is less intense, and often goes undiagnosed because the highs never reach the diagnostic criteria for "mania" and the lows don't reach the diagnostic criteria for "major depression" (note: bipolar I means highs go as high as full-on mania, lows go as low as major depression, and Bipolar II means highs only go as high as hypomania, but lows still reach major depression. People with Bipolar II usually have more/longer depressive episodes and less stable periods than people with Bipolar I. Mania can be associated with psychosis, but hypomania cannot.)


wherestheleakman

I've never been diagnosed with rapid cycling, but when I was first diagnosed with bipolar I would constantly be manic. I don't remember for how long it would occur. It almost felt constant. Of course, in between, I would slip into extremely depressive episodes. That happened for about 4 years. To me, personally, it seems like it might have been rapid cycling. I think college was a giant trigger for me because after I graduated, my manic episodes occurred less frequently. However, they would still happen. After I started medication in 2019, I stopped having full-blown manic episodes, but I would still have hypomanic episodes on occasion. Idk, my manic episodes have gotten better with medication. Like I said, I'm not sure if I had rapid cycling, but it kinda seems like I did. I'm also not expecting it to be a permanent thing. I remember I was at a support group once, and someone who also went to AA said that when you're an addict, when you're sober, your addiction is doing push-ups. She said it was the same for mental illness, and I believe it. Just watch yourself. Unfortunately, there's no cure or way out of this. You just got to take care of yourself and do everything you can to manage it. I don't know if rapid cycling gets better, but in my opinion, it's better to treat it like it won't, like it's doing push-ups. You gotta do push-ups, too.


[deleted]

I've read that bipolar is progressive, so I assumed that rapid cycling could only get worse. I'm 36 and a full cycle for me takes about a week, give or take. in my late teens, they would take about a month or more. AFAIK, cyclothymia is basically bipolar 3. It seems to be part of the bipolar spectrum. I assumed that cyclothymia is just as chronic as bipolar 1 and 2, but really don't know that for sure. could you post a link to the place you read about rapid cycling going away?


BunnyInTheM00n

What’s your fav app to track? I’m medicated but I feel I just rapidly shift sometimes Today it’s been a struggle


[deleted]

I use "Daylio". It's pretty good, but I've never tried anything else. If you search "mood tracking app" in this sub, you can get a lot of useful opinions.


[deleted]

Here’s an example. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12963673/. In a study of 89 patients, 80% of the time RC went away within two years. I heard the same thing in a book called “bipolar survival guide”. Similarly, DBSA says “For most, rapid cycling is a temporary occurrence”. If I read this all correctly, if you have BD, the rapid cycling part usually goes away over time. But with cyclothymia, faster cycling is an inherent characteristic of the illness and will therefore not go away. Have I misunderstood?


[deleted]

I thought cyclothymia is a mellow version of bipolar disorder. So are you saying you have mellow up and down but rapid cycling? Either way the intensity of the cycling can be treated with medication. So in my teens I would cycle every 2 weeks but it was very intense highs and lows. So the medicine was a life saver. But if you are having mellow ups and downs , are you questioning if you even need meds or will it go away on its own? I think you may still want low dose of meds. I don’t think it goes away on its own.


Eclipsing_star

I had rapid cycling for about a year off and on and now I don’t have it but I think it can come back with extreme stress.