Mood swings

[luckoftheirish]

mood swings

hi guys, any tonics out there for mood swings?

im a 26yr old male, been diagnosed with this condition for about 5 years now.
The mood swings are killer, really starting to effect my relationships.

Over the last few years taken various drugs like Prednisone, Pentasa ,deltacortril,salazopirine etc.

Anyone else out there trying to balance mood swings and depression while keeping face with friends

 

[Guest]

hi there, & welcome

yeah - the emotional aspect of having Crohns is unfortunately part of the deal. some people get the mood swings worse than others, & i guess we all find different ways of coping..

i try really hard not to let it affect how i am around people, but sometimes i know its transparent, particularly to those close to me. i don't know of any one tonic - i try to stay relaxed as much as possible, avoid stress, avoid being 'put upon' which stresses me out more when i'm feeling rotten anyway. i have learned to choose carefully who i spend my time with, and to say no to people when i don't feel like socialising, or if they've asked something of me which i am tempted to do to help them out, but know it will be a major effort for me that day.

i do relaxation exercises, i listen to music - try to give myself some me-time on the days i really need it. and - there aren't many people in my life now who don't know that i have Crohns and at least a little bit about how it affects me.

if you think it's a real depression, and self-help routines like mine above aren't enough, i'd say go have a chat with your GP. maybe you need something to help you through.

 

[soupdragon69]

Hi there,

I am originally from County Antrim but live in the East of England now.

Good to see you found the forum and welcome!

Steroids on top of IBD can be a real difficult one mood wise along with the exhaustion. My GP now wont give me more than 40mg of prednisolone a day as 60mg makes me a jibbering wreck and in floods of tears. He also told me that depression is now being recognised as a side effect of these steroids and due to be put into their drug referral book (BNF). So maybe its worth chatting to your GP about the actual dose you take and how it impacts?

As DB says its a case of pacing yourself and trying not to take too much on - I know I agree at times to work an extra 6hrs at work (and go in on a day off) for instance and regret every single minute I am there. Why? Because I may feel reasonable but know I am tired, feel guilty at saying no at times because I know colleagues will struggle with one less and also dont want to give in to the IBD, exhaustion or meds that are propping me up!

Can be a bit of a viscious circle to fight and only you know how to pace yourself. If you feel meds could help perhaps as DB says its worth chatting to your GP or they may have other thoughts to help.

Keep posting here though too - we all totally understand why you feel as you do.

Looking forward to hearing more from you!

 

[luckoftheirish]

cheers for the welcome!

like you said dingbat, if ppl around you know you have crohns then you dont have to be making excuses all the time. To be honest though i find it diificult to explain my situation to some of my buddies. Because the condition is not always visible on the outside and its not life threatening ppl tend to dismiss even forget about it. When my buddies are heading out drinking i find myself having to make excuses cause i know they just dont get it. I guess its down to me to change this.

 

[drew_wymore]

Welcome to the Forum Luck.
I posted in the support forum. I've been having really bad mood swings lately. I think between the symptoms and having to deal with the day to day and explaining to friends, family and co-workers we crohnies have a tendancy to lash out once in awhile. We just want to be as normal as possible and its hard. You're correct, because its not "visible" people dismiss our illness and it can make us angry sometimes.

 

[Guest]

ok, a bit of Dingbat philosophy lol..

one of my theories on life is that there are things we cannot control, and therefore we are at the mercy of them. but, there are many things we CAN control, and it is up to us to make the effort to do so.

telling people who we come into regular contact with about our condition, and how it affects us both physically and emotionally, is in our hands. and sometimes, the actual pressure of having to not say how you're feeling because you're with someone who doesn't know or understand, can actually feed the mood swings.

once you've told someone - it's like the old saying, a problem shared is a problem halved - you may well find that your guard is down, you're no longer having to put on a false smile and pretend you're up for a night out, and really enjoying yourself, & consequently you'll feel more relaxed, & relieved.

people are quite surprisingly supportive, especially when they are close friends or family who first & foremost care about you. if they don't come into this category, i don't really bother with them any more. when you have something like Crohns, life is about getting the best from our good days, and making the bad days as easy on us as we can. it is not about living up to an expectation - all that does is make us more frustrated and moody.

jeez, i really have my soapbox well & truly stuck to my shoes right now! must be hormones or something.... lol

 

[drew_wymore]

Well said DB. Leave the soapbox attached

 

[mfronmark]

Oh

Oh! This might actually be the case for me. I have been kind of unstable lately.
Had this really bad night + day thu/fri and I just wanted to give up altogether.
Recovering now and it's been very traumatizing. These "attacks" have been getting more common. Last one I had was June 1st and now again this last thu/fri.

I'm heading a sales team for GodEl, a swedish electricity company that donates all of its profit to charity. I wanted to learn to sell and I figured this would be great for me.
However I noticed I lost my old eating habits and just eat lunch quickly and that has not been good at all. I've said before that I could never work at McDonalds because of how much stress is involved in that. I didn't know this would be about as bad..

Unfortunately, luckoftheirish, I don't think I have anything to contribute. I think I share your mood swing and depression problems..

Thanks to all of you for your advice.

Oh and hi there. It's my first visit here. I'm a 23 y/o from Sweden. Right now I'm on Pentasa and Azathioprine. I was on salazopirine for a couple of years when I was first diagnosed 8-9 years ago.

 

[luckoftheirish]

thats exactly it mike. i wouldnt say im a very laid back person but im defo not aggressive however while on the pred im like Bruce Banner (the hulk)! Ive moved off the pred now and onto imuran so hopefully the side effects are not as severe

 

[katiesue1506]

When I was on Prednisone I flipped out about every little tiny detail. If my roommate was tapping her pen it was grounds for murder, if she left a light on I wanted to turn off her electricity. If she left the blinds closed I went ballistic... I'm glad those times are over... just 'roid rage I suppose.

 

[Sharky]

Once you come off prednisolone!How long do the side effects useally last?