Mood Watch - 47

Still OK. The only thing I’ve noticed is that between last Friday and Monday, I felt rather sluggish and tired. I wasn’t in poor spirits and I was getting plenty of sleep, but somehow I never felt rested. Just prior to that, however, I was just the opposite: more energized and focused, and although sleeping sufficiently, was wide awake as soon as I got out of bed.

In both instances, the differences were such mild departures from “normal” that, were it not for the knowledge I have bipolar disorder, I doubt I would have noticed them at all. Still, when managing this illness, it never hurts to keep on your toes. In fact, it’s foolish to do anything else.

Mood Watch - 46

My mood continues to be good these days. Only caveat (and there always seems to be one) is that for the past couple of nights I have slept less than usual — maybe 3.5 hours/night. I was able to break that emerging pattern, though, by increasing my sleep medication to the maximum allowed by the prescription, and by working extra hard to maintain what is artfully known as “good sleep hygiene.”

As is so often the case, in recent weeks I’ve been in touch with three people, two of them undergraduates here at OSU, who sought me out because they have bipolar disorder and have felt they have know one in their lives who understands the disorder, or, at least, understands it from the inside. Talking with such people always makes me feel as if I’m doing something worthwhile, and I’m proud to have the chance.

Mood Watch - 45

I had a change of meds almost three months ago and by and large, it’s improved things greatly. My one caveat is that in early February I had a couple of anxiety attacks that initially presented as something like the flu, because the main thing I noticed was a lot of nausea — in fact at one point I actually vomited.

Once I caught on to what was really going on, however, I took 2 mg of clonazepam (the generic equivalent of klonopin), followed by 1 mg each day for the next couple of days. I was amazed by how promptly and completely that took care of things. Which just goes to underscore the fact that, despite the stigma that clings to it, this is a biochemical illness.

Mood Watch - 44

Overall, I had a very nice holiday break. Didn’t notice any real shifts in mood. I did, however, notice a couple of fluctuations in energy level — the first in mid-December and the second at month’s end. The duration for each was about three days.