Advice on mood stabilizing

I have found that exercise helps me. I am 67 and have arthritis so I'm not setting any records for personal best weight lifting or running. At this time of year I try to walk everyday, or at least most days. The walks aren't strenuous at all, well, for me they can be a bit, but the most important thing with exercise is to set your own expectations and honor yourself not just when you meet those expectations but every "workout". I keep my focus narrow and realistic I'm not going to get back to what I weighed when I was 25. I don't set goals since failure to achieve them will discourage me from exercising at all. The only goal is to walk and/or do some resistance exercises every day. Given my physical limitations none of this takes much time. 😉

I don't know why I find this modest effort so helpful but I'm better off emotionally when I stick with it. Setting a goal, even an extremely modest one, gives me a good feeling. I'm not trying to inrease my distance or speed or the number of repetitions weight lifting (I use 5 lb weights. On a good day I increase repititions) When I can't manage I don't feel a crushing sense of failure. Even Rocky Balboa had off days. This positive, adaptive, sensible attitude seems to have somehow slopped into the rest of my life. I don't hate myself when I fail to accomplish a task. I work on it some more the next day, maybe after I finish pulling the weeds that I didn't get to a few days ago. In my own imperfect way I'm coping and have mostly escaped beating myself up by counting my failures to get things done on some schedule i've imposed.

This probably all sounds pretty trite and superficial and it is in many ways but achieving my modest goals most days has really helped me get over much of my once constant self-criticism. It feels good,

malo

What you seek is the Holy Grail of mental health care.

Once you start down the road of medication there tends to be no going back.

After sixty years of wrestling with a major depressive disorder, I echo the previous post.

Focus on a nutious diet and daily exercise. Your mood will improve. If it remains a problem then talk to your doctor. Medications to manage your mood should not be taken lightly; pun intended.

I wish you good health and peace in your life.

If your mood fluctuates a lot, with highs and lows, you may have Bipolar II disorder. Mood stabilizers are anti-seizure meds. If you are not Bipolar, changing your thoughts can help. What we think often determines our mood.

@1k194 Since none of us here are medical professionals, we can't diagnose what's going on, or recommend a treatment. Have you seen a psychiatrist about the mood swings? Along with my PCP, they have been the most helpful for me with my own mental well-being. If walking or some other activity helps, that's a good place to start, then move on toward making an appointment with a psychiatrist. It's important to do the right thing when it comes to caring for yourself.

Jim

I’m an angry guy this morning. You see, part of my drug cocktail is Seroquel. I was taking 300 mg at night to help me sleep but I found out early that I hard a hard time with my balance and dizziness.
I told my psychiatrist that 300 mg was too strong so I asked him if we can come down to 200mg. He said ok and I was doing pretty good. The last visit I asked him if we should try 100mg. He said go ahead but if you have a problem call me.

Well, 100 mg was a nightmare I couldn’t sleep and was up all night. I live in an assisted living facility because I’m handicapped and 70.
We have medtechs that is in charge of giving you your meds.

One night I was given 100 mg because I ran out of 200. She looked at my blister pack from the pharmacy that we order them from before I ran out.
The laptop on the medcart said 200mg. She told me that I ran out. I took a fit because I knew what it meant. That I was going to have a bad day too.
Another medtech gave me 100mg and I got mad because I needed 200.
She said “well, you don’t have anymore “ I said to her that if the previous medtech saw that yesterday was my last one she never ordered more. The current medtech said that she should have ordered them when she noticed that it was my last one. She didn’t so there was only 100mg left. They ran out.
I was fit to be tied because without it I was a basket case.
You see? The medtech that gave me the last 200mg should have ordered more. She didn’t so yesterday I was out and was only able to get 100 mg that was in the blister pack. So I didn’t sleep well and was up at 2:30 in the morning . The overnight medtech said “oh you’re early”.
I told her why and said the last medtech that knew I only had one should have ordered a new pack. She didn’t. I will make them order me 200 mg tablets. But they won’t be in until tonight. I told her I knew that.
So now I’m going to be miserable and irritated all day.

You need a psychiatrist and not Connect.mayo.org. We are not professionals and you shouldn’t ask us what kind of pill you should have because nobody knows what you need and we are not doctors.
I don’t mean to sound blunt. At least you can get some ideas and tips here but it doesn’t mean you would get better. I walk daily to help me through my mental illness and do you have just depression or anxiety with it? Only a psychiatrist can. Don’t go to your PCP as they are not trained as a psychiatrist.
Maybe you need a mood stabilizer along with anxiety or depression medication.
I hope you get a decent psychiatrist who’s not a pill pusher. Good luck

Lamictal is what I take. My depression was so horrible I went thru ECT treatments. The whole world noticed how I changed for the better. I have days, but I have never felt this good.

@1k194 Everyone is different. On the surface, a diagnosis may look the same, having the same or similar verbiage. But in truth, we are all so different. Events in our past, events in our present, how we have coped before, all play a role. What works for one person, may not work for another, and that is where this forum is so helpful. We get the chance to hear from others their successes, and journeys.

One other thing that I personally find difficult is to not ask too much of myself, and be forgiving to myself. Some days I feel like I could take on the world, and later that same day, it reverses. So, I need to be gentle. Some days exercise will work best, other days another resolution is best. Listen to what others have to share, and figure what may be your own best course of action. Try something else if that's not it. Can you do this?
Ginger

I’m glad Lamictal is helping you but it did nothing for me. I’ve also had six ETC’s without results. Everybody is different. Only a psychiatrist is best trained to help even though that that could have a different effect than what you expected.