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Mood Symptoms?


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I would like to know what others experience for mood when standing!

I was diagnosed with mood disorders (just about all of them) over the last decade or so.  None of the treatments helped or changed mood patterns.

I noticed tachycardia upon standing, and then did poor man's tilt test at home.  I noticed I would have a profound mood change as other symptoms increased.  I would feel bored, apathy, hopeless, or irritable (rage).  I laid down after the test and the mood evaporated.  I been tracking over 2 weeks and this is no coincidence!  When I have a change in mood, it disappears when I lie down.  I don't feel it coming on most times, or I'm oblivious to the cause.  One time my kids woke me up in the middle of a bad dream and proceeded to misbehave.  I woke up and jumped out of bed to address their behavior.  Minutes later I complained to my sister about how their bad behavior ruined my day, etc, etc, but after a couple minutes lying down I felt totally normal.  Only then did I realize my "mood" was because I jumped out of bed and stood up until I was dizzy.

I will have to go back to a psychiatrist at some point to follow up on ADHD diagnosis (since methyphenidate improved my POTS symptoms too!). To prepare, I've been writing down any time I feel any mood fluctuation and surrounding circumstances.

My mind is blown.

My family thinks of me as a crabby irritable person.  (I am cringing writing that, I FEEL positive and patient 98% of the time). I had 3 situations of irritability today.  The first 2 I recognized physical symptoms right away and made a change and avoided any mood change or irritability.  The 3rd one was an inescapable situation, but I was able to tone down my response to something that wasn't inappropriate.  

I noticed in the 2nd situation of the day that as the mood and irritability came on, I was having cognitive difficulties.  I was sitting on a stool with my knees up and feet on the stool, stirring something on the stove with a candy thermometer.  I was getting **mildly** symptomatic, not yet dizzy, not tachy enough to bother graphing it. My son was trying to talk to me and I couldn't comprehend the words he was saying and the effort of trying to hear him and stir the pot felt draining.  I managed to say, "I'm symptomatic.  Not enough blood.  Brain."  Funny in hindsight, but I couldn't get the words out!  My past normal reaction would have been angry/adrenaline and snap at him out of proportion to the situation.  I've told him enough about what I'm experiencing that he understood my un-sentence and found something else to do.  When my cooking was up to temperature I laid down, he came over and we talked about what had been on his mind.  No mood problem, no irritability, no crabby.

My oldest is homeschooled and usually I get impatient and annoyed helping him with schoolwork.  Y'know, standing next to him while he is sitting.  I help him with schoolwork while I'm lying down in bed?  No impatience, no annoyance.  Huh.  

I'm noticing that the more aware I am of POTS symptoms and work around them, the fewer incidences I have of irritability.  Down to 0 - 1 a day now. 

Does anyone else experience cognitive or mood changes with POTS symptoms?  How about with mild symptoms?  As a first symptom?

Does anyone have a mood disorder plus POTS who could speak to what that experience is like?  Is it similar to mine?  Different?

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I think since I was diagnosed with panic disorder (when I wasn't feeling anxiety!) I have a learned conditioned response to frame symptoms as psychiatric and "mood". 

Went to the zoo today and was feeling mildly unwell.  Feeling like I wanted to leave early, didn't want to walk to see outdoor exhibits.  Very vague at first.  My HR was 80ish then (my resting is 52 - 55).  By the time I found a seat, HR was 100+, can't form a sentence, short of breath, dizzy.  In the past I might have framed the experience as anxiety, sensory overload, impatience, blame my son's ADHD, or my crabbiness, and then rumination over my failing to have a successful fun outing.  Today, it was just "hey kiddo, we're going back inside."

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