mood swings with lupus

[suzannah16]

I know you can get depression and anxiety with lupus but I have been feeling weird lately and don't know why. I feel ok indoors, I feel ok with large groups of people but if i'm indoors say a small hospital ward or on a bus where there are a lot of people I start to feel sort of claustrophobic and want to escape. can't say why feel this I just do. never had this before.

[honeybug]

Sorry 😐 suzannah

Talk to your GP about this. Better to be safe than sorry you put it off.

Best wishes and take care.

😊🌸🤗💕Xxx

[Lisalou19]

My moods change loads. I think deep inside it’s because I feel so rough

I get anxious going to the shop or doctors. I’ve no diagnosis at this time

Mood swings are pretty common for me, which I hate as you are so aware of the change in yourself .

I would suggest you try and talk it through

X

[HazelW]

I used to be very strong & independent but since being diagnosed with Lupus I too have suffered with mood swings & irrational fears . My husband was a great help with these episodes & helped me through them but sadly he died last year. Recognising that they are linked to the Lupus helps in a strange way - means I can talk myself through them . When I manage to do something that scares me - like visiting somewhere for the first time or even just phoning an organisation or business - I feel so good. My advice is - stay strong & don't let Lupus rule your life !! Good luck.

[SH55]

WE haven't had enough sun to lift our moods either. The greyness gets one down horribly. Keep pushing yourself through if you can. X

[Cann]

Could you be electro-sensitive and all the phones and wifi is affecting you. Your body could be telling you to get away from it. My body tells me and I have to get up and go! There are still lots of people who don't know about this, but with all the phones and EMF's more and more people will be affected, I am sure especially sensitive people like those with immune system problems.

[Melba1]

Do you have any other symptoms of mood changes? What meds are you on? Lupus can cause all sorts of problems with anxiety/ depression both from the direct action of the disease and from the rubbishness of us living with this disease. Lots of meds cause problems too, especially steroids for some people but your GP or rheumy will be able to help.

I get that strange slightly panicked claustrophobia feeling when in large crowds when I’m in a neurolupus flare. I think it’s because I’m dizzy, I lose my coordination and spatial awareness so I can’t work out how to get around people as we would when normal so end up feeling stressed, irritated and tired (and walking into everything and everybody 🙄😂) You know that sort of dance you do when you’re approaching another person and you both decide which way to go to avoid each other and it usually works out just with some occasionally side steps? Well I find I just go from side and side repeatedly and can’t judge it at all in a flare and even do it with cars sometimes if I’m crossing a road, I’ll freeze in the middle when a car comes then go backwards and forwards slightly between each pavement - until someone pushes me out of the way or the driver hoots!! 😬😂 . Your feelings may be due to dizziness or disorientation too (or something completely different as we are all different with this).

Hope you feel better soon

X

PS my feelings like that are completely better now the neurolupus has thankfully left me. Although I still see the staff in my local Sainsbury’s looking warily at me in case I bang into the shelves or their other customers, sit on the floor or fall over 😂

[JimCWalker]

Hi Suzzanah,

What you are describing suggest anxiety. Anxiety can be a bit of toad to say the least. One of the problems with anxiety is it reenforces the less desirable coping strategies (not getting on bus etc) and you can end up getting lost in what can seem to be a cycle of feeling anxious and avoiding.

Anxiety is our body going into fight or flight mode. Our brains are wired to preserve the body at all costs and so by default will react to things as threats. Take a look at a small distant object, like a plane high in the sky, Initially it looks as if its coming towards us, a threat, then it's direction of travel is much clearer. So for you, for whatever reason, it sees perceives small places with lots of people as threatening.

The good news is anxiety is wholly treatable, usually without meds, which needless to say is even better. My advice would be that as soon as you start to feel the physical symptoms you take a few deep breaths, take a look around you, which I appreciate may not be easy, and look at the people around you. Remind yourself that the people aren't threatening, tell yourself that you are safe. You could also also sit next to the aisle rather than the window, so you can see the way is clear if you need to get up.

If the concern is others talking to you, or you really aren't in the mood to talk, bring a pair of earphones with you and listen to some relaxing music (try to avoid talking books that are horror stories, it'll have the opposite effect!) on your phone. Earphones are one of the most consistent non-verbal cue that you're not open to conversation and don't want to be disturbed.

If you are finding that the anxiety is starting to get out of control contact your Wellbeing service or IAPT who can offer targeted psychological interventions. Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust produces a really good workbook about anxiety (web.ntw.nhs.uk/selfhelp/lea....

Hope this helps.

[suzannah16 in reply to JimCWalker]

thanks Jim this helps explain what I'm feeling and that i'm not going crazy. now I just need to figure out why this has started. If as you say I may just not want to interact with people it could be linked to mood swings I suppose, I do get a bit snappy with people I know when I feel down or frustrated. perhaps it's my brains way of stopping me snapping at strangers

[JimCWalker in reply to suzannah16]

You certainly aren't going crazy Suzannah!

It's worth having a go at the workbook, it may help identify why this is happening.

The snappiness I would guess is a result of the anxiety I'm afraid. When you're anxious your body pumps out adrenaline, and responds in the same way as when you're angry, so you can quickly move into anger, i.e. going into fight rather than flight.

While our bodies release adrenaline really quickly it takes a good while, around a couple of hours, for it to come out of your system. The problem with this is that if anything worries or annoys you you get to high anxiety or anger a lot quicker, as there is still adrenaline in the system.

Hopefully you'll find that your periods of low mood reduce as you get the anxiety under control, these conditions tend to go hand in hand I'm sorry to say.

Have you ever had a go at Mindfulness? It's something that I've used for a few years now and works really well at giving your brain some space as well as being relaxing. It takes a while to get into but works really effectively for anxiety and low mood.

Ultimately though don't worry too much about it, theres more people out there that experience anxiety than you'd think. I have PTSD (an anxiety disorder) and on the whole keep it in order however there are times it bites me on the butt! I know, from years of experience, what the triggers are and how it's going to affect my mood so I can prepare, and my colleagues can get the Jaffa Cakes in, Jaffa Cakes make everything better!

I hope things start to feel better for you soon.

[suzannah16]

I don't like Jaffa cakes I was on some tablets a few years ago and they turned me into a savory rather than sweet person, now I can't stand anything with chocolate. I will look into your suggestions, I'm sorry you have PTSD as I know that can really be bad, much worse than anything I get. stay well