to ask if my moods are normal?

[Moomintroll3]

I use a bullet journal and have tried the mood tracker since the start of the year but have found it a bit useless as my mood seems to vary so much over the course of the day.

For example I might wake up feeling bright and happy but half an hour later feel very tired and low. Then perhaps a cross word with DP might make me feel upset and tearful but 20 minutes later after a cup of tea I'm back to feeling blissfully content and loved up. Then later still I might feel a bit anxious about unfinised tasks and angry with myself about that and then back to being calm and happy again. I must make clear that this is my internal emotional state I am talking about and I don't express any of this outwardly as I go though my day or not often and most people would describe me as pretty even tempered and easy going which I also think I am.

I do sometimes get longer spells of low mood where I really feel very low and heavy but often a bit of food and a sleep or a change of scene will make me feel a lot better. I also get some spells of almost euphoria and energy which i try to make the most of! I think these episodes may be related to the migraines I suffer from multiple time a month causing short but intense mood swings. These are managable because I know they never last long and I can mostly keep them to myself.

As for the regular changes in mood through out the day in relation to various stimulus I am wondering if these are all normal variations of mood we all have or if most people experiance more general moods both good and bad day to day?

Just replying to this as I can't see it on the AIBU forum so not sure if it has posted properly.

Ah there it is now!

Having a range of emotions and moods during the day is usual.

Not sure about feeling them so strongly. Different people feel more strongly.

Also not sure about constantly focusing on how ‘feel’. Kinda makes fleeting feelings into a big deal?

For me, this sounds pretty normal. I am, overall, quite happy with my life, but during a single day, i may feel annoyed (kids leaving their crap everywhere), loved up(my dog coming up for a cuddle), cross with myself (spending too much time on MN, then having to rush around to get shit done). Etc etc.
I also notice during a month, (no doubt connected to my menstrual cycle) a period of days when I have lots of energy, and periods of low energy. Recognising this has helped me, as before I used to beat myself up for not achieving much during my low energy days, now I accept it, knowing that I will soon have lots more energy and I will catch up with stuff then.

How frequent are the longer bursts of low and high moods?

Someone will undoubtedly come along and suggest that you might hav a mood disorder, probably bipolar depression. That can be characterised by moods that change quickly and periods of low and high, depending on the type. It's not just moods, though. It's a loss of control at either ends, and it's not a diagnosis to seek out or take lightly.

If I was you, before I explored any serious diagnosis', I'd take the focus away from how you feel. Everyone feels more intensely if they are thinking about it all the time. It is much healthier to let it be, to acknowledge mood changes but not dote on them. If DP does something stupid, don't reflect on it for twenty minutes, you'll wind yourself up and make it far worse than it is. Roll your eyes and carry on.

Some people do feel things more strongly. I do, when I'm not really emotionally stable. There's ways of managing that so that it doesn't have such a big impact on your day.

Maybe, with your mood tracker, you could just assess, at the end of each day, how you felt overall, throughout the day. So, generally a 'good' day, feeling happy, or a 'sad' day, or, if you found yourself snapping more than usual through the day - an 'angry' day.
This takes the emphasis away from analysing your mood every minute of the day and would perhaps just give you a trend through the month?

Anchor the longer burst of high and low mood are unpredicatable really I believe they are related to my migraines as they seem to bookend my migraine attacks but I also have many migraines where my mood is not significantly altered. I know that migraine and bipolar are related due to the spreading cortical depression in the brain so I think this might be why I have mood swings but I don't believe i have bipolar because I don't think a person with that condtion can sort themselves out with a snack and a nap! I am also fine most of the time.

I guess its also the ebb and flow of hormones over the month and so perhaps that coupled with the migraines makes me a little more aware of myself moods. I wouldn't say I was unstable at all quite the opposite actually and I've always been good at managing my emotions but I was just curious if the general ups and downs I feel throughout the day were normal or if most people are sort of more fixed in one state throughout the day?

Blueskies & Large Gin, thanks for replying that sounds reassuring. I might be on the sensitive side of the spectrum but as I said I mostly just internalise my feelings and am not going about crying or singing. I just get on with things knowing the mood will pass quickly.

My mood monitoring was just a short term experiment really and I just wondered how my experiance of my emotions stacked up with others. I don't really dwell and don't think I will keep on with mood tracking much longer.

I find I'm more up and down in the weeks before my period. Really intense mood swings, get very angry and upset over small things but can feel happy and jolly again a few hours later. I think it's related to my hormones, have you looked in to this possibility OP? I'm thinking about taking starflower oil as it's meant to help with hormones.

You don't sound bipolar to me - if you were, your ups would probably be much extreme, beyond feeling bright, happy and loved up, possibly even to the pitch of unrealistic plans for the future (I have had 2 family members who were bipolar). It sounds to me as if it's more hormonal - and perhaps related to blood sugar levels? Does eating something improve your mood? The idea of tracking your day overall sounds good to me, but if you're worried, I'd speak to your GP.

Doesn't sound normal to me now, but does sound similar to how I was when I was living with a high level of stress.

But everyone's different, and normal for one person is not for another.

ScrumpyBetty, thanks that is a good tip about the Starflower oil, I do get a bit more weepy around my period so I will look into that.

Missbel, I agree I don't think it is bipolar either its just not that extreme. I do think it is related to my migraines and so neurological in origin. My migraines also cause cravings especially carbs and salty foods the brains of chronic migraine sufferers actually need more energy than most people so perhaps I am experiancing shifts in mood due to low blood glucose. Also migraine and low serotonin go hand in hand and low serotonin causes you to be more sensitive in general so that could be it. I see a neurologist regulary and they always check if I am depressed as that is common with migraine also but I wouldn't say I suffered from depression as such. But perhaps next time I will mention my mood swings / sensitivity and see what they say.

Gotton: I suppose living with chronic migraine is quite stressful and wearing and I really think that might be at the root of all this. I think I will seek some opinions on a specialist migraine forum and talk to my neurologist about this next time I see him.