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Q: Literature on this Version of Ultra Rapid
Cycling?
I have been diagnosed Bipolar I and recently sought treatment after an(other) acute manic episode. I am also a clinician –
the worst for seeking treatment always! I am now 41 y/o (f) and have been
bipolar and ADHD since approximately age 15 but have always dealt with what I
consider to be ‘normal’ (for me). I have functioned very well obtaining numerous
degrees and successes in my endeavors. Unlike virtually all clinical
presentations, my baseline is hypomania and I have never experienced depression.
The question I have is in reference to rapid cycling. I experience ultra ultra
rapid cycling during acute mania, but it is 2-3 times in a 5-10 minute period
which will last until severely medicated. Is there any literature on this
presentation? Thank you.
Dear N' --
"Ultradian" cycling is the term I've seen,
coming from the NIMH, used to describe cycling greater than once in 24 hours.
But very little has been published on that phenomenon that I've seen. Your
version is just one more variation of the "ultra's" I've heard described to me
by patients, although it's really ultra! However, your baseline
"hypomania", which you'll see referred to in the literature as "hyperthymic
temperament", though there's not much on that either, might be part of the
reason why your experience is as it is: Dr. Hagop Akiskal, whose group has
published on the phenomenon of temperament and how it predicts to some degree
the kind of mania people experience, has associated hyperthymic temperament with
euphoric mania (as opposed to dysphoric).
Dr. Phelps
Published January, 2004
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