Aspergers and bipolar/c yclothymia

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Ive come out of a dark dark period and im now feeling euphoric. My OCD is starting to subside (im able to use reason to counter the compulsions) and im embarking on projects and indulging my special interests. Given that ive gone from despair to euphoria im guessing that im probably cyclothymic. Im not manically happy so im assuming that im not bipolar but cycling moods is not normal so im on the bipolar spectrum - another aspie comorbid I seem to manifest.

What are your experiences with cycling moods

What's the difference between euphoria and manically happy? I'm just curious. I have many forms of mania, without stimulants it's more hypomanic but there are some days when even that goes over the hypomanic thresh hold. I get a lot of ideas, restless energy, become extremely positive as well as having high anxiety.

My moods eh? Let's say I start out in a level mood, this can either build into a more positive mood, one where creative ideas will just flood my mind, I become more social (wanting to be around people), my senses become sharper and I'll have more motivation and focus. Then it might just keep building and building and then I become restless, impulsive (spending/actions), anxious and delusions start building.

Or a level mood can drop into a brief mild depression or if the high period eventually ends or abruptly changes due to many disappoints/ stressors happening I can fall into a very deep and long depression.

Once hormones/drugs/more stress is involved all those moods mix together or jump from one to another every hour or even over a couple of minutes.

So I'm guessing mine is a bit more than cyclothymia.

I've pondered cyclothymia before. It might match the ups and downs I have since they're not always down to any concrete reason.

Then again... One doctor at the psych clinic theorised a while back that I'm bipolar II (a different beast from classical bipolar... link ) and so I've been on the mood stabiliser lamotrigine (Lamictal) for some months, and it hasn't really done much for me. I'm no doctor, but I'd expect mood stabilisers to have an impact on cyclo too.

Lamotrigine isn't something I would recommend unless the mood swings are really, really bad. I feel like it impairs my memory, verbal ability (possibly the ability I take the most pride in) and motivation. I suppose it's not as bad as the classical remedy of lithium, though...

If you have Bipolar II or cyclothymia, you need to ask your psychiatrist about a mood stabilizer. There are many on the market now which are easier on the kidneys than Lithium.