Protagonist Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 My mother and I both have bipolar disorder, and when I am not away at college, we live together in a nice ranch house with a cat. One odd thing I have noticed is fluctuations in our body temperature. My mom was only recently diagnosed. There are days when she just can't get moving, can' t remember what she wanted to do, and ends up napping on the couch for most of the day. There are also days when I wake up at 10 am to find her chain-smoking in the garage and talking a mile a minute. Being that she's in charge of the thermostat, I noticed that when she seems to be on an upswing, the house is very cold. Conversely, it's like a sauna here when she's depressed. I was curious so I nabbed some paper thermometers from Health Services at college and started checking my body temp. I might've been Doing It Wrong but I found that I was actually running a very, very low-grade fever of sorts when I was on an upswing. Anyone else had this happen, or other weird quasi-physiological symptoms of their mood swings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlewing Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Actually, that sounds about right for me too. When I'm on the up and up, I don't feel the cold anywhere NEAR as much as I do when I'm depressed - though that might have something to do with the fact that I tend to be MUCH more active when I'm manic. I guess I could say I don't know...but it's an interesting theory. Sounds as though you and your mum ought to try and synchronise your moods for the sake of the thermostat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Protagonist Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 Sounds as though you and your mum ought to try and synchronise your moods for the sake of the thermostat! Yeah, I'm pretty sure that would end horribly. We'd probably both sit in the living room chain-smoking and having completely separate conversations with ourselves. "So I decided that I would make a good disaster nurse because, they just started that program after Katrina and I do have experience but shows like House devalue the contributions of nurses and also there are too many non-nurses forced to be nurses by the nursing shortage and there is a waiting list at the university for the nursing program that wasn't there when I was taking it and..." "So I heard from this girl that Heidegger slept with Arendt and I was all, "No way," and she said "Yes way" and pulled up this website but you can't believe everything on the internet because of trolls and people playing pranks like Anonymous and my brother remembers the Meow Wars you know and they were way worse than that yearly attack they mount against Ebaumsworld these days..." Right now I just run off back to my dorm room to get away from Madame Von Pressuredspeech, and she tends to just let my upswings run their course. Of course, when I'm depressed she keeps threatening to fill a watergun with ice water, and shoot me repeatedly until I actually start moving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddy Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 My body temp goes up and down but I think it has more to do w/my immune system than anything. It seems like when my ANA count is high but some of my other bloodwork is ok, then my temp is norm-low. When my ANA is high and also my compliments and other labs (sorry, having a topamoment) then my temp is above norm. I typically run a fever but feel cold all the time. Go figure. *screams @ thyroid* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isis Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 yeh that sounds right. it might also be because you move around more when manic and want to stay still when depressed, that adds to it. when i am manic, i feel like i can feel and see the heat radiating from my body, also light... like some magic creature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjanesays Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 this is a bit different than what you guys were talking about, but i think it's interesting and you might get something out of it: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/health/r...xprod=permalink i've noticed in myself and in my friends that when we're depressed we feel colder. everything in our bodies is connected...so weird sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinthoughtandjaded Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 hands down, when I'm depressed I feel cold... like when you wake up in the winter and someone's turned down the heat, and it's impossible to truly warm up... it's very noticeable for me, actually... I don't necessarily feel warm whenm I'm manic, but I feel more in touch with my environment, whether it's warm or cold... I just don't care about the cold when I'm manic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Protagonist Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share Posted January 4, 2009 I don't necessarily feel warm whenm I'm manic, but I feel more in touch with my environment, whether it's warm or cold... I just don't care about the cold when I'm manic... Me too. Last winter, I stupidly cut off my meds in an attempt to send myself into hypomania for my exams. It worked. I remember promenading on the quad in mid-winter after my work was done, wearing nothing but black tights and a black dress and smoking cigarette after cigarette. People would ask, and I would tell them that I had gotten rid of the ability to feel temperature. It's a good thing I crashed and went back on my meds, because by the end, it looked way beyond eccentric. I did good on the exams, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiaB Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I don't know. Maybe I'm an aberration, but I'm pretty much cold 90% of the time. It's midsummer here and I'm wearing winter pyjamas - and I'm not depressed, just irritable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poem Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Hi Protagonist (love the bipolar werewolf thing btw...totally get it!), I know this was posted a long time ago, but I just wanted to add that I too feel extremely hot when in an upswing. I feel like I am emanating an immense amount of heat and even sweat a lot. This has also been noted by persons close to me. When I am in private I strip down to very little, take cold showers. I have also been known to roll around and lie in snow banks without winter gear just to cool down. Not smart I reckon, but the feverish feeling gets overwhelming. Not that I have ever checked myself for a fever....but it feels that way. And this can preclude excess physical exertion or restlessness (although that does not help). I actually found this post when googling for any connection between temperature and bipolar mood fluctuations. Interesting to know I'm not alone. Best of Luck, Poem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gearhead Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 I've been manic as woodpecker all summer, and just as freezing as ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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