u/Maleficent-Gas8318

From 2022 I am having episodes of higher anxiety, low mood, fatigue, joint pains that lasts for 4- 10 days followed by 4-10 days of feeling better. The shifts from low days to better days take 1 or 2 days.

At that time I felt the episode more like an anxious state. But I can't find any triggers for my anxiety. The episodes started with lower energy , low mood, brain fog then I feel scared or too heavy to do all activities.

Took some meds for the same. Later due to this episodic nature and feeling of higher energy despite less sleep for 2 days made them to diagnose as rapid cycling bipolar 2. Took meds for the same, meds helped me for the first 2 or 3 weeks then the episodes started to appear again. Tried various mood stabilizers and antidepressants for more than one year. Then I changed my doctor and they diagnosed me as dysthymia and took meds for the same for 1.5 years, same result symptoms improves on change in medication for the first 2 or 3 weeks the. The episode comes again.

Now I stopped all my meds after consulting another psychiatrist for proper taper but he made me stop cold turkey. Later reintroduced some meds on my concern.

Now it's been 3 months I am fully off meds. Still having these episodes sometimes intense sometimes milder.

I checked my homocysteine level which is 21 normal(3-15) which neither me or my GP don't know would cause these symptoms.Heard it's due to vit b deficiency which can cause some of the symptoms.

And these episodic symptoms started after covid.

Now I am confused whether to give psychiatric meds another try or have to investigate whether there is any other underlying cause.

TL;DR- having very brief episodic symptoms which are firstly treated as rapid cycling bipolar 2 then dysthymia but not having any improvements and I am not confident with the diagnosis.Now stopped all meds and still having episodes. And also having a homocysteine level of 21 which I don't know would cause similar symptoms.

I am having some physical and mental symptoms that are not responsive to psychiatric meds.on going through the internet i came to know about homocysteine a bio marker whose out of range values indicates some problem with vit b levels which can cause mental and physical symptoms that does not improve with psychatric meds.

And I check my homocysteine level which is 21 (normal-3 to 15) .I consulted a general physician for my homocysteine levels and he brushes off it like it is not that concerning and is associated with cardiovascular risks. And for my symptoms try therapy or psychiatric meds which I tried for a long time. So I would like to have any insights on whether I should consult another doctor for the same.

Having this waves windows pattern for the last 4 years. During the episode i can't tolerate any thoughts everything feels emotionally unbearable.

24M - 4 years of recurring fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, bloating, anxiety, depression, and anhedonia with no obvious triggers. Anyone experienced something similar?

I'm a 24-year-old male and I've been dealing with a strange recurring illness pattern for about 4 years.

My symptoms come in episodes or flares. During a flare, I experience:

• Fatigue / low energy
• Brain fog and cognitive slowing
• Confusion and difficulty thinking clearly
• Difficulty concentrating
• Joint pain, mainly in my hands and legs
• Morning stiffness
• Mild bloating and digestive discomfort
• Anxiety that seems to arise for no clear reason
• Depressed mood
• Anhedonia (loss of interest, enjoyment, and motivation)
• Feeling emotionally flat or disconnected from things I normally care about
• Sometimes I feel what seems like an enlarged lymph node in my right armpit

The symptoms usually build gradually over a few days, reach a peak, and then improve over 1–2 days. As the flare resolves, my energy tends to return first, followed by improvements in mood, cognition, and the other symptoms. After that I can feel relatively normal again.

The time between episodes varies. Sometimes I feel okay for 4–5 days, other times longer. Overall, the cycle seems to repeat every few days to a couple of weeks.

A few things that make this confusing:

• I can't identify any consistent trigger.
• The symptoms feel strongly biological rather than psychological.
• The anxiety, depression, and anhedonia seem to appear together with the physical symptoms rather than causing them.
• I don't have obvious joint swelling.
• The symptoms have been remarkably consistent for years.
• The entire cluster of symptoms tends to flare and improve together.

I've also tried multiple antidepressants and mood stabilizers over the years. In several cases, they seemed to help or change the symptoms for the first 2–3 weeks, but then the same recurring pattern returned. Because of this, I've started wondering whether there could be an underlying medical, inflammatory, immune, neurological, or post-viral issue contributing to what I'm experiencing.

Has anyone experienced a similar pattern of recurring fatigue, brain fog, confusion, anxiety, depression, anhedonia, joint pain, morning stiffness, digestive issues, and fluctuating symptoms that come and go in cycles? If so, what diagnosis or explanation did you eventually receive, and what testing helped uncover it?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

note- used chatgpt for structuring