be up and down

1. To be alternately happy and sad, as due to depression or a traumatic event. My dad's been quite up and down ever since he lost his job at the factory. I was really confused as to why I was so up and down after having my baby, until my doctor told me about the baby blues. After my mom died, the grief was just so heavy. Now that more time has passed, I'm up and down at least.

2. To go back and forth between success and failure. Things were a bit up and down in the first few years of the business, but now we're seeing stable profit growth each month. My grades were up and down until junior year when I really started to focus on my studies. I'd be cautious investing right now—the stock market has been really up and down.