The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Up \Up\, n.
   The state of being up or above; a state of elevation,
   prosperity, or the like; -- rarely occurring except in the
   phrase ups and downs. [Colloq.]
   [1913 Webster]

   Ups and downs, alternate states of elevation and
      depression, or of prosperity and the contrary. [Colloq.]
      [1913 Webster]

            They had their ups and downs of fortune.
                                                  --Thackeray.
      [1913 Webster]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

27 Moby Thesaurus words for "ups and downs":
   Lissajous figure, alternation, back-and-forth,
   chain of circumstances, chain reaction, chapter of accidents,
   coming and going, concatenation of events, ebb and flow,
   feast and famine, flux and reflux, ins and outs, reciprocation,
   rhythmic play, seesaw, seesawing, sine wave, teeter, teeter-totter,
   teeter-tottering, teetering, to-and-fro, tottering, vicious circle,
   vicissitudes, vicissitudes of fortune, wigwag