Merlin: I know of people who have gone off medication. I have a friend who is trying true-hope (copyrighted or trademarked or something.)

I think that's the nutritional supplements I referenced here:
http://forums.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=121302

If your friend is willing to share their experiences with it, I'd be very interested in hearing about them. It is an approach I have considered using for my child. If we were to go that route, our intention would be to bring it in as a supplement to prescription medicine and then slowly (verrrrrrry slowly) begin to titrate the medication levels down. If we start to see negative symptoms, we'd bring the meds back up again.

In an ideal situation (not always acheivable depending upon individual biochemistry) we'd see an improvement in function and stability which might allow them to reduce the prescription meds or come off them completely. I'm of the firm belief that this should be a very methodical and well-supervised process of slow titration as an abrupt withdrawal from any form of psychiatric medication can trigger relapse and crises. Relapse and crisis are no fun for anyone.

I have another friend, who is so good with exercise, diet, sleep and other self-care that she did go off her meds. It's possible you may not have to take them forever, but, as those above have said, I'd rather take meds and be happy than not and not.

This is why I say medication is one of only many tools. Some people can manage without medication or with reduced medication but that's usually because they have found something else (or several something else's) that can supplement or replace the medication. There was also a recent and promising study that came out in regard to full recovery from bipolar disorder but I can't find it right at the moment. (If anyone else has a link to that study, please share it.) However, I did find this article which touches on that issue as well as several others, as written by Psych Central's John Grohol. It's certainly recommended reading: 9 Myths of Bipolar Disorder

Another link I like to share around is the following one. I particularly appreciate the emphasis on using medications as opposed to taking medications: Reclaiming Your Power During Medication Visits With Your Psychiatrist