I have been accused of not being "bipolar enough" in real life...because I am not rapid cycling, and I have been able to rebuild my life well after episodes.

I have a job as a Neonatal ICU nurse, own a home, have a husband and a toddler age daughter. I am also bipolar II and have PTSD. Right now it's the PTSD causing me the issues. I take lithium and propranolol(lithium tremor) and Lunesta (sleep). If you would have seen me 18 months ago you would have seen a very broken woman who was on the verge of suicide. I chose not to do that, and chose to get help instead. Living bipolar without meds stinks (did it for 13 years) and I won't do that again. I CAN manage to do okay, but life doesn't need to be so hard. So I take my lithium.

I hate calling people "stable" or "unstable". But I would be considered very stable and have been for a while now.