I've been diagnosed since 2007 and have had med changes/adjustments. Now I'm on 200 mg of lamictal (mood stabilizer) and 300 mg of wellbutrin. I also use a SAD lamp in the fall and winter.

I think many people with bipolar are first diagnosed with unipolar depression. A lot of it is because a person will see their pdoc/gp when he or she is depressed, but not when they're hypomanic or manic. For me I was diagnosed at 31. I had symptoms since I was 8, but never sought out help until I was in a major depressive episode for 3 months. I went to my GP; was put on SSRI anti-d's which put me into a mixed state (depression and mania at the same time). I was found attempting and was committed to a Psychiatric Hospital for 6 weeks. By my 2nd week of hospitalization I started to get hypomanic and was in the best mood ever, but by the end of the week I was a raging B. I have a history of bipolar in my family (my mom has it) and my pdoc is excellent i.e. most of the psych nurses thought I had just gotten better.

I don't know if you do already, but I write in a journal and can see a difference in my writing style when I'm depressed as opposed to hypomanic. Another thing I would suggest is tracking your mood. I found a great free one on line at http://www.medhelp.org/land/mood-tracker

Perhaps you could print out the mood tracker for your pdoc and describe the symptoms you were/are experiencing. I would also suggest reading on the subject of bipolar. How the hypomania/mania presents for each person can be very different and I found when I educated myself on the subject I could see the pattern in my life. I hope that helps.