I'm brand new to this site. I have had an official diagnosis of Bipolar I (rapid cycler) for over 5 years. As a rapid cycler, that means that I have several episodes of mania, hypomania, mixed, and depression a year. As I have followed the pattern it appears that I have manic episodes that last about 3 - 5 days... followed by depressive episodes that last up to a month. I have at least 2 (usually more) of these cycles a year.
I'm glad this place has an exclusively bipolar forum.