I went off my meds for a year tapering them myself of course, (I'm a retired nurse and "I know it all", lol). I was really proud of myself and felt one episode of delusional mania doesn't not a BP 1 make. Of course somewhere along the way I forgot about the years of depression and hypomanic episodes that preceded "the blowout". I re-upped my therapy and made an agreement with my P-doc that I would report any mood changes to him, and I contracted that my husband could contact him as well to report signs of mania or depression. All went well for about 6 months and then I started sliding into a depression. I couldn't handle that fact and more importantly, I didn't want to believe I was wrong. I hung on for another 3 months trying "lifestyle" changes, vitamins, etc. to no avail. I went back to the P-doc and said I WANT meds, I NEED meds, please let's get started. It's taken me 4 months of getting back on meds and we're still tweaking and adjusting. I'm not out of the woods but some daylight is peeking through. I don't want to go through this again. I give up. And from what I've read, treatment for depression becomes more complicated and sometimes not as successful if the patient goes on and off the meds. I wish you all the best, but if you discover along the way that your diagnosis was in fact accurate don't hesitate to seek immediate help.