Its a personal choice, only you walk in your shoes, none of us know what you contend with in your day to day life.

I went the med route immediately after diagnosis, a little over a year later I was over it. Too many side effects, suffered severe cognitive decline, muted emotions / apathy, and generally just a poorer quality of life. I had ultimately lost my identity in a dx, and it was unacceptable. I will admit, it was an impulse decision, and I was VERY unstable when I quit, but it was the right thing to do. The medical model for bipolar is just not good for me, it ended up making me worse.

I'm not anti- meds though, I'm sure I would opt for a chemical safety net if I felt it was ABSOLUTELY neccessary at the time, but never longterm, no thank you not for me.

A good way to decide is by checking the level of impairment bipolar causes. If its quite severe, AND you can't cope, then maybe you could do with some emotional muting while you learn effective coping skills.