Bipolar is episodic. The most characteristic feature of bipolar is that it is episodic.

A few months can be a natural remission to coincide with being "clean and sober" (in quotation marks because I dislike the expression, on many levels, but do not want to spend the time explaining why).

I have never had alcohol or drug problems, and I have been med-free for over three months, and my p-doc is still unsure of whether I am NOT bipolar VERSUS in remission, BECAUSE THE ILLNESS IS EPISODIC. The longer I do well without medications, the more he will lean towards NOT bipolar.

So a few months is not enough - there is "observational equivalence" between a person who is in remission/in-between episodes and a person who has no DX. A few months off drugs might make it somewhat easier for the clinician, but only marginally so. I imagine that Mandrec is quite right in that clinicians are not read up on substances and their effects, and, instead of placing the burden on the patients to present back in a few months with a "clearer" picture, should place the burden on themselves and finally read up on substances and their effects.