Without medication I cycle very rapidly. I have two to three week cycles of depression and mania with sometimes a couple of days of normal in between. Medicated I still seem to cycle but the time is lengthened.

Winter is a bad time for me. I cycle into mania but it's usually more of a dark mixed episode. I seem to be able to barely make it through and end up hospitalized in spring around late April.

Depression does always follow hypomania for me. Usually the hypomania turns manic then mixed pretty quick and then crashes down. But I get new surprises every cycle. Like surprise, psychotic break this time! Surprise, month long mixed episode! Yay! Yeah it's messed up.