My bipolar has definitely gotten worse as I've grown older. I was basically unmedicated except for anti-depressants, a couple of which made me manic, and benzos. But I didn't know what I had until I was 53. Then it continued to get worse before it got better.

But I've finally reached a stage where I'm on the right med combination and I've been doing relatively well for the past six months. There are times when I want to go off my meds, but I resist the temptation because if I were to do it, the chances are that the same meds would no longer be as effective and I'd have to take more of them or even start over with different ones. I don't want to start over, it took me two years to get where I am. So I just take my pills on schedule and thank God they work for me.