I started out with BP-NOS as my preliminary diagnosis. I hated it because it put me in limbo (was I really bipolar or not??) and gave me a reason to think I was maybe just having an existential crisis. I didn't really take it seriously until the meds got serious, and even then I wasn't totally convinced. But eventually I had a crisis that resulted in my current diagnosis of bipolar 1.

Sometimes it takes awhile to get a definitive diagnosis, as this illness can be confused with several other conditions. Please don't worry about the ambiguous diagnosis, you don't want this label if you can avoid it.