Pre- diagnosis I had shorter less intense episodes all the way up to last year when I had some enormous blow up. I have a hard time describing it, but I felt like I was maybe cycling every hour. It was the most miserable time of my life. I was having hallucinations and delusions while in the morning I would wake feeling okay then plummet and spend the whole day crying and wanting to die, early evening was super excited and running around, nighttime was fearful because the ghosts were at their peak and I wasn't allowed(by the ghosts) to do anything but act normally.
Eventually I got so bad that I couldn't even speak in sentences and made an appointment with the first person I could find. She didn't believe/understand what I was trying to tell her. The first thing she did though, was start teaching me DBT and later realized how serious my situation was. It took me 3/4 months to feel functional again. I was 23.
Sorry this turned into such a text wall, I haven't been able to tell anyone this before.