I guess that technically I have experienced a shift from depression to hypomania, but didn't really realize it at the time. I spent August-December in a pretty bad depressed state. In January I started a new med regimen and stopped drinking and felt great for a couple of weeks but hypomania started creeping up on me toward the beginning of February.

As far as what "feeling better" is versus "feeling hypomanic" is, that's a question I ask myself all the time and I consider to be one of the great mysteries encountered by all people who suffer from BP. I would say that feeling better would be marked by contentedness, healthy sleep, responsible diet and lifestyle (socializing appropriately, doing healthy things to pass the time). Hypomania I guess would be marked more by feelings of euphoria, substance use, feeling abnormally talkative or unusually outgoing in social settings, anxious / paranoid feelings, overeating, a desire to participate in a wide variety of activities or projects all at once ... Does that sound familiar to anyone else?