What I have read is that the most common onset of BP symptoms is in one's early twenties. I think it is quite unusual for them to start as children, just as BP is quite unusual in children. No offense to anyone, but it could be that it seems like it was Bipolar in hindsight (as a kid), but in fact was something else (or would have been diagnosed as something else, in any case).

I had been put on low doses of antidepressants for some years with no full blown mania, though with cycles of depression and hypomania. But the point is, is that those meds -themselves- did not send me into full blown mania. That was, until I took Wellbutrin. So why some meds didn't have that effect, and one did, is beyond me, frankly. It could have been the dosage, I don't know.

I wouldn't question your diagnosis based on what you are saying. It could be that the symptoms of BP happened to coincide with when you started taking meds.

I would bring any questions you have to your pdoc. S/he should have the knowledge and experience to be able to explain what you are describing.