One year, about 11 years ago, I had 4 or 5 major bipolar episodes separated by very brief semi-stability. I think one or two of those episodes were pure manic. The rest were manic or depressed, but with mixed features, some with psychosis. I was hospitalized four times that year, and in PHPs/IOPs most of the rest of the year.

As for more rapid cycling, that only happened to me a few times when an antidepressant was added to my medication cocktail. The antidepressant was then quickly removed after days or a couple weeks, and then ultra rapid cycling stopped. Ultra rapid cycling is not common for me.

The length of my episodes have varied throughout my life. Generally, my pure depressions have been shortest at between a couple weeks to a couple months, but I have had one severe depression, about 9 years ago, that was maybe four or five months long. I had ECT towards its end. Some minor subthreshold depression was about that length, too.

My longest episodes were in my youth, pre-medications. Though I have bipolar type 1, I used to have very long (several months most years) of hypomanias. They sometimes ended before reaching full blown mania, or if fueled more, they reached full blown, sometimes with psychosis. Later in my life, manic episodes with mixed features (mixed episodes) were most common. I had a three year period where I clocked over a couple years total (with some brief breaks) in that state or hypomanic mixed state. In the last 3-4 years, I've been stable or almost stable longer than in episodes. My only major episode these past 12 months was a four week episode that was hypomanic three weeks and turned full blown with brief psychosis the last week before a medication adjustment stopped it.

Though not so much these last few mostly stable years, my psychiatrist has twice said that hypomania was my "baseline" mood. I used to be a very high energy person. I'd say "hyperthymic". Know that that was great in some ways, but not so great in others.

During what part of the day do you usually feel your best?