When I was first dxed it was bipolarNOS. Later as the pdoc got to know me & saw my symptoms first hand it changed to bipolar I. Last time I went in (getting meds adjusted now) she put down from the code bipolar I--mixed episode--moderate. I always come home & look up on psychcentral to see what she put down to see how she is evaluating me! She's right on the money

So I think often at the beginning it is NOS as the doc cannot specify what the last episode was or what all the symptoms are.--Suzy