I had a similar experience with SSRIs, save for my med being citalopram. It was a 24 hour turnaround for me. Just up and up and up. Sadly, despite the fact I was IP at the time, no one medical recognized it as the mania it was. I waited another 2-3 years for a diagnosis.

I'm glad your doctor caught that! Save you some trouble.

I find a seasonal component to my moods, exactly the way you'd expect. Up in the spring/summer and down nearer to winter. There's general ups and downs throughout the year, but that's been the overarching trend.

I had a time and a half finding what works for me, med-wise, but once I did... thank heavens! Worked with eight different meds before I found lithium and lamotrigine to work for me. It'll definitely be trial and error, but once you find the right combo...

As far as therapy goes, I have someone I see on the regular (every 1-2 weeks). We'll talk about everything under the sun, but I typically use him as a sounding board of sorts. He knows me well enough and long enough to catch when something is genuinely off mood-wise. Or worse, that I've lost insight.

Doesn't necessarily have to be a mental health professional, but if you have someone you trust to fill that role, you've got someone outside yourself to offer input and possibly see things you don't.

Apart from that, I second what the others have said.