does it ever go?

Burning question.
People arent born bipolar are they? you can develop it at any stage in life.
So does it ever go, could you ever wake up one morning and its just not there.
And how would you know, if you're on medication, you might think its that making you feel ok, and you cant just top medication, caus if u werent better it would be really bad, and if you were better it may do something weird by just stopping the medication?
So what if someone was totally not bipolar any more, and hadnt been for like 5 years, but carried on taking the medication and were never their true selves?
does this make sense?

That is a good question. By what I understand it is a life long illness. Kinda like thyroid issues, once it is developed you are stuck with it for the rest of your life. It would be great if it could just go away. I can understand your question on how we would ever know. Life goes on as we know it and we continue taking our meds for our own good. I guess that is just the way things are and are going to be.

Bipolar is highly genetic and often stress can trigger a first episode. I started showing symptoms at 8 (1st attempt), but I had a highly stressful childhood. Even if I didn't have a stressful childhood I would have still had bipolar, but it probably wouldn't have presented until my late teens, early twenties.

Bipolar made me not be my "true self", but when I was first diagnosed and placed on medication I had to get to know who the real Beth was. I had lived so many years symptomatic that become the norm for me. I ran on hypomania and it built the career I have now, but the mood swings were brutal and the depression nearly killed me. Now 3 years after my diagnosis and on medication I feel more stable, and I feel like I'm the person I was supposed to be.

Finding the right medication combo can be very frustrating, but there are many options out there. In May I had a complete med change and I feel much better. For me I could never go off medications and when I started my new mood stabilizer (lamictal) it had to be increased very slowly. Not being on a therapeutic dose while waiting to get to a full dose was hell and reminded me of how bad I am without meds. Hope that helps.

Yup. Though I did have a rather (nothing as bad as others, but bad enough) stressful childhood, it presented at 20 for me (at least that was when the first massive depression hit... there were a few things earlier that made me wonder. Still, let's count 20 as the official start.)
Soooo many years undiagnosed so it *did* feel like the norm.. miserable, but the norm. A bit like a bad childhood -- when it is all you know, it may well seem normal(!)

One of the tricky things with BP is that there can be periods of remission. That certainly doesn't mean it won't come back, though we like to convince ourselves of that at the time, yeah?

I don't think it's really possible that someone could "stop" having BP, so to me, that is a moot question. Also, untreated, it tends to progress and become harder to treat. That's not worth it. Like blueoctober, I've discovered that when I've messed with my meds ("but everything's going so great now!"), I quickly realized just how bad I was w/o them.

Good question though, widgets. The starting at later ages thing has been very much on my mind lately. Sure, it's much less common, but intriguing to be sure.

I also don't think it ever goes away. As far as I know, mine is not genetic.
For some reason, I started experiencing some forms of depression from the age of about 17 (no major stressors then yet), and when I was 23 I was officially dx'd. It took a huge stressor in my life to finally make me seek help. I started the hypomania at about 18 years.

Mine is not genetic either, but I experienced my first symptoms at age 14. Suicidal tendencies and then exaggerated happiness been dealing with this on my own for a quite a while. With my fake it till you make it strategy. First warning sign was my first panic attack at work (yikes embarrassing) due to stress, (did i sit up and take note, NO) then I had an episode AT work (yikes again) when my brother was murdered. My GP thought I was clinically depressed but AD's weren't such a good idea ya know pushed me into this strange hyper phase IDK sorta like Ophelia2.0 mahn, I was superhuman!!!... then I crashed again, WORSE than ever before and scared the shiat outta my kid, sought a pdoc and he confirmed my 10 yr long suspicion I'M BP

sorry I went off on a tangent, it's one a those days...

guess I jis wanted to say even tho I'm nice and stable now for the last 3 months, I wouldn't dare convince myself I'm cured, cos I didn't "catch it" from anyone...

just my 2c

There are three common ages of onset, juvenille, early twenties and in elderly patients. The disease in elderly patients behaves differently and has different causes. Also the disease is often missed or misdiagnoses for on average 7 years!

the common belief is that it does not get better and requires lifelong treatment. THere has been little investigation into high functioning BPs who may of "recovered" and been lost to follow up.

who knows what future research will discover with regards to treatment and recovery

My pdoc, and my reading of everything bipolar, have stated that bipolar does not get cured, it can be managed. Although the onset of bipolar can vary, a lag between initial presentation and diagnosis averages at 10 years. I had my first depression in the second grade, then high school, a few short episodes as a young adult and after a severe stressor (the death of my daughter) full blown bipolar at the age of 37 with initial diagnosis in 2002 at the age of 47 -- see that 10 year lag?

One way to look at taking the medications, if you are well enough to go off them then they must be working... so don't go off them. LOL