[Wander]

Hey everyone! I am a rapid cycler so that means I cycle between moods a lot and I have noticed that I spend relatively little time actually stable. Is this normal? Is there a normal with bipolars? I doubt it, so I guess I am wondering what all your experiences are. I stay stable only weeks at a time, 6 weeks if I am lucky and spend about two thirds of the year manic, mixed or depressed to varying degrees. Mixed episodes are most common for me unfortunately. Right now I am coming out of a mixed episode and feeling like I am going to stabilise (hopefully), or go manic. It is so frustrating living like this. I would so love to be stable more often.

[TimTheEnchanter]

We are never stable long enough to notice to remember. It is a Sine wave of moods, which can take its toll. The key is not only accepting this (not much we can do) but learning to live with this (coping) without illegal drugs, alcohol, excessive caffeine, overeating (in my case), gambling (my case)..eat proper food, exercise, take supplements, meds(if must), learn meditation, yoga whatever...

[scatterbrained04]

I can't say I see a particular pattern in mine, it really varies. I can can stay mostly stable from 6 months to a year or so. By stable, I mean normal or maybe just slightly depressed. My depressive episodes can last years, with periods of being mixed thrown in. I've had a depressive episode last 3 years (as a teen, not yet diagnosed). I'm not entirely sure what a "normal" mood is though LOL

[Victoria'smom]

I go months, mixed, depressed or manic. The only thing meds do for me is to stretch them out longer and less severe. I can't say I've ever been stable but I'm better.

[BipolaRNurse]

The longest I've been stable is about three or four months. It was longer in my twenties and thirties, but it's gotten worse as I've aged (I'm 56).

[Blue_Bird]

With the exception of few week long episode of paranoia I have been stable nearly a whole year

[Wander]

Originally Posted by Blue_Bird

With the exception of few week long episode of paranoia I have been stable nearly a whole year

That's great to hear. I hope it continues for you.

[LettinG0]

Originally Posted by Wander

Hey everyone! I am a rapid cycler so that means I cycle between moods a lot and I have noticed that I spend relatively little time actually stable. Is this normal? Is there a normal with bipolars? I doubt it, so I guess I am wondering what all your experiences are. I stay stable only weeks at a time, 6 weeks if I am lucky and spend about two thirds of the year manic, mixed or depressed to varying degrees. Mixed episodes are most common for me unfortunately. Right now I am coming out of a mixed episode and feeling like I am going to stabilise (hopefully), or go manic. It is so frustrating living like this. I would so love to be stable more often.

I am a rapid cycler, as well. And, I don't think I have a normal....nor even a BP normal. I am relatively stable at the moment.........but feel like I am going hypo...........usually do in the early spring. I am hoping I can be aware enough that it will be a positive experience this year. It never has been in the past. Anyway.....stability for me is an unknown entity ninety percent of the time.

[Nammu]

My experience has been the opposite of BN things have gotten better as I get older, but it could just be that I've finally accepted the Dx and have found the right cocktail and have been regular about taking meds.

[BlackSheep79]

I tend to be a little hypo basically all of the time, then every 4-6 weeks it will swing a little higher enough to affect my sleep. I also every 4-6 weeks go thru a slight depression, not crippling. I also notice I'm kinda seasonal as well. January and February a bit more depressed, then really hypo in spring. Things sometimes go haywire June thru August, been on med leave two years these times in the past few years, one of them I was rapid cycling. So I really don't know if there is stability. I think the closest I will get is how I am in my first two sentences. I take meds by the way and consistently have to tweek them.

[wiretwister]

Mine may just be mild but I have been stable for a long time,,just on the low side,, but not depressed since last summer..

[Ford Puma]

OOooo at a push I would say I am ok'ish and not going mad starkers bonkers or anything these days. I can have an day here and their that can be called down but not depressed. An day that can be called happy but not manic. So all in... I am a happy camper.

[Wander]

Thanks so much for all your replies. It is really helpful reading them. I must say my stable is not perfectly 'normal' most of the time, I'm usually a little high, low or mixed, just closer to the baseline. I must add that for around half of the year I am very unwell so it is quite debilitating. I have had ECT three times in the last year. It has been a tough one. The rest of the year I have been moderately unwell or close to baseline. I tend to suddenly switch epidodes at times too. It is happening right now. Deeply depressed and mixed to hypo literally overnight. I'm happy with this change ��

I haven't read the entire thread as my head hurts but it is entirely possible to have stability with bipolar. I have been stable years at a time with the correct meds and therapy. Of course the depression and mixed is inevitable after a while but we now know what meds help me quickly and then the reminders of my previous group work and therapy help too. I have way more coping skills than I had when I was first diagnosed which also helps keep me stable. I need to work hard every day and challenge myself with the anxiety. And keep in routine. I'm currently unstable due to extreme stress and that I didn't use the correct coping skills at the onset.

[violet66]

Never. There are times where I thought I was stable but I was actually hypomanic.

[HALLIEBETH87]

Is it pathetic for me to say I don't know? Things have been chaos and unpredictable for so long I cant even answer. Right now? I am happy

[~Christina]

I was diagnosed late age 43 , wow once diagnosed I was on the Med Merry go Round .. I was on and off meds and doses the first year, literally I was a toxic soup of chemicals ... How in the world could my mind and body even know how to act, feel or function.

Eventually when I finally found a medication that I was able to tolerate and I began to really be able to work on me and how to use natural non medication ways to help stabilize myself.

So I worked so hard despite going up and down I just kept moving, sure I had time I wanted to give up , numerous IP stays because I wasn't safe.

Right now I lost the hypo, I'm heading down, it happens. I will pick myself up and keep going.

I honestly think a lot of people that are labeled "rapid cycling" are actually people who really haven't found any where near stable ground. So how can anything be compared ?

Bipolar sucks, a lot. Cycles come and go all the time. *sigh*

[RisuNeko]

When I was younger and my bipolar was just getting started ( I was just having depressive episodes and hypomania, no real mania) I had longer periods of normalcy, like up to 8 months I would guess, but now 10 years later I have almost no normal time. I had one good semester when I felt like I was really on top of things in my life during my undergraduate degree, but I have suspicions that I was hypomanic at the time. Other than that I just jump back and forth between painfully long agitated depressions (like a year and a half) and short manias (like 2-3 weeks).

[Wander]

Originally Posted by ~Christina

I was diagnosed late age 43 , wow once diagnosed I was on the Med Merry go Round .. I was on and off meds and doses the first year, literally I was a toxic soup of chemicals ... How in the world could my mind and body even know how to act, feel or function.

Eventually when I finally found a medication that I was able to tolerate and I began to really be able to work on me and how to use natural non medication ways to help stabilize myself.

So I worked so hard despite going up and down I just kept moving, sure I had time I wanted to give up , numerous IP stays because I wasn't safe.

Right now I lost the hypo, I'm heading down, it happens. I will pick myself up and keep going.

I honestly think a lot of people that are labeled "rapid cycling" are actually people who really haven't found any where near stable ground. So how can anything be compared ?

Bipolar sucks, a lot. Cycles come and go all the time. *sigh*

You have made some good points. I sometimes wonder about all the meds I have been on. Most did more harm than good. Lithium however, despite the awful side effects, has been a life saver. If it didn't work so good I would drop it in a second due to the side effects. Coping strategies and learning to live with bipolar is so important too.
I was diagnosed 18 months ago so I am still new to all this but I am slowly starting to accept it instead of fight against it.This is helping my experience of the journey but I am still all over the place. As I rapid cycler what you said gave me pause for thought. I feel like I haven't found solid ground yet. For example I was deeply depressed and agitated until Thursday and then woke up Friday hypomanic without the depression. I am loving it. I just started a new med so I am guessing that is the culprit...again more to discuss on meds. The sudden switches have happened to me with no med changes. It is really bizarre to be so depressed then suddenly sleeping 1 hour a night and cheerful as. Although I am crying a lot even though I am happy. Wierd. Anyway you know all this, I am just rambling.

[Crazy Hitch]

HOW LONG AND HOW OFTEN ARE YOU STABLE?

This is a good question.

It has made me think.

There has been a change in my episodes, more recently in the last 2 years; and even more dramatically in the past year.

I would say when my BP symptoms first started (I'm choosing the words first started as opposed to diagnosis) I would go relatively long periods of stability.

My mood episode if it swung high or low didn't last all that long and really wasn't quite severe.

I wouldn't say that my elevated mood or delevated mood caused enough disruption in my daily life; but yes; it was there.

When diagnosed; there was still "relatively speaking" compared to now, long periods of stability.

Not sure what has caused this to change in the last 2 years and especially during the last year.

I rarely have "stability".

And my episodes are pretty dramatic and intense and quite drawn out.

Not sure why I have had this change really.

[venusss]

Not even sure what "stable" is. I am pretty up and down.... but at the same time, somehow functional in most aspects of my life. Sure, my condo sometimes looks like atomic bomb exploded in there, but maybe that is lack of "dotting-hausfrau" gene rather than bipolar...

But I never been stable my normal's people definition. By my definition, I been pretty much stable few months and before it, it was just one miserable slip up in December, cause by circumstances. I shook it off by now.

[wildflowerchild25]

Well I guess it depends on how I define stable. When I had ECT at age 19, I was then "stable" for six years. By that I mean I was functional off meds and out of therapy. I was also in denial about the dx. So I wasn't looking for cycles. I can remember being depressed for maybe a week at a time, having periods of not being able to sleep that would last for two or three weeks, and also doing some weird impulsive things like leaving a party we were hosting at 11pm to take the train to philly and getting various piercings and tattoos. So was I stable? I think I was for the most part.

Now since **** went downhill three years ago I've had periods of stability. Technically I am a rapid cycler because my cycles only last about two weeks. I was having two weeks down, a week stable, two weeks up/mixed, etc. I had a period of stability last fall/winter that lasted for about eight months. And now that I've had ECT I spend more time stable than anything else. Still a couple of down days, had a weekend of mild hypomania, but nothing I can't handle. Much like the last time I had ECT. Hopefully I will continue to be relatively stable for a long time like last time.

[Moogieotter]

I've stable for about 18 months, and really able to function effectively and solid for about 11 months after stabilizing on my current meds and practicing relaxation and mindfullness.

[ozzy1313]

It's hard to know. I have been on the medication roller coaster since dx 1.5 years ago. For the 1.5 years or so before that I was self medicating with alcohol and pills and for the year before that "medicating" manically with a swinging lifestyle. And before that I had anger issues and other issues but hid them fairly quietly and no one knew.

I havent been stable in a long time and recently hit the bottom…..starting to climb back up tho