[sriracha]

Hi everyone, so while I'm not asking for diagnosis or trying to diagnose myself, I need to decide if I should get re-evaluated after psychiatrist said I have Bipolar II/Bipolar NOS because I'm not sure I agree. The depression phase symptoms fit me without question, but the hypomania part is where things are questionable.

I know there are days and weeks where I get in a hyperactive mood and the sun is shining just right, I feel amazing about myself, get much more talkative (and lose my filter a bit), get flooded with ideas and feel generally more productive, almost giddy, loopy, etc. Sometimes this turns to irritability and agitation, especially when I'm in my own world working on a project or and someone tries to redirect me or interrupts what I'm doing. (It's like when the only thing stopping me from cleaning the whole house at 2am is the threat of neighbors getting pissed and telling the landlord.) Here's the thing though, as I understand it, a hallmark symptom is decreased need for sleep, I definitely do not experience this. I can stay up an entire night and may not feel it much the next day, but after 24 hours or so it catches up with a vengeance. I have a health condition that causes fatigue, "normal" for me is no matter how much sleep I get, and it's very hard to drag myself out of bed. But during these types of "episodes" (if indeed that's what they are), I still have this problem, but once I fully wake up, I wake UP! Again, I'm not asking you if I'm bipolar, but I just have two questions for people who actually experience hypomania.
1. Is the mood every second of every day for however long it lasts? Or does it get interspersed at any time with moments/hours of irritability or some other mood?
2. Anyone out there not have change in sleep patterns even if there is more energy during the day?
Answers greatly appreciated, thanks!

[Ocean Swimmer]

Whenever I'm hypo I can't always recall every moment. The racing thoughts probably create some agitation,yes.

I also loose track of time, sometimes preferring not to sleep.

Also not wanting to eat.

Maybe you could find out more by reading some suggested books on bipolar.
Hugs.

I've been through hypo and slept what would be considered normal for most. I do notice a reduction in sleep to some degree though. Seems to be part of it. I wake up very sick daily, I NEVER feel like I have gotten sleep, so shifting to less hours with high energy might be more noticeable for me. I feel energized right from when my eyes open. I think it's best to talk to a therapist about these symptoms. They need to get more details, of past behaviors, thought patterns, moods. And guess what, they could still get it wrong, but you'll probably learn something regardless. Let's keep our fingers crossed its not BP, but you should get it looked at and assessed if you're concerned.

[pirilin]

====================(((HUGS)))===================

[wildflowerchild25]

I'm like you, I need my sleep. So while I do feel a decreased need for sleep in hypomanias, it's not like I only need two or three hours. It means maybe I get six and feel fine. But just like you, if I do that for a couple of days it catches up with me and I crash sleep wise the next night. But in my mind it still counts as hypomania because of all the other symptoms I get. Everyone is different. Just because you don't have the classic hypomania symptom of needing less spell doesn't mean it's not hypomania. Everything else you said sounds like hypomania to me. However I'm not a doctor so take what I say with a grain of salt.

[sriracha]

Thanks so much, and hugs to you all as well. I go back and forth between whether diagnosis helps or not in my case, because while saying "you have this disorder" can point me in exactly the right direction, (much like how I went through physical illness that took years to diagnose before getting the right treatment), labels may be too confining since it isn't "classic bipolar" (if at all). Maybe any info I get that speaks to me, and any medication that works no matter what condition it's usually applied to, such as mood stabilizers, might be enough. Who knows? At this point I'm just debating whether to go through the headache of finding another doctor to see about a second opinion versus just rolling with it.