How often hypomanic or manic?

Do you deal with BP I or II?
How often are you hypomanic or manic?
How long do these episodes last?

Thanks!

I am BP 1. I deal with hypomania quite a bit sometimes a few times a day. Full blown manic every 3-5 years this last one in January I walked out on a 100K a year job, left my family and drove cross country because I was being chased by imaginary people. Not fun. I actually ended up on CNN as a missing person

I have Bipolar I

I am in out of episodes of mania at different points of the day. It's always up and up and up!

They usually last all day until I finally shut off my brain and try and get some sleep.

I deal with BP II.

Hypomanic - At least twice a year, maybe more.
Episodes last: 2-4 weeks.

(Depression is clearly predominate. I go from hypo to depression, no "normal" or even mood in between.)

I spent MUCH more time dealing with depression than I did with hypomania or mania. I had just enough hypomania and mania to meet the diagnosis, but I'd say I lived on the depressive end the vast majority of the time.

When I did have hypomania and mania, the episodes were actually only a few weeks long before I crashed and burned into mixed or depressive episodes.

Same here no normal I rapid cycle a lot. The lithium and lamictal help out quite a bit with it though

Although I was only diagnosed in October last year, I've come to realise that I'm Hypomanic a lot of the time. I've asked a lot of my friends and family to identify where they would put me on the mood scale, and they pretty much all said I'm a 7-8 most of the time. At the time I was unaware I had Bipolar but I believe the episodes lasted a month or two at a time.
The depressive periods have lessened over the last couple of years, but I had a 5 day period a week ago where I was very down, and that has started again today. I have an appointment with the Psychiatrist on Thursday so hoping to be able to chat things through (first time speaking to psych since diagnosis 7 months ago!!).

Over the past few years, I've tended to have 1-2 manic episodes a year, lasting a month or so. I'll get the odd day here or there where I'm hypomanic and it doesn't escalate too. (Just fyi, since it's not in my signature, I'm previously diagnosed BP1 before schizoaffective.)

I have no idea.

I'm inconsistent with taking meds, so idk how many of my episodes (both mania *and* depression) come naturally

But prior to meds, I believe I was averaging about 2 depressive episodes and 1 hypo/manic one. Though, I was never fully aware that I even had hypo/manic episodes prior to diagnosis

I'm a mystery

Do you deal with BP I or II?
I think I know, yet I don't think it's fair for me to guess.


WC

Do you live with BP I or II?
Glad you are seeing your pdoc, it's been a long time.


WC

Glad to hear you're seeing a psychiatrist. I think you've said you're not on meds, but if you are please correct me. Is there some reason you haven't been seeing a psychiatrist regularly since your diagnosis? Usually once people realize they have the disorder they start meds and/or follow up with the doc in a couple weeks or months.

Again, glad you're getting help.

To answer the original questions:

I'm diagnosed BP 1, although my manic episodes have usually been drug-induced. I fit the criteria for BP 2 when completely sober, but I don't know if I've ever had a manic episode that wasn't triggered by substances. Regardless, I get the BP 1 label.

When I've been the most stable post-diagnosis, I charted my moods for a while. They were a very regular 10 day pattern of up and down and up and down. At present I've had dysthymia for quite a while, with breakthrough 1-2 days of depression every week or two. My doc and I are in the midst of trying to deal with that now. Hope to have some relief soon, it's been rough over the last week or so.

prior to meds, a few hypomanic episodes per year (lasting 3 days to a week and a half) and long severe depressive episodes usually lasting several months.

on meds i don't experience hypomanic episodes anymore. I have periods of stability ranging several weeks to a several months and milder depressive episodes ranging between 3 weeks and 3 months.

all it means to be BP 1 is you have had one single full blown manic episode . I read an article that said even bp1 ppl spend more time depressed then hypo or manic (most)
eh so I have no pattern. I have been mixed manic hypo psychotic and depressed but it varies.
my episodes last week's to months
it's interesting ppl have hypo a couple times a day.

I'm BP1 and I go all over the place. I'm usually more down than up, but I've had many episodes in 1 year alone. I also have BPD so that is also why I'm moody. It sucks. I've never been a "normal" mood. I go all over in any given day. It just depends on the circumstances.

BP 1, hypomanic or mixed 2 times a year, don't think i've ever been manic before.

I haven't been to a therapist, but now I only get manic about once every 3 to 10 days, but a few years ago it was about once every few hours, sometimes more often.

I live with BP 1 and am reliably hypomanic every spring, and usually in the early autumn. I haven't had a full-blown manic episode in over three years thanks to meds. I get depressed in the late summer when the angle of the sunlight is lower, and of course winter is nasty. I have an artificial light that helped me through this past winter and I never did get seriously depressed.

I really hate that part, not knowing. I can find more of them in my memory now that I know a little better what I'm looking for, but still, its so frustrating that I couldn't see it when it was happening.

To the original question, about once a year I'd get a solid up, maybe occasionally twice. Probably wasn't full deal till the last couple years, as it didn't impact my work negatively till then.

I have Bipolar 2 disorder. That's the strange thing. I can't remember even one time that I've been hypo-manic. I've struggled with deep, deep depression the majority of the time but I don't get hypo-manic. When the depression lifts for a little while sure I'm happy but not excessively so. Have wondered about my diagnosis but I'm doing okay so I don't want to rock the boat.

I'm BP2. I'm not sure how to answer your question about hypomania. I don't think I've really had any for a few years. But I'm not good at recognizing it. It usually lasts for me anywhere from a week to a few months though.

I'm diagnosed as schizoeffective and seem to bounce from hypomania to depression and have a manic thing happen about once per year. Hypos can last days to months and depression has lasted more than a year. I can't seem to figure out too much rhyme or reason to it all other than stress and weather can shift me from what I've noticed. My husband says I've been stuck in a fight or flight mode since my son got sick about 10 years ago and that rings true to my observations as well. I'm either fighting or hiding and oftentimes I'm doing both simultaneously.

I have Bipolar 1....

I'm mainly sitting as hypomanic most of the time..... I am a happy happy type of person. I have a manic episode mostly in the summer months. When the sun comes out. I'm sitting slightly higher than normal now cause we are seeing the sun now. My episodes can last anything from a week to a few months

Thanks to everyone participating in this thread.

I was wondering how different each person's experience might be both between BP I and BP II, as well as within each BP I and BP II.

We have varied experiences/patterns no matter how we look at the replies.

It causes me to feel even more compassion for all.


WC