I've been fairly stable for 6 months now, which is the longest I've ever been stable since I started having symptoms about 5 years ago. I've spent most of that time rapid cycling and being in and out of the hospital.
My pdoc says that bipolar symptoms generally happen in clusters and I'm at the end of a very large cluster. He also said I may or may not have another cluster later on, but hopefully not. He said I might be able to lower my dose of clozapine or even switch to a med that wasn't as effective before (I'd love to go back on Geodon and lose the 40lbs I've gained!).

[RainyDay107]

I haven't reached stability, yet.

Congrats on six months, happy for you!

[Miss Laura]

Think its been about a year.... Once I started taking meds on a regular basis and stopped skipping them I started feeling better and was able to maintain a healthiness about me. Now I am back off meds kinda and hypo manic so I broke my streak unfortunately

[gina_re]

Four years. Surprisingly I was working full time and taking three classes a semester at that time. But I think that job was less stressful than my current one, but the people I worked with were horrible.

I don't have a clue. I know there is a stable me but I've forgotten who she was and don't remember the last time she visited or for how long. I've been in a cluster of dysfunction as long as I can remember these days but I had some stability in my 30's. Maybe even lasting a few years. If I manage to find stability again it will probably be the healthiest me I've ever seen because I will truly be doing it the right way instead of just masking my dysfunction like in the past.

I have been stable now for 3 years.

[Sunflower123]

It depends on how you define stable. I come and go into pretty bad depressions frequently so in that aspect only weeks at a time.

[franz kafka]

I had stable periods when I was undiagnosed, I think, but I don't know how long. Since diagnosis I think my max has been 2.5 months? I'm going on that now, though I did have a weeklong blip of psychosis.

[Victoria'smom]

maybe a month???

[ZiggyLu]

I'm going on 17 months and it feels amazing. This is the longest time by a lot that I have been stable and happy, dare I say content and satisfied even!

[Coconutzo]

I'm also going on six months! It's the longest I remember having. Cheers!

[Ripose]

My stable has been low to medium grade depression for years now and I constantly feel sick and tired, that is my stable now.
I wish I would become unstable and experience something like feel okay all around for a change.

I've been depressed for so long now that even a simple hypomania would would quickly turn manic.

[wildflowerchild25]

I was unstable from 2001-2006, then stable from 2007-2013. So six years. Then I was wildly cycling for three years. Currently I have 1.25 years stable. I hope to god I never destabilize as severely as this last go-around.

[Nammu]

Right now, I've been stable for over 3 years.

[Moose72]

I don't remember when the last time I was stable. I had my last major episode in September but I don't know if that means I have been stable since then.

[Wild Coyote]

I really don't know. I've been going over history with pdoc and it seems my baseline for the past 10 years is/has been some level of depression and is not that stable.

I am concerned about what's ahead for me, with both psych and physical complications. Pdoc thinks these concerns are realistic, all things considered.


WC

[BeyondtheRainbow]

Fairly stable (really great for me) for about a year. 6 weeks out from responding at the first sign of hypomania and stopping it cold with a tiny med change (very proud of this as is my pdoc). I've never had this stability happen before and feel a little scared to say it aloud.

[Unrigged64072835]

Nine months so far. *Crossing fingers and toes*

[hexacoda]

Since my last hospital stay and the meds starting to work in 2011 I have been stable. I'm thinking about whether I should ask to reduce my dosages but don't want to chance going back to depression/mania/psychosis.

[Wander]

It would be a matter of months for me, maybe 8 months at the most with minor episodes for a few years then BAM major episode after major episode with a month in between. Recently I had a psychotic break and was then stable for 2 months then a mixed episode hit me hard. Right now I am relatively stable (have been for about a week) and hope this only improves and stays that way for a long time.

[Tucson]

Three years

[Theresa1991]

Around two weeks to a month I guess. No more. Very typical as the most probable Thing is that I am cyclothymic and you have a very low Chance of staying stable for more than two months. Anyway the ups and downs are not as strong as in "real" bipolar.

[Gabyunbound]

These last 3 years except for a couple bouts of depression (about a month each) which may or may not have been BP-related. I think it's because I finally found the right combination of meds and the lowered stress of working part-time.

However, I'm considering a move across country and I'm worried that that stress will overwhelm me and be a catalyst for a bipolar episode. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this won't be the case.

[lilypup]

I'm embarrassed to say I am not sure. I am 57 and was diagnosed at about 35. But prior to that I was definitely bipolar. I believe I have had it since about age 13 or so.

I had periods where I accomplished a lot (almost got my doctorate). I had periods where I did crazy things (like getting married at 19). I did all kinds of crazy hypo and manic things. Then there were the depressions. Enough said. I had three kids and remember being depressed through all of the pregnancies. Interestingly enough, however, had no postpartum depression.

So I would say I have been very "functional" during long periods. But I still did hypo things and was mildly depressed during most of my life. I feel stable but very fragile right now. Bipolar has basically stolen my life.

I don't feel sorry for myself...it is what it is.

Originally Posted by lilypup

I'm embarrassed to say I am not sure. I am 57 and was diagnosed at about 35. But prior to that I was definitely bipolar. I believe I have had it since about age 13 or so.

I had periods where I accomplished a lot (almost got my doctorate). I had periods where I did crazy things (like getting married at 19). I did all kinds of crazy hypo and manic things. Then there were the depressions. Enough said. I had three kids and remember being depressed through all of the pregnancies. Interestingly enough, however, had no postpartum depression.

So I would say I have been very "functional" during long periods. But I still did hypo things and was mildly depressed during most of my life. I feel stable but very fragile right now. Bipolar has basically stolen my life.

I don't feel sorry for myself...it is what it is.

I can relate to a lot of what you said. (((Hugs)))