How long is too far back to matter?

Is there such a thing?

Pdoc and tdoc both know about stuff that happened over 40 years ago and it sort of figures int their thinking. It was a lot more risk taking and just plain bizarre behavior than I have done in the decades since.

Today I was reminded of an incident that was 3 years ago when I was really hyper and excited about kayaking at the beach using a kayak that had no business being in the ocean. It was one of the plastic ones from K Mart that cost under $200 with an open cockpit meant for paddling small lakes/ponds and rivers with no rapids. I got swamped in the surf (somewhat safely near shore) a few times and insisted on trying again and again until I made it past the breakers and I paddled out to where the waves were big rollers and surfed one in. I was out far enough that it would have been a call to have a boat do the rescue if I had dumped. Surfing the big wave in was an amazing experience but it was incredibly stupid in that boat.

Anyway, I had not remembered that in talking to pdoc and tdoc, so I do have a high risk incident a lot more recently than I had told them, but it still was 3 years ago. OTOH, there cold be something else I am forgetting.

IF it matters enough for you to consider it, I'd say it's reasonable enough to inform them. Why not? If they've already diagnosed you with BP, it doesn't seem it's needed to bring up more proof but if it concerns you, it's not a bad idea to tell them.

I actually encourage giving more information when you think of it. There is stuff that happened to me symptom-wise before I was on a good med combination that I never told anyone. And now I've been seeing my pdoc for 14 years and my therapist for 11 and it's kind of strange to bring those things up now, even when they might be relevant. I just was paranoid about it for a long time and then when I wasn't it seemed too long ago but in the last few years it should have come up a few times and didn't b/c it felt weird.

I agree with the previous posters. I would mention it. Best wishes.

I continue to remember things and I always mention it because I still feel like I need to be convinced that I have it. Some of the things I hope were related to bipolar because if not.. I just purely had no common sense.

My first diagnosis was 23 years ago and I did not want to believe it then because of stigma. Now I have a recent BP II diagnosis and I like to think that I just barely am affected anymore. Then I remember stuff like this. I don't know how much you know about what I described, but I know a lot about it and under normal conditions (if I were a rational person) I would try to intervene if I saw a stranger attempting it. It was death wish stupid.

Oddly enough, I am close to finishing a kayak built from plans that is very capable of doing this sort of thing in relative safety. But I still would not paddle out as far as I did and ride rollers that large alone. Even with the right equipment, there was some pucker factor with the conditions and it had been years since I had paddled heavy water.

Among my many professions was running a multi-dive excursion boat off the coast of California. We dropped off (and rescued) a lot of kayakers. The ocean is the Beast sometimes. When I was coming down from my first manic period I surfed in waves way too big for me (especially since I just moved there from... Ohio). But most of the stuff I remember is embarrassing stuff that was way out of character for me. Or ridiculous projects.

The kayak build sounds fun... hopefully it will be a fun and calming experience. I can get too intense with stuff like that...

The kayak build started later that year when I was up again. And went under the house when I was down, sometimes back out when up depending on weather and if I had a new hobby of the month/week. This time I have one of my kids helping me and we are nearing completion. It is a sit on top with over sized drains, a "sporty hull with rocker and hard chines for secondary stability. It is made for paddling through surf and surfing but I will only go to the second bar unless I have a group.

My building skills are not great and it has rough spots. There will be some sanding and some glass or silica sludge patching and then it will get a few coats of flat white. All 4 of my kids are artsy (and they are 17 and older; real art) and I am going to let them use it as a canvas and then seal it. They are talking about a cooperative effort with Kraken arms wrapping around it with various bits of art in the spaces in between. Should be a real treasure.