I may be getting manic at the start of a new relationship

As I posted on here before, I had a great time with my date, and we mutually understood each other's troubles. I like him so much. He is doing graduate studies in psychology and he was major depression and panic disorder. I have bipolar. Well just from being so swept up into texting and talking on the phone, I slept 3 hours last night, then woke up feeling great and well rested. Since I've been taking my current medication regimen, I haven't gone into full mania, just hypomania. And it's like I think that I will make a better boyfriend if I have lots of energy. But I think because of his knowledge of psychology he will pick up on it. He is also the university mental health group leader and advocate for the college here in town. I hope everything works out great. Maybe I should take care of myself as well.

I think that the excitement of being in a new relationship feels a lot like hypomania. If you're still taking your medications, I would try not to worry about going into mania. My only advice to you is to watch your sleep (make sure you're getting enough) and just have a great time with this new guy!

You were right. It just felt like hypomania. I slept 6 hours last night and took a 3 hour nap a little bit ago. I think I just have butterflies in my stomach.

In my experience, the excitement of a new relationship, like the excitement of travel or a big win, always brings hypomania. I live a long way from anywhere and haven't left home in 11 years because long-distance travel always lit me up. Consult your pdoc to stay on top of it.

The two times i fell in love i got hm. I get beautiful euphoric hm so mixed with the joy of falling in love it was a powerful force. I didn't like STAYING in love tho. After the hm and the initial excitement wore off i found both my relationships to be dreary.

But you're aware of the danger of high mood. Both my times i was not yet diagnosed. Hopefully it will make a difference that you are aware of your sensitive mood.

I have a diagnosis of bipolar II which I'm pretty solidly in agreement with. Part of what led to that diagnosis was going on prozac and (after a while) having it kindle an ultrarapid high-amplitude mood cycle of truly epic proportions. Once we put two and two together and stopped the prozac, the cycling immediately reverted to its previous level which is typical of bipolar II (mostly depressed with little normal or hypomanic mood).

I am quite emotionally sensitive, not just to my own emotional life but to picking up moods from my environment. I can have a brief induced hypomania just from a single really good conversation, and it will start happening during the conversation and then I need to be careful what I say or how I act. On some occasions this can extend into hypomania that lasts more than a few hours. I note lately that this effect is very powerful, I think because my life has been a mess for so long and my isolation so great that even mild doses of positive human interaction are a really big deal.

tl;dr: yes, it's possible for this to happen and probably not even that out of the ordinary.

Happiness about a new relationship has always led to hypomania in me (personally). Of course, there's that natural happiness that seems to mimic hypomania, but mine was way over the top. It can go either way.

I'll barely know the person yet and do things that are even more exciting: planning trips way too soon, spending more money. These are my personal triggers, but I guess what I am trying to convey is that it is important to just be aware of your own triggers. Change can bring on hypomania in some of us. Like I said, it might be normal excitement, but just make sure to tell your pdoc of any concerns. Make sure to get enough sleep and take care of yourself. You have insight, so that's a good thing.

I agree that it is probably the happiness and excitement of a new relationship. Take care.