[busymomof5]

How frequently do your moods cycle? I am fully compliant with my medications but find that I go through a significant depression roughly once a month. My depressions have become more frightening the older I get. "Hypomanic" periods are more rare with treatment, but I can't get control of the depressive episodes. My dr said that most of her bipolar patients experience 1 cycle/ year. What am I doing wrong? I'd give anything to feel relatively normal all year with one up/down cycle. It seems like the older I get, the worse things are (I'm 47).

K

[wildflowerchild25]

I am rapid cycling. Unmedicated I cycle roughly every two weeks. Recently I’ve been cycling on a weekly or even daily basis. My meds are not right at all right now and it’s so exhausting. So you’re not alone in rapid cycling. Many of us here do.

[251turnaround]

Varies for me. I can be hypomanic for less than a week and have that turn into depression that lasts just as long then after that I can be at baseline for weeks or months before something happens again. I guess my meds are working now.

[fishin fool]

I have always cycled fairly rapidly but as I get older the depression seems to get
worse. The meds seem to do a good job with the hypo mania but not with my depression.

[~Christina]

I usually cycle a few times a year.

[HALLIEBETH87]

I rapid cycle every couple months myself. It seems anyway

[UpDownAround]

Recent past - pretty often. Every couple of weeks or so I usually get slightly hypo.

[Gabyunbound]

I used to cycle about 2-3 times a year. When I was younger I maybe cycled 3-4 times a year, but it's hard to tell because I was so unaware, undiagnosed, and considered everything situational or just who I was; this is just looking back on it, and that can be dicey.

Now I've been extremely fortunate to not have had an episode in about 2 years. I've had a couple bouts of depression, but I think they were situational, or maybe one was.

Rapid Cycling is 4 or more times a year. There are a lot of people here who are rapid or ultra rapid cyclers. I think it is somewhat uncommon but this is a forum where people are seeking help, so I think it makes sense.

Maybe you can take what your pdoc said as a reason for hope: you may well be able to get it down to once a year, or even less (my previous pdoc said she had patients go 10 years without an episode) with the right meds, therapy, time, combination of all three, who knows? And you can also take comfort in that you are not alone. Please keep posting.

[Trua]

I've experienced BP ups and downs for the last 4 years but only fairly recently started keeping track.

I’m not sure if others have this, but I have 2 types of cycles

One is every day meaning from about 9 or 10pm until about 5am I feel completely “normal” probably with some hypomania, no racing thoughts, depression, anxiety, etc. I know because even though I sleep fairly well (thankfully) when I do stir awake I can feel / experience the normality. Things I think of seem doable, no paralyzing / stuck feelings like I have most of the day.

The other…
I read some study that reported an average cycle lasts 13 weeks which is what I went through fall of 2016. About 3 months depressed and then hypomanic for about 6 months (double the 13 weeks) until June 1st this year and have been in a very depressed cycle now for about 5 months and hoping beyond hope that I rise up out of it soon.

[Pookyl]

I don't think you're doing anything wrong. It's just that some of us rapid cycle even when we're doing all the right things.
You're also not alone. The past year has looked like this for me:
Oct 2016 - borderline Lithium toxicity. Lithium slightly lowered.
Nov 2016 to 22nd Dec - manic
23rd Dec - end Mar 2017 - Sui
Mar 2017 - IP for 5 weeks
April 2017 - mild mixed
May/June 2017 - full blown mixed
July 2017 - Normal for 6 weeks
Mid Aug - hypomanic
Sept - overseas holiday. Very chemically contained with breakthrough mania.
Oct - wobbly. Trying to avoid deterioration of mood.