Is there a reliable self-test to tell if you're hypomanic?

I think I might be entering that territory because I've only slept 4 hours these past two nights and I feel like I'm on turbo mode still. I just spent most of my paycheck on clothes, my mind is going a bajillion miles an hour at times, I feel more "alive". I love it.

The thing is, what if this is just stable? I'm taking all of my meds so it wouldn't make sense for me to still cycle.

Well, we all know. Some of us enjoy it more. Like me. Some try to be "normal". Whatever that means.

I highly doubt that is just stable based on what you describe...if it walks like duck...or your animal of choice, lol...So, to be blunt, dude, you are hypo so deal with it.

I have cycled while on meds and compliant. Sometimes they just crap out cause we build a tolerance. You probably just need them tweaked. I would call your pdoc and get an appt...and then enjoy the brief "aliveness" and ride the wave till you see him. lol.

For me sleep and spending money are the dead give aways.

For me, is it a day that ends in the letter "y"...

Ditto that

It would be an unfortunately incorrect assumption that we don't cycle on meds. Sometimes we do. I read something once that stuck with me -- that BP is "a moving target". So while things may stay steady for various amounts of time, they can also change, which is why we sometimes have rather frequent med changes.

As far as what you describe, yes, that could be hypomania, epecially if it's out of character for you. It's worth paying attention to one's particular indicators, as they tend to differ a bit from person to person. That way, you can catch it early.

Some other indicators for me are intense impatience --everyone is so slow and stupid!-- get out of my way and try to keep up people! I need everything NOW. I strike up conversations with strangers a ton where normally I don't talk much at all. I lose my verbal "filter" and speak before thinking. Things often come out unintentionally suggestive sounding. That's a few that come to mind... oh, and cleaning at ridiculous hours of day and night (with Q-tips and dental tools, no less, lol!) And maybe a self haircut....

Oh, the self-haircut...

And the cleaning with q-tips and dental tools...

And the everybody is my friend today

Geez, its like we went to the same school for this

I usually get euphoric and nearly always get "the grins" when it's euphoric. I pretty much know. I have had signs the last couple of days but I think it is from a med adjustment that will settle because this happened before. I knocked out a work project this afternoon because it happened to be on my mind and the complexity I ran into yesterday seemed pretty trivial today; it's not all bad. Colors were a bit vivid in the backyard today. I had to edit this post because it was missing half a word here and there. I have been down in the dumps for a while (hence the adjustment) and I am enjoying it. I will touch base with pdoc Tuesday if it is still going on. So far it seems pretty mild.

Young’s mania rating scale has occasionally helped me call a spade a spade, as it were.

One self test I use is asking myself if I want to go sky diving. When I’m getting manic the thought of doing this is what exciting and I’m ready to sign up. When I’m depressed or “normal” the idea of sky diving is terrifying.

I'm usually pretty self-aware but with hypo/mania, I don't often realize it's happening until I come out of it. Sometimes it's really kind of subtle and all the energy is trapped inside and I can't channel it. It's been like that this spring, since mid-March. My thoughts tumble madly like squirrels in a cage, so fast that I can't even articulate them. I get 9 hours sleep some nights and 3 on others. I can't concentrate and I post random crap on Facebook...a lot of it. I try to write and it comes out inarticulate and with lots of typos. I feel like my mind is like emptying out the kitchen junk drawer on a trampoline.

Already receding; still a few grins but went to bed at a normal time last night and slept well.

Wanted to say that I agree with those that said you sound hypomanic and that you can definitely cycle during meds. I take my meds all the time but I cycle between mania and depression all the time in short bursts. I have mixed moods too. The meds just keep it not so far in a depression or mania, mostly.


Talk to your doctor.

I keep a journal including my sleep time and quality. Sleep is a dead giveaway even if I manage to ignore other signs.