[lokiez]

Does intensity of Manic episode goes down with age ?
Say someone in 40s compared to someone in 20s, as body will have less energy, i would expect Manic episode to have less intensity. Is that the case?

[tecomsin]

My first manic episode was in my 40s and I have found that the degree of psychosis has gotten worse for each one. That is why I am now in my mid 50s on a daily antipsychotic. It has been a year and a half since I had a break with reality. So far so good. It is true the energy level goes down with age but that doesn't mean the intensity of the episode does.

That is only my experience and I would imagine others have had different ones.

[MickeyCheeky]

Thank you so much for making this thread, lokiez! I believe that's a very important and interesting question! I completely agree with what BirdDancer and tecomsin have already wisely said better than I ever could! You've been given some great advice on this thread! I'd suggest to follow it if you can! They always give such great advice! I believe it depends on what kind of person you are! For some people it may get better, for some people it may get worse! There's no way to know of sure! I also believe it depends on when you've had your first episode! If you've it when you were younger, perhaps it will improve as you get older! If you've had it when you were a bit older, like forty or fifty years old, it may get a bit worse with times! That's just my opinion, though! I may be completely wrong! I hope someone who is more knowledgeable than me will be able to give you a better answer! Just remember that everyone has different experiences with Bipolar! What may be true for one may not necessarely be true for you and viceversa! I hope you'll be able to get the help you need and deserve! You dodeserve to get better and to feel good! You deserve to live an happy life just like everyone else does! Please don't give up hope! Try to hang on as much as you can! Remember that we're here for you if you need it! Feel free to PM me anytime! Let me know if I can do something to help you! Wish you good luck! Let us know how it goes! Sending many hugs to you, lokiez! Remember that you're a strong wonderful person! Please remember that! Keep fighting, lokiez! We all believe in you! I hope you'll be able to believe in yourself the same we all believe in you! Please don't give up hope! Try to hang on as much as you can! You're an awesome, strong warrior! Please remember that! Keep fighting, lokiez!

lokiez, I can't say yes or no, because we all have different courses to our illnesses. All I can say is what I experienced, and based on my experience, my answer is that my manias were most intense in my 30s. I am 95% sure that my first full blown mania was when I was 15 years old, and I am equally sure that I also had full blown manias at perhaps 21 and 24 years old. They were quite significant, but not even in the ballpark of what I had in my 30s.

I have read that untreated bipolar disorder worsens the course of the illness over years. Again, whether or not that is/will be true for all people with bipolar disorder, I don't know. I will say that I did not receive proper treatment for my bipolar disorder until I was 34 years old during my first of several psych hospitalizations, and it was so severe at that time that my doctors struggled to get my manias under control for quite a while. However, since I turned 40, and I'm in my late 40s now, mania has been less of a problem. I've still had a few, but they were very short-lasting because medication intervention was able to shorten them. Already being on medication surely added in this benefit. Low low stress helps prevent my manias, too.

tecomsin mentioned being on a daily antipsychotic. I'm guessing that is not necessary for everyone, but it seems to have also been necessary for me, since age 34. Honestly, it would seem like a long road for me to travel to get to the point where my psychiatrist stopped my antipsychotic.

Note: Though I likely only had about four full blown manias prior to my early 30s, I did have a very large number of hypomanias before that time that didn't reach full blown. They often lasted long periods of time. They were not bad enough for hospitalizations, but they were destructive for me in varying ways. Prior to my 30s, I had only three severe depressions, plus several short-lasting mild ones. Hypomania and full blown mania (with and without mixed features and/or psychosis) have been far more impactful in my life than pure depressions. I'm more of an "up" person than a "down" one, but I'm not saying "up" is always a good thing.

[MickeyCheeky]

[pirilin]

Some people grow up.
I'm still trying to.

I still haven't noticed any palpable change.
Although I'm fatter now.
That has slowed me down a bit.
But most of all, my CCs are maxed out.

Cheers.

[BipolaRNurse]

I went untreated until my early 50s, and for a time after I was diagnosed the manic episodes got more and more frequent, to say nothing of intense. It took a couple of years to get it under some semblance of control, and I'm happy to say that my last full-blown mania was in October of 2013. Now I just become hypomanic from time to time, but I can thank meds for that, not necessarily age, although I am 60 and have mellowed out a lot in other ways too.

[Unrigged64072835]

People react differently, so it's hard to say...

For me, I wasn't diagnosed until menopause. I may have had episodes before then, but with all the other situations and diagnoses it would've been hard to tell. I know I have mellowed out some but I don't know if it's meds or age.

[Wander]

My episodes have only worsened as I age. I am nearly 43 now. My most major manic episodes happened when I was 22 then in my late thirties and early 40's. Mostly I get mixed episodes and they have only worsened in the last ten years to the point I had my worst episode, with psychosis, only two months ago. I don't know about everyone here, this is just me. I did read studies that it can go either way for various reasons. I am certainly hoping mine settle down now. I need a break.

In my case, I found as I got older, I had longer and deeper depressions (starting about 38ish). The worst episode I had was at 49. (Terrible mixed for 3 months). But I've also been doing well quite a bit too. I am 56 now. In my younger years (starting around 20) there was a lot of hypomania. (I was changing jobs and living locations like socks, lol). I think I'm more patient now. Some, anyway

I really do think it's a case by case situation.

[lokiez]

Thanks all for inputs. This is very helpful.

[raspberrytorte]

My symptoms have definitely gotten worse than they were in my twenties. Especially after the birth of my daughter when I was 30. I'm 36 now.