[teacherabroad88]

Hi everyone,

Hope you're all doing well! I'm slowly recovering from my last manic episode, and wanted to ask about warning signs from other people who have had manic episodes before.

What were some of the warning signs that you could possibly going to have a manic episode be?

For me, it is rapid speech, rapid plan making, and feelings of self importance. How about everyone else?

Best,

[Soupe du jour]

Usually my full-blown manias gradually build up from hypomania. My typical first signs of hypomania are usually subtle, such as getting louder, maybe motormouth, a bit of impulsivity/disinhibition, and also increase in projects and general physical speed. For me, any grandiosity builds from there. Irritability is also common for me, and I can fly off the handle in a millisecond.

The line between severe hypomania and full-blown mania is often hazy, for me. Certainly once I develop psychotic symptoms the line has surely been crossed. Even without psychosis, once I become "scary" to people or notably dangerous to myself (which could mean a lot of things), I've probably already made the leap.

[MickeyCheeky]

i don't have much to add myself not having bipolar myself, but i wanted to thank you for making this thread. Hopefully it will prove useful to you and everyone else whom may need this information. Sending many safe, warm hugs to BOTH you, @teacherabroad88, your Family, your Friends and ALL of your Loved Ones! Keep fighting and keep rocking NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, OK?!

[buddha1too]

The symptoms already mentioned are clear indicators that I'm headed towards mania. The real triggering event, however, is when I don't sleep for days. When that happens, hospitalization is on the horizon. There's something about believing you're the reincarnation of Gandhi that makes the authorities uneasy. I'm not sure why, though, as I came in peace!

[*Beth*]

The feeling and belief that my (irrational) anger is justified (and that includes - actually is often specifically - extreme anger about social injustice), extreme creativity...creative ideas piling over on each other, hyper-sensitivity to color, form, and all things artistic...visually, words, music.

[MuddyBoots]

First thing is I start sleeping less, which can go on for weeks before I feel any different, then I'll be more energetic/peppy/creative and feel like I don't need food, eat maybe 500 calories a day and not be hungry.

[HALLIEBETH87]

I get hypomanic first usually where I have rapid speech and suuuper energetic and happy. Annoyingly chipper.
Then I start shopping.

[jmariah001]

I notice that I talk more, sleep less and have more energy overall. I also drink a lot of coke and listen to fast rock music. I am hypomanic right now so mania is probably not far off.

[mssweatypalms]

I have bipolar 2, so I get hypomanic, but I guess the early symptoms are similar. For me, it's increased impulsiveness like suddenly buying airplane tickets without any plans. Also, I'm a lot more social and would ask for a meetup with strangers I met online. The only good thing the pandemic has done for me is that I can't do either of them. But, I still shop a lot online.

My warning signs are writing a lot (hypergraphia), not being able to sleep, loss of appetite, then euphoria. After that I begin to enter psychosis and have to go into inpatient.

[Ursula Shackleton]

Mine usually starts with waking up at 3 in the morning unable to get back to sleep and not needing to get back to sleep or much of it. My manic episodes also tend to build from hypomanias: being completely euphoric, exercising to an extreme degree, rapid and pressured speech. When my house is absolutely spotless, that's when I know I'm hypomanic. I just want to GO, GO, GO. I start getting these really grandiose ideas, especially to do with my writing, but sometimes I'll get an idea for some random business venture. Then things kind of fall apart from there after a bit.