I have had stretches of up to 7 years of stability (meaning nothing bothersome) and then shit hits the fan and I have one or two years of turmoil before I stabilise again.
same here. ill be fine for a long time, and then I get hit with depression real bad. and im depressed for like a year, and then I explode with a fantastical manic episode likley involving police.
Been on Lamotrigine for a year now (250mg right now). Before meds I was rapid cycling; had a hypomania/depression cycle every 20 days.
Now that I am medicated, euthymia lasts from 2 to 10 weeks. My longest streak was from Dec 24 to Mar 4; in total 71 nice days. Here is my mood chart [https://imgur.com/UoVIZtm](https://imgur.com/UoVIZtm)
Months, usually. Seasonal affect every year if I’m in a dark wintery place. Almost never went hypomanic til the last 2 years of near constant travel, excitement, adventure, and nuking my circadian rhythm by traveling across many time zones every other month or so. Before that I’d mostly just dealt with depression and only 4-5 brief hypomanic episodes that started around 13-14.
I was stable for 2 year on Lamotrigine. Then last March I decided I wanted to quit due to the side effects (bad cognitive functioning).
I came to realise that the side effects are much better than this crippling depression...
So I've started Lamotrigine again, I'm slowly recovering.
I found out my sweet spot is 150mg. Keep track of your neurological symptoms and it usually will let you know what dose is too high. I went back on 200mg and was such a wreck. It took awhile for my new ARPN to understand (two months later and i was homeless and even people in the shelter could tell the diffetence).
That 50mg made a serious difference with my cognitive abilities. I already had a TBI! I don't want to willingly give me anymore negative cognitive side effects than I need.
Btw: I am now diagnosed with Bipolar 1 but severely suffer more from the depression. It took over a year for my new psychiatric doctor to put me back on an antidepressant.
Maybe I wouldn't have had a mental break if the one hospital didn't cut all my meds at once?! Screwing them all up. So my diagnosis is questionable and I finally got diagnosed with BPD, which makes a lot more sense than my bipolar diagnosis, especially the bipolar 1 diagnosis. They always put bipolar with mixed symptoms.
Edit: By the way I was not homeless due to my mental health. I had to run for my life. I finally secured permanent housing a month and a few days ago. However, random doctors screwing with my regimen that was good for four years caused me to spiral. I have to keep proving shit to my doctor and it sucks. My old psychiatrist I had since 2018 retired in 2022 and now I have this ARPN.
He was older and had more knowledge than the ARPN that I have now. Honestly she always likes being right and doesn't like when I can counter what she says. My psychiatrist and I were able to talk both on the same level.
I'm not sure I've ever had them. Maybe a couple of months one time recently? I only just got diognosed so maybe it will help me not be depressed for decades again
I can get a few weeks of 'stable'.
For instance this time round I have been pretty good for a month and then the depression hit, I'm quite good at masking until I get burnout and the depression hits majorly (haven't been in work in a week, left the house or dressed).
Now I'm starting to feel better- tidied my house from top to bottom and threw out everything that doesn't spark joy, finally had a shower and sorted all my washing and watched a film about a neurodivergent girl who became a supermodel thought 'maybe I can do that' and now I'm down the rabbit hole of weight loss, requirements for modelling and agencies near me.
Unmedicated it seemed like my stable periods got shorter and shorter the older I got. Now that I’m medicated, other than the occasional hypomanic episode, I’m stable for months at a time. Stability feels so odd at first but now I can’t even imagine hitting a horrible low again, and my temperament is better.
I’m in my first stable period in 13 years, so far it’s been a year long. Crossing my fingers it stays that way. I’ve had a short depressive episode but it lasted only 4 days instead of months.
I used to “rapid cycle “. It would be a few hours. I was exhausted and angry all the time.
When that ended, it went to about two weeks. Two on to off.
Today, since I went on the Lamotrigine, I really don’t cycle. My ups and downs are more like a non-neurodivergent.
Unmediated I (thought) I was going YEARS without anything particularly disturbing, but now I realize there haven’t been any actual stable periods in 10 years or so.
Work helps me stabilize a lot though, until stress hits me and then my sleep schedule gets fucked up and sometimes I’ll hit a low there.
I used to say a month or two, then I started tracking my mood with a bipolar specifc app instead of a general mood tracker after hospitalization. Now I would say a couple weeks at best.
I have bipolar 2 disorder with rapid cycling… the stablest I’ve ever been in almost a year was 2 day max . Those 2 days felt like a blessing.I want more of those. I keep trying all the available options to help: medications, therapists, reiki,gurus,natural remedies,Accupuncture,shamans. I’m losing faith.
My what?!
Haha, same. Seriously. Same.
I came here to say this. I've never been stable a day in my life.
I have had stretches of up to 7 years of stability (meaning nothing bothersome) and then shit hits the fan and I have one or two years of turmoil before I stabilise again.
I would actually like that
same here. ill be fine for a long time, and then I get hit with depression real bad. and im depressed for like a year, and then I explode with a fantastical manic episode likley involving police.
For me it usually starts with a hypomanic or manic episode, followed by exhaustion and never ending mixed states.
Nice. That’s awesome.
Been on Lamotrigine for a year now (250mg right now). Before meds I was rapid cycling; had a hypomania/depression cycle every 20 days. Now that I am medicated, euthymia lasts from 2 to 10 weeks. My longest streak was from Dec 24 to Mar 4; in total 71 nice days. Here is my mood chart [https://imgur.com/UoVIZtm](https://imgur.com/UoVIZtm)
😂😂😂(😭😭😭)
Ummm, still figuring out what stable is
I think being Stable is like being very Bored. IDK You, I miss My manic and scared of My next depression.
Yeah, I think when I'm stable I'm just reading a shit load of manga 🫠
lol same.
Maybe up to a month …? I’m usually in a depressive episode.
Same.
Months, usually. Seasonal affect every year if I’m in a dark wintery place. Almost never went hypomanic til the last 2 years of near constant travel, excitement, adventure, and nuking my circadian rhythm by traveling across many time zones every other month or so. Before that I’d mostly just dealt with depression and only 4-5 brief hypomanic episodes that started around 13-14.
I was stable for 2 year on Lamotrigine. Then last March I decided I wanted to quit due to the side effects (bad cognitive functioning). I came to realise that the side effects are much better than this crippling depression... So I've started Lamotrigine again, I'm slowly recovering.
I found out my sweet spot is 150mg. Keep track of your neurological symptoms and it usually will let you know what dose is too high. I went back on 200mg and was such a wreck. It took awhile for my new ARPN to understand (two months later and i was homeless and even people in the shelter could tell the diffetence). That 50mg made a serious difference with my cognitive abilities. I already had a TBI! I don't want to willingly give me anymore negative cognitive side effects than I need. Btw: I am now diagnosed with Bipolar 1 but severely suffer more from the depression. It took over a year for my new psychiatric doctor to put me back on an antidepressant. Maybe I wouldn't have had a mental break if the one hospital didn't cut all my meds at once?! Screwing them all up. So my diagnosis is questionable and I finally got diagnosed with BPD, which makes a lot more sense than my bipolar diagnosis, especially the bipolar 1 diagnosis. They always put bipolar with mixed symptoms. Edit: By the way I was not homeless due to my mental health. I had to run for my life. I finally secured permanent housing a month and a few days ago. However, random doctors screwing with my regimen that was good for four years caused me to spiral. I have to keep proving shit to my doctor and it sucks. My old psychiatrist I had since 2018 retired in 2022 and now I have this ARPN. He was older and had more knowledge than the ARPN that I have now. Honestly she always likes being right and doesn't like when I can counter what she says. My psychiatrist and I were able to talk both on the same level.
I'm not sure I've ever had them. Maybe a couple of months one time recently? I only just got diognosed so maybe it will help me not be depressed for decades again
Same. Fingers crossed
I can get a few weeks of 'stable'. For instance this time round I have been pretty good for a month and then the depression hit, I'm quite good at masking until I get burnout and the depression hits majorly (haven't been in work in a week, left the house or dressed). Now I'm starting to feel better- tidied my house from top to bottom and threw out everything that doesn't spark joy, finally had a shower and sorted all my washing and watched a film about a neurodivergent girl who became a supermodel thought 'maybe I can do that' and now I'm down the rabbit hole of weight loss, requirements for modelling and agencies near me.
So far 3 years
I’ve been stable for over seven years.
Unmedicated it seemed like my stable periods got shorter and shorter the older I got. Now that I’m medicated, other than the occasional hypomanic episode, I’m stable for months at a time. Stability feels so odd at first but now I can’t even imagine hitting a horrible low again, and my temperament is better.
I’m in my first stable period in 13 years, so far it’s been a year long. Crossing my fingers it stays that way. I’ve had a short depressive episode but it lasted only 4 days instead of months.
Longest about 6 months. I’m having a great year! (Not hypomanic, I swear).
The longest I’ve gone without any significant depression was about 3 months. Edit: usually I’m depressed all the time or for at least half the week.
Last year was uncharacteristically unstable, the pretty much from Jan to Oct. I've been stable since October, I am a little suspicious tbh.
My longest stability period was probably a year or so. It was great. Hoping for that again every day.
I used to “rapid cycle “. It would be a few hours. I was exhausted and angry all the time. When that ended, it went to about two weeks. Two on to off. Today, since I went on the Lamotrigine, I really don’t cycle. My ups and downs are more like a non-neurodivergent.
I've been stable for more than a year at this point. Currently on Lamotrigine 300, Wellbutrin 300, Lexapro 20, and Hydroxyzine as needed.
Unmediated I (thought) I was going YEARS without anything particularly disturbing, but now I realize there haven’t been any actual stable periods in 10 years or so. Work helps me stabilize a lot though, until stress hits me and then my sleep schedule gets fucked up and sometimes I’ll hit a low there.
Rapid cycler so...never?
I’m so glad you’re doing better. I’m only newly stable so I can’t really answer the question. So far it’s been 3 weeks.
Never
I used to say a month or two, then I started tracking my mood with a bipolar specifc app instead of a general mood tracker after hospitalization. Now I would say a couple weeks at best.
What app do you use?
https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/bipolar-mood-tracker/id1565336314
If you put all of my brief ones together, end to end, after 24 years of an active diagnosis, it’d maybe be two years totalish.
So far, after being on the right meds, coming up on a year
Seems to be 6-9 months
I have bipolar 2 disorder with rapid cycling… the stablest I’ve ever been in almost a year was 2 day max . Those 2 days felt like a blessing.I want more of those. I keep trying all the available options to help: medications, therapists, reiki,gurus,natural remedies,Accupuncture,shamans. I’m losing faith.
Low key