Remission?

I was reading an article on BP magazine's site and it talked about 3 states of BP instead of 2. The 3rd was remission. When I was diagnosed in 1994, what got me in was the almost unrelenting depression. I didn't realize at the time that the short "break" I got from the depression was hypomania. My wife sort of did; she didn't know that's what it was but it was a big part of going in because she disagreed about me being "better". Anyway, in the year before and the 23 years since the diagnosis I have ever had a day without the fog and always feel either depressed or hypomanic. Most common by a wide margin is slightly to moderately depressed.

Anyway, do most people have periods with no symptoms? Does the fog go away?

I tend to have more highs than lows, but I wouldn't say I've never been completely normal for long. I had an odd number of stable days recently that lasted around a week, but I've been getting lil hypo bits here and there since my therapy Wednesday. Nothing too terrible though, which is nice.

I get that. Since I was about 13 or so, I've always gotten horribly depressed. But I would snap out of it for a while and eventually get depressed again. I don't think I got a manic episode until I was about 25 (at least, as far as I can remember). I only recall having mania 3 times in my life and they were spaced out (25, 29, and 32 years old). So I mainly shifted between terrible depression and stable, with a mania every now and then. Now that I am properly medicated, I have been in "remission" for a little over a year.

I feel like I am getting ripped off - I was supposed to be getting vacation time all these years? It has been so long that I barely remember totally stable but I had no persistent head fog until my early 30s and had long spells of being clear headed without mania or depression. I had spells of both, but did not really recognize them as such, back into my teens. I have finally gone over a month without being depressed but the head fog hasn't lifted.

My pdoc thinks she can lift the fog. That has been about 25 years; it preceded my first really long depressive episode.

In all honesty- I don't like it. It's sort of boring.

Now, my depression gets really bad and lasts a long time (up to 6 months), and I have been hospitalized for it 4 times because of self-harm and suicide attempts. So I don't want this back. But I have spent most of my life depressed, so it just feels strange not being depressed?? I miss my ups though. Maybe not my last manic episode. Maybe most of it though. I like the euphoria and generally, my mania isn't so bad. So I wish I would get manic, just so I can feel good. Because I mostly just feel "meh". I still get anxiety though, that hasn't gone away.

I dunno, I just don't feel like me being stable. It's a strange feeling. I'm in the process of getting off of my anti-psychotic though, so only time will tell if I get any moods back. I just hope that the Lamotrigine is strong enough to stave off my depression. Either way, I am done with AP's. Too many side effects.

It is easier to resist euphorics when I get some euphoria for free. When I was depressed, it was really hard not to drink or take prescription drugs when I had them to get some relief. My pattern was about 3-8 months of depression then around 5 days of hypomania. Wash, rinse, repeat and the next hing I know over 20 years have passed that way. Stable would be nice to try to get bored with for at least a few days.
I think I have other stuff going on that hasn't been diagnosed, especially with regard to how little I feel sometimes and some of my more disturbing thoughts. The me behind the inner most facade is probably "somewhere on the spectrum".

Yeah, constant shifting moods with no break in between is no doubt tiresome. Some stability would seem nice.

I'm the opposite from you- when I'm depressed I lay off of the alcohol. I just stay in my bedroom and don't talk to anyone. When I'm stable I drink, and when I'm manic I drink even more. Although lately I haven't been wanting to drink much at all. Maybe 1 drink here and there. It gets gross after a while.

This slight hypo is sort of stable. I have some symptoms - racing thoughts, tripping over words, inappropriate comments - but not as bad as most short episodes. It's lasted several weeks and I haven't been immortal even once. That is my recurring delusion. I don't think I have had any delusions (but maybe I am deluded to think that ) and I have noticed when I am condescending, stopped an apologized. It is possible I have done it without realizing and stopping though. I edit posts substantially before clicking submit; missing letters/words and sometimes things are out of order but I am aware enough to do it. Long winded way of saying this level of hypo is pretty manageable and hopefully no harder on others than me being slightly depressed.

Like I've said before, if it isn't causing any harm to yourself or others, I would just roll with it. I had a manic episode once where I was very productive- I started an exercise routine (at 6 am), I excelled at work (but declined the promotion), and bought a ton of stuff to revamp my bedroom. I hardly slept (maybe 4-5 hours a night), was extremely talkative, and the other typical symptoms, but it wasn't causing any harm. It was enjoyable. I wish I could always feel that way. But of course, I crashed. And I crashed hard.

I've felt depressed and on some days when I have mood swings, I feel slightly depressed. I feel part of me is just this melancholic type of personality nowadays. That would be me on my "mostly stable" days. When completely stable I just feel so good. And I'm not hypomanic. When I've recently been hypomanic, I've felt rushed and everything seemed to speed up. Hypersexual behavior intensifies and a lot of racing thoughts, but it does not reach mania. Then I have a few days of low mood. My crash is not bad at all compared to past depression. I really think it's the moods trying to go up or down, mostly down as in depression, but my meds keep me on track. I no longer have the "fog" you describe but on a bad day and when my mood swings are taking place, I feel some slight "fog" and I just let it pass (as it usually does) and then I'm ok. I hide out at home a lot. I just can't deal with much more than everyday stuff. My level of energy and/or moods don't allow for it. That's just how I am, is my belief.