What is it like?
How long does it last?
Does it ramp up?
Any way to stop it progressing?
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Anyone have any advice?
Sometime it lasts for hours, sometimes for days. I plan a lot when I have it. I plan trips, buy groceries to make elaborate meals, and plan visits with friends. When I come down from it, I’m canceling trips, throwing out food I never cooked, and canceling with friends. With it, I exercise. I lift more than usual, do more reps, and last longer, almost like I never get tired. Without it, I force myself to walk. During mania, my thoughts run so fast I have a hard time thinking anything through. I miss steps in tasks because I’m rushing. I’m either short with people because I move on to the next task, or I exhaust them with question after question. I stay out all day, going from one thing to the next. I dread bedtime because I know I won’t be able to sleep.
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How do you control it?
Both habits and meds?
I’ve had mixed depression.
Thoughts are racing so fast you can’t keep up with them.
You can’t think.
You have boundless energy.
You jump between extreme euphoria and deep depression.
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It is hard to explain. It is different for everyone.
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In the past I learned to use it to my benefit. I have a personal motto, “do what I can when I can”. Often in mania, I did what I didn’t do during depression. I spent more time with my family, I visited friends, I cleaned the house, I read. I almost used it as a timeof preparation for the depression to come when I would do less of those things.
However, the mania has gotten worse. It’s more intense now. It’s no longer helpful. I can’t focus because my mind is too full and my body too active.
I still try and do what I can when I can, but I put safeguards in place. I drive less. I plan where I am going and do not add stops.I make lists when shopping and stick to them. I do not add to the schedule or make commitments I will not be able to keep.
I talk to a counselor. I often hallucinate during mania. The counselor helps me to check my safeguards. He also lets me tell him about the hallucinations. He doesn’t try and calm me down. He lets me talk fast, jump from one subject to the next, and ask questions. He rolls with it. I listen to him if he brings up concerns or worries.
I also take Lithium and Latuda
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TY for the long reply! 
How long does each phase last?
Any pattern?
What about memory and focus, does it wax and wane?
What about eating and sleeling regularly? Does any particular approach keep everything okay?
I have big issues with bad memory and focus.
Isn’t having mania suppose to be great?
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You have great insight. Wonderful questions!
I do not notice a pattern. Maybe I will learn it. I’m usually manic for two-three nights, but I get spikes for hours during some days.
It affects my memory in two ways. First, I view my long-term memory with opportunity. I see the good in it. I see my accomplishments. I see problems as small and overcomable. Second, my short-term memory becomes shorter. I do not retain information. I forget what someone told me. I forgot steps to certain tasks. I forget what I just read or what I planned to do.
It affects my focus. I might read the first two letters of a word without taking the time to read the whole word. Even short words. I make up a different word than it is. I don’t hear everything a person tells me, and I miss pieces of messages I’m listening to. I jump from one task or job to another and then another quickly, without finishing my work.
I sleep less. I have a hard time falling asleep, I wake up during the night with a lot of energy ready to start the day, and I spring out of bed in the morning.
I eat less or not at all without feeling hungry. Or I eat more mindlessly not feeling full. I feel less physically in mania. I don’t feel cold. I can wear summer clothes in winter.
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@anon12381882
It’s not great for me. It’s not always happy. It’s better than depression, but you know the low is coming and will hit hard. It creates unrealistic expectations that can’t be met. You can not sustain your lifestyle. You crave the high again so normal life feels boring and intolerable. You feel worthless when you aren’t manic because you can’t do as much. It’s not worth it. I also hallucinate with mania, so my thoughts get ahead of me. I can’t keep up with myself. I create expectations for other people that they can’t meet, because they can’t keep up with me either. I become angry in mania because I just want more. It is unsatisfying.
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When I get manic now I spend many many thousands of dollars with nothing to show for it.
Now my brother takes care of finances.
When I was young and manic i had way too much sex and drugs and alcohol.
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This is the best way to deal with it from my experience. You burn it off through exercise until it fades. You give your body something to do while you’re waiting for it to fade. Like they say, idle hands are the devil’s workshop. If I don’t burn it off through vigorous exercise I am likely to get up to mischief.
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Plus vandalism and pranks, for me, in my experience.
Yep, that’s what happens if I don’t channel it into exercise.
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I only had hypomania due to antidepressant, I guess
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Sometimes my thoughts start going in loops and I can’t make decisions easily. Sometimes I get agitated, that’s when I’m having a mixed episode. Sometimes I’m happy for no reason and I barely need sleep, I’m bubbly. I spend money I don’t have by opening new credit cards or borrowing money. I will sing and talk loudly no matter if anyone is around to listen. I draw attention to myself and wear brightly colored clothing. I gamble and put back the winnings. I do drugs to cap the high. I have difficulty concentrating and I have no follow through on the 10 projects I start. I’m social and talkative. I’m promiscuous. I’m inconsiderate. I have no insight. I never want it to end.
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I had mania. It was great!!! I had all kinds of energy and I lost a bunch of weight. I felt like I could do anything.
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I’ve had full mania twice . Both times felt like I was on a ton of cocaine. It would feel really good at times, other times it would be frightening and I would have nonsensical epiphanies. All in all I’m sure it effected my brain negatively.
I am sza bipolar type and when i was younger i had more euphoric manias. I felt overly happy, wound up and able to do anything. I talked a lot and my mind raced with creative thoughts. As i’ve gotten older i have more mixed manias, with dysphoric depressive moods. It’s pretty intense and uncomfortable.
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