i believe that my sons bipolor is rapid cycling... He is not on a drug plan so he does not take any meds for his bipolor... Instead he comes to me and we do talk therapy...... I help him apply "self talk" most times it works , he has the odd slip but for the most part , we are able to work through the moods he gets

he has alot more mood cycles than i, I am bipolor 1, and had the clasic mania , he is different

I too am a rapid cyclyer (i know I am not spelling that right but I have been up for 73 hrs now) I was diagnosed first with depression way back in 1995 and was not correctly given the right diagnoses until several years later. I was given so many different drugs over months and months of time I felt like I was taking drugs to get full instead of eating. It affected my thinking, my everyday life. I went from a working newly divorced single mom to a blob with one day all sobs and then a few hours later laughter and hyper and all that goes with that. I have tried geodon and it gave me bad side effects as did several other drugs I have been on over the years. Now my bipolar has decided to be more manic than depressive and I go days without sleeping at all. I can function a bit better but still cannot work. My short memory is terrible. I take depakote er and lithium carbonate along with klonopin three times a day. I also do therapy with a psychotherapist which has been the greatest help of all.

Good luck to you and don't let the doctors push you around. They really don't know what will work for each individual. Research the drugs and your condition on the internet then take that information to the shrink and say "hey, how about this? What would this do to help me?" they don't always like you taking charge, but its your life and your condition. They don't have to live with it. :o

I some time ultra rapid cycle and can cycle with in 30 mins, it's not fun at all. Wellburtrin just make me more depressed, I take depakote and it works for me. I'll be starting zypraexa(spelling?) in the morning.

Day six here with a total about 1hr of depression spread in about 5 min slots through the week. I take lithium for the light-of-speed thought and zyprexa. They do seem to help as I stay manic longer but have cut the hypermanic time and damange. It also cut my depression time and I now lie on the couch a few days feeling like a train wreck instead of a week or so of feeling like a nuclear test site. I need to back to the Dr.(missed lats 2 appoint.) I like to hit a straight piece of highway for quite a few miles before adding more curves. Plus I really do enjoy the manic thing. Keeps my shop clean

i detest know i'll be pilling the rest of my life but at least now I looking toward the rest of my life.

Nice to meet you.

I'm now taking zyprexa with the depakote and seem to be doing better.
But still have alot of depression. The zyprexa I think makes me want to sleep more. I still cycle really fast. May it just a normal up and down day.