How to tread hypomanic episodes without meds?

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I'm having an operation on february 12th and besides agomelatonine and melatonin I don't take any meds.
I was very stable the last view months and because of hughe side effects in the past my shrink and I decidet that we try lithium carbonate AFTER the operation.
So, now here I am, having waaay to much stress, first a friend died one month ago, I was sick during the hollidays, I'm having exams right now and well an operation on february 12th and so on.

Usually I'm not the "rapid cycling type", but first on the beginning of January I had depression, then something in between and now more and more hypomania. Actually it feels good to be "happy" again, but I want it to stay it that way and not rise any further into mania or not even close. But I also don't want to make any experiments with any drugs at the moment short before an operation.

So what can I do to stay at least mostly stable?

That's risky in that something in your life can go wrong in that time. Would it be possible to see about finding a med that won't interfere with your operation or can be out of your system in time?

If all else fails, is there someone you can keep around you most of the time.

This summer I was running a lot, 4-8 miles per day, and I was fairly stable through that. I guess regular exercise and sleep schedule helps.

I guess, I will be alright.
I'm usually not a rapid cycler and I usually also don't get "too high", at least I was never fully psychotic because of Bipolar and was always able to control myself, at least up to some degree.
But I don't want to get it worser than it is at the moment, because I really wouldn't feel confortable being in this situation at the moment and so on.



No, sadly not at the time of the operation, just afterwards, because it's in another city and so on.



Yeah, that's a good idea. Some exercise.
I'm already trying that with the sleep. I also don't smoke, don't drink alcohol and so on, but I can't reduce all of the stress at the moment, but still some.

I have a nine point plan to manage my moods and medication is only one point on that plan. Keeping my circadian rhythms stable is up there with medication, as the most important protective factor against mood swings. I recently went on a 40 hour plane/train journey with little sleep and it messed up my moods the most in two years. I had just started to think I could cope with anything, my moods were swinging only into the mild range -and now I'm trying to cope with moderate to severe mood swings.

After sleep regularity, there is diet (healthy), exercise (regular and moderate), relaxation, cognitive strategies learned in psychology, spiritual practice (whatever floats your boat), keeping a clean environment, avoiding triggers, and doing something you like that grounds you. Okay that's ten then.

I find that there's not much you can do about circumstances of life, such as bereavement, exams, health problems and so forth. They just come up. The point is to be as well protected as possible against these kinds of triggers by following the ten points above.

Good luck with the operation.

Edit: One thing I forgot to mention is to know your early warning signs for each mood state. write them down and give a copy to a trusted person with a simple crisis management plan, so they can assist you if things get out of hand.

Yes, I also look that I don't have too many stressors.
And usually I managed that, put also just since a while. But at the moment it's just very much and I can't even really change it. I think my situation with that much stress would have messed up most at least a bit.
Usually I have my hypomanias very good under controll (with depression not that well, but well enough that I'm able to stay away from psychiatries). I don't drink, look that I sleep enough (if I can't I take melatonin), eat and drink enough and so on and I also look that I am always able to understand my feelings and my situation what helps me that they don't overwhelm me. But sometimes it's still too much.
At the moment I also can hardly change it, I have the operation and so on. So I have hardly any other choice.



I like that list, maybe I should also start a list like this, together with a mood chart.
I'm printing a mood chart at the moment.
Also a point of my "list" in my head is to recognize my mood soon, because just that way I can keep it under control and so I have to listen to my "inner voice".



Hm, maybe I should talk about it a bit with my shrink, but I noticed that I can keep my mood for a very long time even to myself even without showing it and most of the time I'm the first person who notice it and even shrinks missinterpreted my mood very often. I think this is due to my ASD.

So I calmed down mainly with rest and so on (not totally).
I have another examen tomorrow and I dunno if I'll pass or not, but if not I have to do the course again, so nothing too tragic, even if I don't want to.
But at least I'm a lot more stable now and the operation and that I stay at least mostly stable the next weeks and don't end up in a mental instituation or so is much more important.

Okay, maybe not really.

But at least a bit better.

Your advice sounds very similar to the advice I received in hospital. The crisis management plan is especially familiar.

Yes, I suppose that it's because it's what the hospital told me to do. After my first hospitalisation with psychotic features (bipolar was not yet diagnosed then) I had some help from the early intervention psychosis team. I had a case manager, an occupational therapist, who was excellent - everything we hope for in a professional. I had a great deal of trust in her which was not misplaced. And so I recovered. Until I stopped taking my medication...