Take my meds. :)

When I'm gone I'm goooooooooooooooone

Not silly at all. I watch for changes in sleeping patterns, especially. I think there's some good pointers on websites with BP info, out there ie/ Mayo clinic one seemed ok.

Um, sometimes it can be caught before galloping out the gates, I believe!
People around you can also keep an eye peeled for certain changes. Pdoc, for example!

sometimes i see it coming and sometimes i don't. either way i know when to take a time out and to just be by myself and just concentrate on breathing. thats all i think about and all i know to do. i zone out on my body and what it needs to relax. when i am calm, and feeling a bit better i can come back and face whatever it is that has hit me. sometimes it is a ton of bricks that has hit me so i might have to sleep on it. other times my 10 minute time outs work. i only take my meds once a day so taking them more doesn't do any good. i've just learned to notice when i get too worked up and to calm myself down.

If you take your meds, you're greatly increasing odds of reaching some semblance of 'relative' stability. Assuming, you're BP1? It does make a difference. Do think that as you get more experience with your own condition you get more clued up as far as keeping tabs on mood & things you can do to improve quality of life.
Like- meds..get the sleep you need..not drink & drug self into oblivion...um, exercise..actually can help. The right meds. A good doctor. Support of friends & family. It's doable. Good Luck.

yeah, sometimes things are so grim your best option is to take a nap! & that's okay! Whatever works.

no and no not for me, have to go through the whole episode to get over it.

I can see the signs of depression coming on and if I can't seem to work through it with the tdoc I call the pdoc.

Hide under the duvet !

i can feel it. however right now i am so happy it is christmas time i am elated. don't know whether it is mania or hypomania, since i don't remember feeling either of those things. my sleep and spending is in control(most likely due to the fact we are broke, lol) i am not fidgeting all about or anything just happy. maybe i am just stable right now and waiting for the other foot to drop come january. but when the bad times come, it hits me like a brick, but i do get the sense it is coming. hopefully with my maintenance ECTs i will beat the depression more effectively.

My mania I can see coming because it manifests itself in insomnia and after a few days, before I get out of control, I see the DR. Depression is slower coming on and a lot harder for me to realize. I have only been dx'ed over a year but I do think that I am learning the warning signs.

It's not silly at all. I think we all have red flags, whether we notice them or not is another story.

If my sleep starts going off that's a big one for me too. If I get angry about things that normally don't bother me. If I crave sweets. If I smoke more than usual. I have a sensory disorder so if I am more sensitive to touch, sound or light- then I know something is off.

Another thing I look for is obsessive thoughts, gory graphic 'blips' that pop into my head and I can't control and inappropriate fear.

When this happens I take my PRN meds and call my pdoc and therapist to get in asap. I can't let the swing get too bad because once the monster is off the chain it's a lot harder to get it back under control. Especially being BP1 with psychosis, it's dangerous for me to go off the grid.

I can't see it coming unless I sleep less. Outside of that I become a big time jerk, don't notice it, then crash everywhere.

Sleep and energy levels are big ones for me - too much energy w/little sleep signals mania is on its way; too little energy w/too much sleep signals depression is coming. By the time I withdraw or start shopping and yelling, it's already started.

I can def. see my manic starting when i start talking and answering every single thread on DS and shopping till i hit every store in town and cleaning listening to music that i can't listen to while depressed sometimes i do things that i regret later