It never works. It's always a trap. The medications help you remain on an even keel regardless of how effective you personally feel they are acting. You don't notice when you're doing just okay, you generally only notice when you're doing great or poorly. When you feel great it's an easy decision to think you can ditch the meds but then eventually you will degrade to a manic episode or a depressive episode.

This is the classic bipolar trap. Hitting a manic period and ditching the meds is an incredibly dangerous activity and often results in terrible social consequences.

The thing about meds is that they are entirely dependent on biochemistry - stuff that works for me might not work for you. Ultimately the best thing you can do for yourself is not just accept whatever the doctor orders, but to make an informed decision. There is a catalogue/database of all the issuable medications available, their benefits and potential side effects - whenever your doctor issues medications ask them to go over everything with you so you can make an informed decision over your own care.

Anecdotally, I found good efficacy with atypical antipsychotics like Latuda on top of mood stabilizers like Wellbutrin and Pristiq.

I'm a "mild" case of BP2, unsure of the exact diagnosis as doctors here just slap bipolar and specify the episode. It might be cyclothymia, I don't really care anymore but it doesn't matter because it seems under control. I'll spare the details but my psychiatrist gave me the freedom to play with the dosage of my meds. It's a special case.

That said, the first time I was diagnosed with depression and put on a common AP/Antidepressant combo for my country (it's terrible but the AP alone actually worked for me after re-evaluation). I decided I was better and stopped them cold turkey. I've never cried so hard in my life. After that I learned my lesson and took my meds. I try to take as little meds as possible to maintain my mood, as sometimes meds themselves can be the culprit.

If you have meds that work well, how could you tell?

I can think straight, sleep well, feel emotion without it being blunted, and live my life normally. It's a fine line to walk and it took a lot of trial and error. Flupentixol worked but it tended to exacerbate my mania shortly after stabilizing me. Pregabalin shoots me into mania the next day, SSRIs do that too. Carbamazepine almost worked without side effects but only for a short while. I might give it a try again but I don't like how it messed with my liver. Aripiprazole gave me all the side effects at once. See the pattern? Trial and error. **I've had most of the above for at least 1-2 months before deciding they don't work with regular psychiatrist visits. **

Currently low dose quetiapine handled my hypomania (mostly poor sleep, irritability, and hyperfocus on interests). That came after a six month depressive episode is which got taken care of by Trazodone, and interestingly enough, did not trigger mania.

Anyways, how many times did you think you were cured and stop taking meds?

Not a single time. I know my dad's family case, his sister was disabled by the illness, his father died from a vascular problem probably aggravated by his crisis. My dad used antipsychotics his entire life. All undiagnosed, their were just treated with anti-psicotics If really think there is a cure for bipolar you just read the half of story

I'm just glad that I discovered the illness before I killed myself, I'm also glad that I can do the treatment. This illness is not fair, but is not fair to ppl that like you to see you away of yourself.