I went untreated until my early 50s, and for a time after I was diagnosed the manic episodes got more and more frequent, to say nothing of intense. It took a couple of years to get it under some semblance of control, and I'm happy to say that my last full-blown mania was in October of 2013. Now I just become hypomanic from time to time, but I can thank meds for that, not necessarily age, although I am 60 and have mellowed out a lot in other ways too.
__________________
DX: Bipolar 1
Anxiety
Tardive dyskinesia
Mild cognitive impairment
RX: Celexa 20 mg
Gabapentin 1200 mg
Geodon 40 mg AM, 60 mg PM
Klonopin 0.5 mg PRN
Lamictal 500 mg
Levothyroxine 125 mcg (rx'd for depression)
Trazodone 150 mg
Zyprexa 7.5 mg
Please come visit me @ http://bpnurse.com