What symptoms do people have just before an episode of bi-polar mania?

Why do you ask?

You should consult with your physician.

Talk to your doctor. I can’t speak for your hair, but I wonder if the metal taste in your mouth is from a medication.

Manic episodes are about how you are thinking. In manic phase, people see themselves as more creative, observant and clear thinking . I don’t know what “empty chest” is supposed to mean, but it doesn’t convey anything. If your response to reading this is, “Well it should, it’s perfect” then I’d say, yeah, you may be coming into manic phase.

Why do you suspect you may have this issue? If you’ve been diagnosed, you were given a fistful of literature, which you should read and take for granted. It may not be perfect, but it’s going to be a whole lot better than what your brain – in manic throes – is going to make up for you.

It takes enormous self control to resist acting on manic thoughts. It helps if you have someone close to you whom you are willing to trust enough to forgo your impulses and to ignore those very clear ideas that pop into your head. If you have a person like that in your life, you should talk to them and take what they say as gospel.

I think it is one of the great conundrums of bipolar disorder—am I getting manic? The only way to know, I think, is look at your past behavior when you were manic, and monitor for those symptoms. Then, as soon as you realize these symptoms are seeming a little stronger than normal variation, you check in with your therapist. I do not believe there are any obvious physical symptoms.

The hollow feeling in your chest is something I felt before going into a depression. My chest felt hollow and heavy and unexplainably sad.

I think there could be many reasons for the metallic taste in your mouth. I’m pretty sure that’s a known side effect of any number of meds. Oily hair might also be a side effect. I know when I take lithium, my scalp gets all fucked up. I actually stop washing it, because it’s worse without the oil. Washing my hair removes all the oil and my scalp gets even worse. I think.

Are you taking meds? Have you been diagnosed? How many manic episodes have you had? What do you do when manic?