there is no other way than meds as a first line defense, be very careful with these alternative methods, and supplements..if they were all so great your pdoc would gladly recommend this methods, but unfortunately as of yet there is just not enough solid evidence that proves this. stay on your meds, try things like meditating and relaxation techniques..but adherence to meds is , well for me anyway.. my first line of treatment and when i do go of my meds, i believe i am great, what i dont realize this is the sick me talking, not the well me, everyone is different, and copes with there disease in different ways..but i have never heard anything good coming out of stopping meds.

I cannot imagine stopping meds - I did it once and was completely incapacitated.  Having said that, I am still trying, after 11 years, to find the right combination of meds.  Granted, I spent many of those years drinking, which certainly affected the efficacy of many of those combinations.  Still, I agree that it is very hard to be a good judge of whether are not you are "fine" when you go off of your meds. Like I said, I just stopped functioning when I tried, but I do know that often, the best judge of a bipolar person's mental state is someone else. 

my wife just had a doctor to tell her she is bipolar. She is 33 yrs. old and had smoked pot since she was 16, but quit because of our daughter, she is 9. My wife quit when she started asking questions, and because of it being against the law. she is on seroquel but I don't like what it has done to her, she is just not herself,they should change the law to allow for this, it is the only drug that has made here level.