If you have ever been around a bipolar person, you'll notice that everything is about them, and a lot of things go hand in hand with that disease.

Bipolar disorder often goes hand-in-hand with borderline personality disorder, which looks like this (courtesy of Wikipedia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderline_personality ): ~Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment such as lying, stealing, temper tantrums, etc. [Not including suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5] ~A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation. ~Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self. ~Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., promiscuous sex, eating disorders, binge eating, substance abuse, reckless driving, overspending, stealing). [Again, not including suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5] ~Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, threats, or self-mutilating behavior. ~Chronic feelings of emptiness, worthlessness. ~Inappropriate anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights). [There are a more criteria- I snipped a couple.] People with BPD tend to seem EXTREMELY narcissistic (me, me, me), because they're fighting a horrid self-image and fear of abandonment. I myself have both bipolar and BPD, but thankfully my meds and my doctors keep me just on the right side of 'normal'. ^_^

In my experience with one particular person, YES.

i do think most suffer from highly elevated ego

My wife is bipolar, and went through a time where narcissism was prevalent. Now on good meds, is doing much better. Answer to your question seems to be YES. Meds can help.

I could write about all the technical stuff, but I will try to be simple in answering your question. I think maybe during a manic cycle there may be more narcisstic behaviors, because the ego is trying to survive the chaos it is suffering. The narcisstic thoughts during the manic cycle are "grandiose" thoughts--feeling like you are "god-like". ---During the depressive phase, the person is in a state of extreme lack of self-worth,so thoughts may actually be the opposite. Since bi-polar illness goes through phases (cycles), a lot of people are quite "normal" at times. MEdication is meant to prevent the extreme highs and lows. So the question is: what is normal? We are caring, considerate, loving, etc. and yes all the negative things just like everyone else. Bi-polar illness is an imbalance of body chemistry. Since it affects mood, they call it a mental illness. Heck, I've known some awfully egotistic people whose attitude is "me, me, me", but they aren't mentally ill. (?) To say that narcissism goes hand in hand with bi-polar is to stereotype the disease. No fair!

for you, yes