Posted by JohnX2 on November 3, 2001, at 15:53:23
In reply to Adderall help, posted by Peter on November 3, 2001, at 13:57:19
Let's see.
The 1st time I took Adderall it made me severly
manic and I was nauseaus as all heck. This was
before I got a bipolar diagnosis. On Subsequent
dosing, the Adderall had less of an effect on
me (the nausea and spaciness went away). After
3 days, it had no effect. It just sounds like
on your 1st experience it went a little
balistic on you, which seems reasonable given
you lowered your depakote, and Adderall can be
pretty powerful for a bipolar. My dosing was
in the 20-40mg range when it stabilized, and
I only got a smooth Adderall response while
also taking klonopin.I was depressed when I took the adderall so when
it wore off i just returned to being about the
same depressed.Suppose you took your standard dose of depakote
with the adderall? I found that klonopin
substantially smoothed out my adderall response
and others have reported success with neurontin.
Both are anti-convulsants. Maybe the older dose
of depakote + the adderall would work out?
You are already familiar with depakote so
raising the dose a little to counter the adderall
may balance things out and would be a quicky
experiment.Just a suggestion.
BTW, if you don't want to take an addictive
med for ADD, then Wellbutrin is the obvious
choice to augment your depakote (if you
haven't already tried). Effexor would be 2nd.
Plus if they worked they would have the same
mood elevating effect. I'm guessing you've
maybe tried these meds in the past though,
because usually the doctor would give wellbutrin
before trying adderall for the obvious
addiction concern.-john
> Hello all:
> I've been diagnosed over the years with mild bipolar/SP. I've been on many mood stabilizers, finally settling on depakote, and have tried many SSRI's, which resulted in problems. I'm also on daily klonopin for SP/panic. It wasn't until I decreased the depakote as a test over a few months (my pdoc monitered me closely) that alot of other things about my mood rose to the surface (I think the years of depakote might have masked these new mood tendencies instead of targeting them). All of these newly apparent mood problems fall under the catagory of ADD, especially since I began to remember I had the same tendencies when I was a little kid. So, my pdoc told me at our last session that I have a combo bipolar/SP/ possible ADD diagnosis, and he just prescribed Adderall. I just took my first 2.5mg dose about 4 hours ago, and I noticed that I started feeling pretty good when it kicked in. I was calmer, more focused, and mildly euphoric. But I've also experienced a bit of nausea and spaciness. Now I feel sort of 'crashy' - low energy, low mood, and I feel like taking my second dose. My questions are: 1) Anyone experience these feelings (both the good and the side-effects)? 2) I don't want to be on this drug if I don't have ADD, especially since I had a past drug abuse problem. Are the effects the same for someone who has ADD and for someone who doesn't? I mean, I would think that either way anyone would feel good on it. Is it possible to tell if you have ADD by how you respond to the first few doses? I'd really like some input. Thanks.
poster:JohnX2
thread:83085
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011025/msgs/83096.html