Posted by Elizabeth on March 26, 2002, at 20:39:11
In reply to About Possible ADD » Mags, posted by IsoM on March 25, 2002, at 22:43:40
> Excuse me for jumping in but I read in your post that "I actually tried Speed as a teenager and slept for three days!" That sort of reaction sounds very much like you've got ADD traits, no matter what else you may have.
Some people just don't get activated on amphetamine -- it's just an unusual reaction, it doesn't necessarily mean that you have ADD. (If that were true, it'd be easy to test people for ADD.) It is interesting how some people have these so-called "paradoxical" reactions, though. (I'm the same way: I took several different stimulants at various times and they didn't make me at all tired -- and on the other hand, opioids act like stimulants for me.)
On a different subject: that's interesting what happened to you when you were taking lithium (I know it wasn't interesting to you at the time, of course!). The reaction you had to lithium after you had the crash sounds very much like lithium toxicity, but I don't know why that would happen all of a sudden. Did you have your lithium levels, kidney function, etc. checked when you were on it?
I think your pdoc has a good point, a lot of things about your history suggest bipolar II. I don't think that ECT has been researched in bipolar II people, though. It has been known to trigger mania on occasion, so keep your eyes open for that sort of thing. ECT isn't supposed to be very good for atypical unipolar depression, but that might not apply to bipolar II atypical depression.
Speaking of atypical depression, though, I don't recall you mentioning whether you'd tried any MAOIs. Have you? Intolerance of other ADs doesn't necessarily mean that you won't tolerate MAOIs -- they have different sorts of side effects than other ADs, and you might well find them less troublesome.
Anyway -- I hope the ECT helps you. Keep posting if you can.
best,
-elizabeth
poster:Elizabeth
thread:97068
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020322/msgs/100403.html