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stimulants and mood disorders

Posted by g_g_g_unit on April 9, 2011, at 0:59:17

I've been curious about the interaction between stimulants and mood disorders, given my not-so-favorable reaction to first Dexedrine and now Strattera ..

On 5mg Dexedrine, I noticed an increase in anxiety and OCD ruminations, in addition to a general speeding up of my thought processes (albeit not to the point where my mind was overwhelmed or concentration became impossible). I was also more hyper-focused and irritable.

On 2.5mg of Dexedrine, sometimes I noticed an improvement in focus, sometimes I just wanted to fall asleep.

Strattera was similar, although at 40mg I noticed that my thoughts became a kind of blur - as if they were moving at warp-speed. They were also restricted to the back of my mind and did not completely hijack my consciousness. Like Dexedrine, these effects seemed dose-dependent and I think I may have seen the best results on just 10mg.

My psychiatrist has said that racing thoughts + irritability on a stimulant isn't diagnostic of Bipolar, though I've been diagnosed atypical depression in the past and know there is some overlap between the two disorders, which is why I'm now curious ..

I should note that I've only really experienced racing thoughts in relation to OCD. My current state is one of depression and mental/physical inertia - yet I find that whenever I take something to 'wake up', I end up swung too far the other end, feeling more mentally racy and wound-up inside. Even caffeine's been causing this reaction in me. My concentration problems predate any anxiety/depression issues, so I'm quite convinced I do have ADHD.

So is it possible to a) just be highly sensitive to stimulants, b) be more susceptible to overstimulation due to high baseline anxiety, or c) does what I describe point more towards a mood disorder on the BP spectrum?

 

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