Posted by g_g_g_unit on April 9, 2011, at 5:58:49
In reply to Re: stimulants and mood disorders, posted by Christ_empowered on April 9, 2011, at 3:40:27
> The "bipolar spectrum" can both expand and contract, depending on the psychiatrist you're talking to. Euphoric response to stimulants+amphetamine psychosis are more common in bipolar (according to my ex-shrink), although they can happen to people who aren't bipolar and they don't happen to all bipolar people (some people w/ bipolar take amphetamines for depression w/o any problems). I don't think your response to stimulants is necessarily indicative of a mild bipolar disorder; it probably means you just need to be more cautious in using "uppers" than your average joe/jane.
>Thanks for responding. I did experience some mild euphoria on Dexedrine, though it typically accompanied my morning dose, and the effect completely vanished after a week.
I did have two other unusual experiences on Dexedrine: 1) formication (i.e. the sensation of bugs crawling on my skin), though I was never under the impression that bugs actually *were* crawling on my skin, so I don't believe that constitutes psychosis.
2) I was initially instructed to take 5mg 4x a day, including 5mg at bedtime. Not surprisingly, I couldn't sleep at all the first night, so ended up taking an Ambien. The next day, I noticed that if I stared at the clouds for a while, they started to flicker or seemed animated, but once I refrained from dosing at night, I never noticed anything like that again . .
> What else leads you to think you might have a mild bipolar disorder? Do you think you'd benefit from lithium, an anticonvulsant, or a neuroleptic?
I have no idea. That's why I was putting my reaction out there, i.e. I wasn't sure if racing thoughts in anxiety or stimulant overdoses differed from those in bipolar (for example, do they tend to overwhelm your consciousness in Bipolar, or will they sometimes remain at the back of your mind?) and if the experience I described sounded more like one or the other etc.
poster:g_g_g_unit
thread:982316
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110406/msgs/982323.html