If you are bipolar I, then being on an antidepressant and a stimulant for ADHD constantly tends to elevate your mood, causing swings. And then perhaps your organic predisposition causes you to switch from high to low, and you treat low mood with antidepressant, sending yourself into a spiral. If you truly have Bipolar or even just cyclothymia, your current medication mix is counterindicated for you. It is cyclothymia, not dysthymia, right? The latter is treated with antidepressants.
Separately, since you cycle so much, you might benefit from keeping a mood journal to see patterns and help identify triggers of swings.
Psy-doc is called a pdoc on these forums for short. Did the pdoc take all your history into account before suggesting the cyclothymia dx (diagnosis)?
These are my things, but I cannot help with your initial query since I have a full blown Bipolar I. Maybe someone with a milder form steps in with a description of their symptoms.
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Bipolar I w/psychotic features
Last inpatient stay in 2018
Lybalvi 10 mg
Naltrexone 75 mg
Gabapentin 1500 mg+Vitamin B-complex (against extrapyramidal side effects)
Long-term side effects from medications, some of them discontinued:
- Hypothyroidism
- Obesity BMI ~ 38
Last edited by Tart Cherry Jam; Mar 01, 2024 at 11:17 PM.
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