ADHD, bipolar, or schizophrenia?

Obviously no one here can diagnose me, but I'm curious because I've gotten all three of these diagnoses in the past.

I was first diagnosed with ADHD before I can really remember (probably age 4 or so) but at around age 11, I was told that I didn't have it (don't know why) and we stopped meds.

Since my diagnosis of bipolar, my mom has insisted that I must have just been hypomanic most of my childhood.

I've also noticed that my negative and disorganized symptoms of schizophrenia (schizoaffective disorder) are similar to extreme ADD...

When I was on meds for ADHD, I remember being irritable, frustrated, and moody. I also had reduced ability to feel emotions. They didn't help with my concentration, organization, or impulsivity at all, but I guess they might have helped with hyperactivity?

I was just wondering if anyone else had a similar reaction to ADHD meds and whether that's typical of someone with or without it...

Ok, so I found this article on ADHD vs. childhood bipolar...

Like I said, I was diagnosed with ADHD at a young age. I didn't get diagnosed with bipolar until last year (age 17) but the symptoms were there earlier. The other thing is that my schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder was early-onset as well, so that could explain why the bipolar symptoms were there early.
That was pretty much my childhood attention-wise. Not sure about energy-wise?
I definitely have strong "happy" reactions. Not so much strong "sad" reactions unless something really bad happens. It's hard to tell whether my high moods were the cause or result of good things happening...
My moods don't change that quickly, I don't think... My high moods in adolescence lasted days, but that's either too long for ADHD or too short for bipolar...

My grandfather was diagnosed with manic-depression, but I don't think anyone in my family has ADHD.

blackwhitered, can you post the link to the article or PM it to me? I'm really interested in reading it.

I'm still uncertain about what is hypomanic and what is ADHD.

Is It Bipolar Disorder or ADHD? Symptoms and Treatment of Bipolar Disorder | ADDitude - Attention Deficit Information & Resources

I went in to a old *** psych doctor diagnosed with ADHD (actual testing on pc) and immediately he started tapering me off paxil (weight gain side effects) in a matter of four weeks (january) and then when I had a freaking meltdown with the side effects (suicidal, negative thoughts) he all of a sudden had me answer a questionnaire and declared me bipolar and told me to stop all ADHD meds (concerta 36 mg), lexapro and something with an S (giving the day before). He issued samples of latuda and two days in the nausea was so bad, I quit. I am nursing on the pink stuff (pepto) to kill the nausea but needless to say If I find a another local doc with an appointment open, I am done with this quack. He had the never to tell me when I called and told him this medicine makes me naseous to come get another prescription to stop the sick feelings. I immediately told him no, purchased the pink stuff, and made up in my own mind I will not have a doctor put me on meds just from a questionnaire. I need more evidence which is why I got tested on a computer and other test to confirm ADHD, not a questionnaire.

1. I would say I am ADHD because I failed the 1st grade (who does that?), grades sucked, struggled with classes even in college now I struggle)

2. Consistency of impairment: ADHD is chronic and always present. I cannot ever remember where I would put the car keys so I find places that I can remember to put things I need. My keys are now always near the front door so I can walk out.

3. Mood triggers: People with ADHD are passionate, and have strong emotional reactions to events, or triggers, in their lives. Happy events result in intensely happy, excited moods. Unhappy events — especially the experience of being rejected, criticized, or teased — elicit intensely sad feelings.

I am passionate about animals (damn budweiser commercial made me cry), homelessness, helping others, unhappy for me is not being able to keep a job because of my ADHD issues.

4. Rapidity of mood shift: Because ADHD mood shifts are almost always triggered by life events, the shifts feel instantaneous. They are normal moods in every way, except in their intensity. They’re often called “crashes” or “snaps,” because of the sudden onset. Definitely does not sound like me.

5. Duration of moods: Although responses to severe losses and rejections may last weeks, ADHD mood shifts are usually measured in hours. The mood shifts of BMD, by DSM-IV definition, must be sustained for at least two weeks. I would say this is more of me in that I can be happy and sad all in the same day through the day but never last into the next day.

6. Family history: Both disorders run in families, but individuals with ADHD almost always have a family tree with multiple cases of ADHD. I have no genetic connections that I know of to bipolar.

I have ADHD and schizoaffective disorder bipolar type.

Stimulants like ritalin and adderall increased my hallucinations which was so terrifying. They also gave me earaches which sucked. I'm on straterra whichn is quite helpful for me.

Diagnosis' are quite generalized. You could be switching from those three diagnoses for ever. Focus on meds more if you are happy with what meds work then it's all good. You could think it would be better to know for sure that you have bipolar so you know that any time you could have some anxious mania any time but just using experience would be the same thing basically.

All those years of stimulant treatment could cause one to be more psychotic in the long term.

Ritalin (concerta) does make me have a very very mellow mood like an antipsychotic does. It's a common side effect.

Is it possible for ADHD med withdrawal (not sure which med because I was only a kid at the time) to cause psychosis? Because I started my prodromal phase (pre-psychosis) around the time that I came off my ADHD meds.

The thing is that the lithium did nothing to help with concentration. I'm not sure if that's because I have ADHD or because of the schizophrenia (disorganization and all that)...

I was diagnosed with ADHD. In my late teens actually, which is odd. But i didn't attend public school,and i think thats why i didnt have major concentration issues til college. My last psychiatrist was skeptical as to whether I actually had it or not. But I was given extensive tests (he didn't have access to these tests) which strongly pointed to ADHD. I took adderall, which made me VERY irritable and moody. Then I took straterra for a few years in college . It helped a little with concentration, but my dr didn't think it was helping enough, nor did I so I went off it.

I've actually been wondering about this also. I was diagnosed with inattentive ADD as a kid but I wonder if it might have been something else entirely. I mean, I could have been distracted by the cameras that were everywhere then among other things. I found it interesting in my psychological report, the dr. noted that I spaced out so entirely that he had to leave the room and come back later and skip one of the tests. Also, like you said, schizophrenia and adhd have some similar issues that overlap. Knowing what one is what sounds like it could be difficult. In AD/HD executive functioning can be 30% slower to develop than most people, but I'm 24 and have a horrible time with executive functioning still which doesn't make sense according to the one article. Anyways, so I hear what you're saying and I think this is one of the problems in psychiatry is that frequently it's not one clear cut defined thing - they overlap and look like each other often times.

Same reaction here. I was (mis?)diagnosed with ADHD for a year before getting my BP2 diagnosis. The ADHD medication might have also worsened my hypomanic episodes. I really dislike stimulants, and only take a very small amount to counteract the drowsiness caused by my mood stabilizers in the morning.

I have also been diagnosed with those. It was bipolar disorder first and was put on zoloft and Depakote. Then schizophrenia and on zoloft and Risperdal and then ADD and now I'm taking Adderall. I have problems with moodiness on it also. But I have the opposite problem with my emotions. Mine are extremely heightened. And I now cry over even the simplest of things. But I believe the same thing one of the other posts said. I believe that you can suffer from all three of those and them alternate which one is affecting you at times. Because with every new diagnosis and having my meds switched I realized that each of those meds helped me at that time. So now my meds get shifted to different combinations of the meds listed above to help me through certain times. It's not the best having to do it but it works.

It could be an extreme form of ADHD. Not all people with ADHD react well to the medications. If your problems mainly stem from hallucinating or becoming delusional, I would say that you probably do not have ADHD. Another possibility to consider is something on the autism spectrum if you haven't already considered the possibility. Many times autistic kids are mistaken for simply having an attention problem and they often react similarly to the stimulants