Stimulants

Do any of you fellow Bipolar fellows take (or previously taken) stimulant meds?

I was on Vyvanse for treatment resistant depression. I thought it was pretty good.

No problems with mania or moods?

Vyvanse didn't bring on mania or hypomania, and it didn't interfere with my sleep I was pretty depressed at the time, and it helped with that. I had to stop it because my work does random drug screens and it makes me test positive for amphetamines. If I could I would still be on it. My pdoc switched me to Strattera, which doesn't work as well, and causes really bad dry mouth insomnia. I'm not sure how long I'll stay on it. I wish I could go back on Vyvanse.

I take Dexedrine for my ADD in addition to several meds for m bipolar and it hasn't had any negative effect at all on my moods. Being able to focus helps some with the depression and it hasn't increased my hypomanic or mixed episodes.

My son takes the daytrana patch because it goes directly and continuously into his blood stream and gives a constant level. Then his abilify and lamictal help. All of the other ADHD medication just made him hypo manic while in his system and gave him a horrible crash at night.

I was diagnosed with ADHD before the BP2 diagnosis came along. Ritalin did nothing for me, except causing a crash and headache when the effects wore off. Adderall caused anxiety and bruxism, although it helped me focus. My current psychiatrist has taken me off stimulants because they would ultimately lead me into quite intense hypomania. My focus is not as great as it was when I took adderall, but ultimately I think it's for the best because I really hated the feeling of being on stimulants.

So how is it that you're supposed to stay well if you're not allowed to take the medications that work for your individual situation? Seems to me that they'd be fine with it if they saw your Rx bottles. I know you're in a very delicate situation, but damn, they should at least allow your pdoc some discretion in prescribing for you. That sucks.

Yeah, that would make sense. My situation is really complicated because I'm being closely monitored for mental health and substance use for 3 years. The reason is a couple years ago I was in a mixed state and suicidal, and I did some hard drugs, with a bunch of benzos, and alcohol for 3 days. It was kind a passive suicide attempt. Anyways, I ended up hospitalized involuntary for a few weeks. The rule in BC is that if a nurse gets certified they are immediately reported to the regulatory body, who take automatic disciplinary action. I was on a medical leave when this happened, but that didn't matter. So I have a bunch of conditions I must comply with if I want to practice nursing, and the conditions include only taking medications from an approved list, doesn't matter if it's prescribed. I have 15 months left, and then my meds can be adjusted properly. The whole thing is pretty messed up. I have to meet the same conditions as nurses who steal drugs from patients and use while working. I was no where near any patients when this happened. This whole thing has made my recovery from that episode really difficult. I haven't been out of the depression fully yet.

This is pretty off topic from the original thread, sorry.

I just want to say that I'm very sorry you have to deal with that, Curiosity. The way people with mental illness are treated by society is terrible. You certainly don't deserve to be lumped in with thieves when you were clearly trying to be responsible by not caring for patients when you were unable.

I have been taking ritalin for about a year and a half, a while before any manic symptoms were detected. Now that the bipolar 1 diagnosis has been made, I doubt that I have ADD but I am sure loving the stims!

Same here.