Stimulants - Which Have You Tried?

As i sit here after 400 mg of provigil, yawning my eyes out. haha. Nuvigil seems to work better but insurance won't cover that this year either. ffs. **** insurance. Why do they get to tell us what meds to take? My pdoc doesn't believe in prescribing real stimulants to bipolar people. Trust me I've asked a doz+ times over the past 7.5 years I've been seeing him. I went from being able to get whatever med I asked for with old pdoc to a bunch of nothing. My meds really haven't changed in the past 7.5 years. I'm glad about that, but damn I'd like a little adderall.

I’ve been using a company thru India. The package arrives sealed, and the pills have an expectation date....so afa I know...it’s what I ordered.
I get Modafinil=Modalert, 200mg. And I can easily cut them if I need to. They ship to the US.

I realized, later of course, that I was using the Concerta to try & fix my life, but got frustrated it wasn’t doing it. Lol. There’s no answers in a pill.
I do like very much the chemical effect I get from the mod. It wakes me up, lifts my mood, clears my mental cob webs & helps me function so much better. I feel normal & productive. (I still drink a ton of coffee lol). It won’t fix my life tho & I now don’t expect it to.

So when I know I’m depressed I think most would think, oh just take more & it’ll keep the depression away. My depression is not all chemical based. But I know better now. And I think, that train of thought of taking more can easily lead to addiction, when I’m depressed it’s my mind alerting me to ride thru the depression instead of chemically trying to fight it.
So varying how much I take, how long of the effect I want & when I take it, keeps the resistance away.
The immediate effect I have of a day w/o it is lethargy & wanting to sleep. So I try to let myself do that. The next day w/o it isn’t as bad. So when I decide to start it again, a small dose can make a big difference. Timing it can also make a big difference for me too.

I think this is why I use “mail service” type drug order. I walked away from all MH meds four yrs ago. So now I pay for my “med” myself.
Someone asked me why I don’t go back to a pdoc & ask to go back on a stimulant since I had luck with it & I feel it’s bec a pdoc won’t just put me on a single stimulant. They’ll wanto add other antidepressants & other crap I don’t want. So to go in & ask for a stim I’m afraid I’d look like a drug seeker. No one knows I take this off label med & I wanto keep it that way. I don’t need another label.

***Some of this is about foods/supplements. I can't say to use any of this.***
Vyvanse. Couldn't sleep. Irritable.
Adderall immediate. Wore off too fast.
Adderall xr. Loved it. Irritable though.
Concerta. Angry irritable.
Yerba mate. Happy, focused, calm. Not a drug, but a tea.
Coffee. My blood runs black with this beautiful stuff.
Black tea. In-between of coffee and yerba, but nowhere near as happy as the yerba.
Guarana. Feels good for 20 minutes, then I want more, but feel terrible even with more.
Eternal Energy shots. Nice. They contain some of what other energy shots have, and Yerba. It's probably the best stimulant I've found. It feels really clear and positive. I can focus and workout without much irritable on the comedown. Weird that only Walmart sells them. I've tried all the other ones out there. These win. I mix with 5-htp for calm and kratom for pain and get things done.
***Some of this is about foods/supplements. I can't say to use any of this.***

I take Vyvanse, I also have ADHD - inattentive type. It works. Keeps me alert without keeping me up at night. I take it in the morning and it's worn off by bedtime. I've been on it for 3 years now. No problems with it. I did get manic once when I was taking it but it was only after my old pdoc pushed adderall WITH IT. I dropped the adderall and was ok. I was also on the equalivant of 3 antidepressants at the time. It was not good, the amount of those meds I was on. But, Vyvanse, I have no problems with just Vyvanse and my current meds.

To the poster above claiming Modafinil is “off-market,” it’s not. In the US it’s sold as prescription Provigil. Importing it with a prescription is technically illegal, although not often enforced. Importing it without a prescription is highly illegal, and if you get caught you will be arrested.

The closest legal chemical in the states to Provigil or Nuvigil(Armodafinil) is Adrafinil. Adrafinil is legal, and is a chemical precursor that gets converted in the body to Modafinil. The only problem with Adrafinil is that long term use can lead to significant liver damage. All three of these chemicals aren’t technically classified as stimulants (although they are often called such), because their biochemical mode of action is significantly different than the “classic” stimulants. They’re often promoted as “wakefulness promoting agents.” But whatever, they help keep you awake.

Back to WC’s topic - stimulants, I’ve been on them all. Seriously - even back when they made a patch; but I don’t think that’s on the market anymore.

Ritalin - methylphenidate is a decent stimulant, with a quick and short-acting duration. Often gives the jitters, did for me. I used to take it four times a day, and it was OK. There are about a dozen different XR formulations, none of which are a magic bullet.

Concerta - methylphenidate in a time-release capsule. Little slower take-off than straight-up Ritalin, and quite a bit longer acting. For some reason however, about halfway through the day it would make me irritable/angry, something that never happened with normal Ritalin. I guess it’s a side effect my doctor had seen before. Never figured out why it was, but it was real.

Focalin and Focalin XR - dexmethylphenidate - it’s a more pure form of Ritalin, since it is the D isomer which is psychoactive, while normal Ritalin is a racemic mixture of the D and (inactive) L isomer. It’s a bit cleaner, with a quicker onset and more clear (in my estimation) stimulant. The XR version is one of my favorite stimulants; it has an immediate release of some of the Focalin, then a part of the pill that is time release for longer action. Also you can crush and snort it for a high better than coke. Or so I’ve been told.

Up next is Adderall, a mixture of amphetamine salts in all its various forms. For me, Adderall is a better stimulant than Ritalin; it’s a bit smoother onset and less of a crash afterwards than Ritalin. The various time release versions all have some benefits and some detractors. I’ve been prescribed Adderall at 30mg up to 4 times a day, which is a crazy high dose; but overall my body metabolizes all medications very quickly, so I even need to take “12-14 hour” pills twice a day. Adderall does better at controlling my ADHD, and also does a better job of keeping me awake and clearing my med fog than Ritalin does.

Provigil/Nuvigil - Decent ways to stay awake. For me they were OK to use for helping me with fatigue, but didn’t really do anything for my ADHD so eventually I dumped them.

Vyvanse - lisdexamfetamine. This is my current stimulant of choice. It’s a proform of amphetamine with a molecular grouping that is cleaved in the body to release the psychoactive amphetamine group. Due to the time it takes for that chemical conversion to happen, it works as a time-release med. it’s supposed to last all day, but like all other “all-day” stimulants for me, I take it twice a day. Its effects are very similar to Adderall, but it comes on very slowly and tapers off very slowly so you don’t get the soaring highs and crashing lows of the immediate release drugs.

This isn’t an exhaustive list of all the stimulants I’ve tried, but it hits on the major players. Feel free to ask for more info if you have any questions. I’m a bit of a stimulant connoisseur.

Adderall. Best thing for depression. Had to change doctors and this one refuses to prescribe it to me.
I heard thru the gravevine that he has pacients who get it.

Sorry bioChe, my bad.
Maybe I should clarify that “off market” to me means that I order it for myself bec I will not go to a pdoc & ask for a stimulant. I do understand it’s sold as a prescription. I’d also say it’s on the “grey net”, not the dark net although I have explored that route bec of the use of bitcoin.
I also understand the legal part of it, which I ignore, especially when purchasing items on the dark net. I certainly don’t have anything delivered to my residence.

Are we only discussing stimulants that are “prescribed” OP, or should we not go there.

I was prescribed Adderall for focus before but it caused me to feel manic

I have seen so many people go Ip because they can no longer find a Pdoc to prescribe it or they run out too soon or they just want to get off the stuff which I have seen, can be pretty brutal.

Scares me far too much even tho it’s been a discussion I have had IP and with my Pdoc.

No thanks I have enough problems.

hi. for some reason, i did better on focalin with abilify than adderall with abilify. i have an acquaintance who takes seroquel and adderall and she reports that it gets the job done.

the xr stimulants are OK. a lot of people end up with an xr in the AM, an ir tablet in the afternoon. others...don't (of course, some pdocs don't do that, lol).

i only briefly tried dexedrine, but it seemed better than the others, except for the crash. i think they make a bunch of all day versions these days. my best guess is that dexedrine would be better if your problems are more depression, adderall if its more attention...but i could be wrong.

sorry you're suffering.

I have never been prescribed a stimulant, but I have tried both Adderall and Vyvanse (I am a college student, after all). They were the best antidepressants I ever had. I started taking them only when I needed to pull an all-nighter or when I couldn't focus on important study material, but I started taking them just because they made me actually feel HAPPY. Not just "not depressed," but HAPPY.
I mentioned that to my pdoc, hoping there was some way to get a prescription for it in place of an SSRI or similar. He told me that unless I have ADD (and I don't), he can't prescribe it to me. Not sure if that's a clinic rule or a universal rule.
Anyway, I don't take it anymore because it's very expensive to buy off someone.

Deleting my comment, probably not very helpful in the grand scheme of things.

Most bipolar people shouldn't be treated for ADHD with stimulants. It's a very thin line that if crossed could cause the patient some serious issues. It's not very easy for a lot of pdocs to want to try to stay on that line.
I've tried other stimulants too.
Methedrine. I think this is the pharmaceuticals equivalent of meth. It was ok briefly. I didn't like meth for more than a few minutes either.
Coke was just enough that I was ready for bed. No joke. 3 people split 8 ball. I went to bed.
MDMA was never as strong as everyone seemed to think. I found it too expensive for that feeling. I found other ways to get the same effect temporarily and much cheaper and legal. No, I won't tell you.

My psychiatrist dictates meds to my GP who prescribes. Zoloft has been amazing for my depression, but it makes me so tired. Psychiatrist told me to take vyvanse. I went to my GP and he said "I feel like a drug dealer. I'm basically prescribing you speed". He really didn't want to, but followed the advice of my psychiatrist in the end.

Basically nothing. Outright, he prescribed you speed.

psychiatrists are drug pushers. some of the drugs are fun and desirable. some aren't, which is why they have those long acting injections they can force on people.

I think we might have strayed from the OP here.

This makes me sad. If there’s something out there on the market & it makes you feel better...& the pdoc says no...(we don’t want you happy). I don’t get it

They will say the same thing every time, "abuse potential."
Also, some will never prescribe if they know you've gotten them illegally ever. It means that you weren't afraid to try to do it and might not be to do it again or even to sell yours.
I threw away two 90 day supplies of them when they took me off. I was following orders but it just felt wrong.

Yes I agree. CYA on their part. No one wants to get sued. And not “being afraid to try” to me means I’m willing to help myself more than they are.
That’s a shame.

I guess I understand, ADD medicine can cause mania in bipolar patients, and has a high abuse potential especially for college students. I wish my pdoc would trust me though.

Not all. Mine isn't. He pushed me towards therapy several times and keeps my drugs to minimum. I almost think I'd might do better if he added something to the mix. He insists though. I outright asked him this week for something to lower my anxiety but he asked me to try to hang on because he's afraid of cognitive side effects. I'm already on 300mg of Lamictal, which I suspect of making my mind foggy, 5mg of Zyprexa and 15mg of Temazepam for sleep. He only increased my Zyprexa to 7.5mg. He's hoping to get me off of Temazepam as he's against benzos but I doubt it'll ever happen.

As for stimulants strong and sweet tea first thing in the morning.

So what reasons does he give you for being “against benzos.”

He doesn't like benzos because it's easy to become dependent on them. Also, they're just a bandaid. He believes in more long term medications unless anxiety is really bad.

Since I'm already on a benzo, Temazepam he's afraid of cognitive side effects if I take Klonopin during the day. I was on Klonopin before and while it took care of anxiety it definitely made me "slow".