Posted by Christ_empowered on June 16, 2011, at 16:55:44
In reply to CE - Addicted to Adderall?, posted by sheilac on June 16, 2011, at 16:46:39
honestly, I think if something makes you feel bad you shouldn't take it. I mean, there are exceptions, I suppose...if you were to go intensely psychotic, a short-term treatment with potentially un-fun drugs might be called for. But you seem to have relatively mild bipolar disorder, so I don't see how/why one could justify drug-induced dysphoria. Also, speaking as a complete non-expert, lithium seems kind of heavy for what you're dealing with. I mean, I guess all the mood stabilizers are pretty serious when it comes to side efffects, but lithium is particularly harsh (or so it seems to me).
Has your doc tried other things? I read about this one antidepressant...Surmontil (trimipramine, I think). Its not terribly popular, but its a TCA w/ some antipsychotic-ish properties, so it shouldn't be de-stabilizing like, say, Prozac. It also helps with sleep. Its been used in very high doses for schizophrenia, but I imagine that at lower doses it'd just calm you down (sedative and anti-anxiety actions are pretty pronounced, apparently) w/o running the risk of mood instability. Plus, there's no blood work like with lithium and I don't think it would cause the kind of dysphoria/low-grade depression the lithium is causing.
Just thought I'd mention it...
Good luck
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:988288
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110610/msgs/988364.html