Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 339002

Shown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

Hey Bipolars!

Posted by man_oh_man1977 on April 22, 2004, at 22:16:05

Hey Bipolars!

After much trial and error these past 2 years, I’ve finally stabilized w/ the meds I am on. (10mg celexa, 20 mg [going up to 40] geodon), wellbutrin XL (300mg) and Lamictal (350mg – if I go higher I get dizzy.) W/ that out of the way, I pose a question or two:
Have any of y’all tried to induce mania or hypomania? If so, why? And how – presuming it’s not a freak occurrence or brought on by illicit drug use? I’m curious b/c I have a lot of studying to do, and I’ve been pumping myself w/ caffeine (Red Bull, if you must know!) and have been amping up my AD’s. My studying period should end around May 5th, and I always have zyprexa on hand to bring me down if I get too delusional or psychotic. I know this sounds silly, but us “afflicted” have been known to do silly things. So yes, I am stable but want a little more clarity, energy and focus. I am actually looking forward to it. Once I came down on someone for taking a “meds” holiday; I suppose this is the opposite. Any feedback would be gratefully appreciated, especially those have had prior experience. If you got this far, thank you for reading this post.

Thanks,
Man-oh-man

P.S. I think a drug like Stratera (sp?) might help, but I don’t suffer from ADD. Thanks, again,

M.

 

Re: Hey Bipolars!

Posted by utopizen on April 23, 2004, at 2:22:29

In reply to Hey Bipolars!, posted by man_oh_man1977 on April 22, 2004, at 22:16:05

It sounds like, number one, you need to talk to your doctor about your concerns RE: school.

Number 2, don't rule out anything, for no other reason than the fact that your concerns exist and there's no reason for you to rule out something unless your doctor concurs with all of your concerns AND agrees you don't have diagnosis X or Y on top of bipolar.

Why do you think you don't have ADD? If you didn't, why are you willing to risk your life on a few bottles of RedBull? Amphetamines have a far less lethal dose by comparison

More than 3 redbulls in a night can very easily kill you. I'm not kidding, you're right on the LD-50 after you finish sipping the third. I believe it's 50 cups of coffee that makes coffee's caffiene content lethal.

If you don't have ADD, then you wouldn't have any trouble focusing, biploar or not. I frankly don't see any signs going in any other direction. Bipolar has nothing to do with affecting your concentration while you're relatively stabalized on meds. If you're so concerned about school, it sounds like you have what is very common: both ADD+Bipolar.

But first, tell your doctor your concerns. If you told him you drink RedBull to help you focus, he won't buy any line of yours claiming you don't have ADD.

I convinced myself I didn't have ADD.18 years of hell until I happened to get it diagnosed upon seeing a doc for my social anxiety for the first time.

I also sadly convinced myself I wasn't depressed. I saw 8 sleep specialists before coming to terms with the fact that my environment was taxing me too much, and just because I was happy for the first couple of hours when I awoken didn't mean I had no depression to account for the remaining 90% of my day.

Bottom line: Don't deny a single thing until you tell your doctor everything. You're clearly using this board to get advice over things that would be more appropriate to direct towards your doctor, and that's not what this board is for. We don't "enable" others to medicate themselves as to avoid some aversion they might have to being as up-front to their doctor as they are to us.

More important, however, is this: why do you trust an Internet message board filled with confirmed cases of mentally ill people such as myself to give you advice over your doctor? I've just told you it takes a very long time for myself to realize I have something, and I'm pretty smart and with it when it comes to researching these things and all.

Never rule anyone or anything out unless you've got a second opinion. Trust me, there's kids on your campus without ADD but who have bipolar who wouldn't have a clue as to your concerns over studying. It's a very high percentage of kids who have ADD+bipolar together, and the combo makes a unique set of difficulties that sort of bounce off one another.

 

Re: Hey Bipolars!

Posted by mistermindmasta on April 23, 2004, at 10:22:35

In reply to Re: Hey Bipolars!, posted by utopizen on April 23, 2004, at 2:22:29

More than 3 red bulls have no possibility of killing anyone, as far as I know. Let me know where you got your source on that, because I'm curious. 3 red bulls has, at the most, about 600mg of caffeine. This is 6 cups of coffee, which is indeed about 44 away the lethal dose needed to get caffeine toxicity.

Maybe you're thinking of the alcohol-red bull combo? That has given people heart attacks, but most certainly not red bull alone.

Another thing is - concentration difficulties occur in anxiety, bipolar, depression and schizophrenia, not just ADD. And, they all seem to occur via different mechanisms. The general idea buzzing in the community is that ADD results from a globally lower level of dopamine. Anxiety can cause low dopamine via lack of GABA, common in anxiety disorders. Taking a benzo and therefore increasing GABA will then go on to increase dopamine (w. regard to concentration), as well as lower norepinephrine to a level that allows for smooth concentration. This same idea follows w. depression and schizophrenia and bipolar... all feature concentration difficulties as a symptom, but they tend to occur through different pathways.

Someone with bipolar might experience a loss of concentration with an antidepressant as they are shot into hypomania. However, someone with true depression might normal concentration when they take an antidepressant because of the pathway that is corrected through antidepressant therapy.

On another topic, someone might be able to focus perfectly fine at any given time. However, when a tough situation comes up, he/she has caffeine. Does this, by the explanation that they want to increase their concentration via caffeine, mean they have ADD? Certainly not, I would think.

My advice to you, man_oh_man, is to just spend more time studying! If you were sure you could induce a bit of a hypomania, then I might say, yes, give it a whirl, experiment on yourself... but you can't be sure what will happen! You might actually experience a DECREASE in cognitive function from too much serotonin, or whatever really. It's too hard to say that you WILL be hypomanic, in the beneficial way.

I can't imagine any doctors OKing your thing with the upping meds, and you might not even want to tell them, if you're totally set on doing this. You might run out of meds sooner than you would have expected, and he might be less willing to refill you sooner, knowing you abused the meds for 'recreational' purposes.

However, I completely understand where you're coming from. I tend to send myself into hypomania via caffeine sometimes... but, i pay the price with a lower mood later, and you might have to pay a price with upping your meds. No one really knows what the price may be.

If you can do it, try going cold turkey with caffeine right until you have to study. That way, you're extra sensitive to caffeine! It works well for cramming tons of info into my head at once.

I also use kava when heavy studying time comes. It makes my upper limit much higher. :) Which is nice. That way I can abuse my body a little bit more without suffering, haha.

But, all that said, be smart about what you choose to do and prepare to accept any consequences that come your way, however bad they may be.

 

Re: Hey Bipolars! » man_oh_man1977

Posted by Sad Panda on April 23, 2004, at 13:47:32

In reply to Hey Bipolars!, posted by man_oh_man1977 on April 22, 2004, at 22:16:05

> Hey Bipolars!
>
> After much trial and error these past 2 years, I’ve finally stabilized w/ the meds I am on. (10mg celexa, 20 mg [going up to 40] geodon), wellbutrin XL (300mg) and Lamictal (350mg – if I go higher I get dizzy.) W/ that out of the way, I pose a question or two:
> Have any of y’all tried to induce mania or hypomania? If so, why? And how – presuming it’s not a freak occurrence or brought on by illicit drug use? I’m curious b/c I have a lot of studying to do, and I’ve been pumping myself w/ caffeine (Red Bull, if you must know!) and have been amping up my AD’s. My studying period should end around May 5th, and I always have zyprexa on hand to bring me down if I get too delusional or psychotic. I know this sounds silly, but us “afflicted” have been known to do silly things. So yes, I am stable but want a little more clarity, energy and focus. I am actually looking forward to it. Once I came down on someone for taking a “meds” holiday; I suppose this is the opposite. Any feedback would be gratefully appreciated, especially those have had prior experience. If you got this far, thank you for reading this post.
>
> Thanks,
> Man-oh-man
>
> P.S. I think a drug like Stratera (sp?) might help, but I don’t suffer from ADD. Thanks, again,
>
> M.

>
>

Hi,

Being hypomanic may increase your work output & make you happy, but it will be of a lower quality. Being high on a stimulant is a similar sort of thing ie: more output, but lower quality, unless you have ADD. I like the occasional hypomania that I get when I change my dosages around, but I don't think it's worth taking the risk if the current meds you are on are working well.

Cheers,
Panda.

 

Re: Hey Bipolars!

Posted by man_oh_man1977 on April 23, 2004, at 15:39:29

In reply to Re: Hey Bipolars! » man_oh_man1977, posted by Sad Panda on April 23, 2004, at 13:47:32

Hi Gang,

Thank you all kindly for your insightful comments. Regardless of the damage I might (or might not) be doing w/ Red Bull, I found it kinda useless. Upping my meds didn't really do anything either; I suppose I was looking for a panacea (sp?) to increase my alertness. I like the idea that I might actually have ADD - I don't see my Dr. till the 6th of May - but I will leave him a message and outline what I've done.

Anyway, I'll tell you briefly what happened. I got so scatter-brained that I *truly* couldn't focus on anything! And the hypomania I tried to induce wasn't the enjoyable rush of ideas and focus; instead it was restlesness that I couldn't shake till 6 am. What a waste of time!

Thanks again for the posts and giving me a lot to think about...

Man-oh-man

 

Re: Inducing hypomania

Posted by Lazarus on April 23, 2004, at 18:39:52

In reply to Hey Bipolars!, posted by man_oh_man1977 on April 22, 2004, at 22:16:05

> Have any of y’all tried to induce mania or hypomania? If so, why?

Yes, because I get tired of living a calm, stable life....it's boring. I can induce hypomania simply by stopping the meds; Abilify, Zyprexa and Strattera. But then I get into trouble, usually via my mouth. So I take just enough meds to keep from falling off the tight-rope.

Lazarus

 

Re: Hey Bipolars!

Posted by greywolf on April 23, 2004, at 18:47:05

In reply to Hey Bipolars!, posted by man_oh_man1977 on April 22, 2004, at 22:16:05

I agree entirely with mistermindmasta. 3 Red Bulls won't do anything except give you the jitters. And you don't have ADD just because you have difficulty concentrating or are seeking greater clarity. You want to know whether you have ADD? See a doctor and find out.

Having dealt with BP for many years, I would encourage you not to induce hypomania. With true BP there's no guarantee you will be able to control your situation, and whatever benefit you seek may be outweighed by the negative costs.


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