can anyone give me some insight into this?
i have bipolar II. i've been relatively stable for a while. i mostly have depression and in the past year have only had mild and short episodes.


i also have very poor attention and focus problems, so much that it's effected my school work for all i can remember. obv this is not imagined as everything takes me 3x as longer than they should, i lose focus so many times, have a bad memory, etc (i especially realized how bad it is when i compared it to my peers who seemed to be doing fine in comparison).

brought it up with my doctor and he said i don't have ADD because i lack the symptom of hyperactivity, which is true. i really emphasized that i wanted to treat it some how because it is a huge problem but he said there isn't much to do. i had thought (and have read from research) that there is a subgroup of ADD that is predominatantly inattentive without the hyperactivy, i couldn't really convince him at the time but i'm thinking of now printing off the info i've found and presenting it to him high-lighting the features i have.




MAIN POINT:
kind of went off topic. has anyone with BP tried adderall? what have your experiences been like? affected your mania at all?




because my doc wouldn't give it to me i bought it off someone and i took just small doses but loved it. i had a good amount (but not too much) energy and didn't feel hungry and stayed up late. i'm usually pretty addicted to coffee so it felt much better to sub that for the 8 cups and energy drinks i have per day. :P

anyway i've felt pretty good since then which was a day or two ago, but i'm worried i might get hypomanic. i've bought a few more doses already since its the end of the semester and i have a lot of school work to do.
i know it's a bit stupid of me to not consult my doctor first but i was just so frustrated of not being able to treat these problems at all.

Duh!! Adderall+some drugs used to treat BPII=not a good combo.

But in all fairness it does what it needs to do. I'm BPII, ADD, OCD and I currently take 60mg spread through out the day so I can function like a good worker should. Sometimes I take one of the afternoon ones early, if i'm not awake by like 10:30, and when I do that it sometimes kicks me into Mania (but i do get a lot of work done) and then I start pulling out my hair unconsciously, and I listen to the same song 5 times. hA!

As for not being hyperactive, I don't really have that either, it's more of my mind being hyperactive. I had some of the worse problems in College especially when I got into my major specific classes because there were <20 students in each class so I couldn't really hide in the background.

Treefingers

It can be incredibly dangerous to take or buy meds without your doc's knowledge. There could be a very good reason why he won't prescribe it to you. I really think you need to go to your pdoc and discuss this.

Trace

honestly stop taking the adderall. all i know is i was a freshman in high school and i used to take adderall from a friend with add. not only did it trigger mania but full blown voices. i talked to my doctor and he said i prolly had it all the time but the adderall brought it out waaaay before it would have if i wasnt abusing it. fact of the matter is adderall is like taking a low dose of cocaine. i dunno kid all i know is adderall was what started my whole mental illness fun journey.

the reason you feel "wonderful" is cus your tweakin out stop taking it for real.

I asked my doc for provigil hoping to fight off some cognitive S/Es and motivation. He said positively not!
Stimulants of any kind can mimic mania, so addiction is probably high. Makes sense I guess. But like most BPers, I have a busy mind and have lots of trouble focusing. BP meds don't make it any easier!

Absolutely true. Adderall is a stimulant and it is pushing you into mania. The fact that you want to keep taking it means you're enjoying the extra energy you experience while manic. Many Bipolars enjoy their mania or feel like they accomplish more due to it. I hope you will heed the advice of the others on here and stop taking it. It really is not appropriate for your diagnosis.

thanks for the responses =)
yeah i don't plan on taking it anymore, certainly not the kind of thing i should do every day or often at all. too risky.
plus i have better things to spend my money on.

Good for you, its a good idea. It's kinda like torturing yourself looking for that manic like high. I almost ruined my life chasing that high with street drugs ©. Feels good at first, but ends bad!

I am bipolar and adhd and was prescribed adderall and the just vyanese and then both and now I am jobless homeless and wifeless and hopeless, it set me off on the monster of all mania trips, gambling spending no sleep agrresive anger. My doctor ought to have his liscense revoked since As things were getting worse he increased the dosage and then when my life fell apart he took me off it totally. I litte late you might say.