Amitriptyline, will kick in a in a month or two, but you will remain a zombie for quite some time, I too lithium with it as well, and well.. made college a major blur.. (top that with calan and inderal.., the lights are on, but no one was home..) the meds originated for another issue (not High blood pressure or heart issues) as For Amitriptyline, 300mg I haclucinated, 100mg was fine, as long as was one specific manufacture, then it did what it was suppse to do, knock my lights out and make me sleep, plus of course it controlled the depression. 12 years later, it failed and I had to change drugs.. or I would not be typing this.. I seem to have a few issues on handling those types of med.. some of th emild ones kicked my butt and some of the heavier ones didn't do squat.. as for the lithium.. even more so of a zombie, I told my doctor I could not go through college clueless plus I was embarrassed about taking lithium.. Amitriptyline has a major side effect pertaining to your memory, and sometimes to your concentration... for me... zombie land..




SSRI's? if someone asked me while I was taking them, about my sex life, I would say, what sex life... oh, yeah, I suppose I am suppose to have one.. SSRI's left me aggitated (sp??) and irratable(sp??), also made my legs jumpy and restless.. but strangely enough, after about 90 days, they would fail to do much of anything, u could up the dosage, but they would fail after 30-60 days.. SSRI's are not for everyone.. I do believe one of the strongest drugs is an mao-inhibitor, I don't know who actually takes it, it is rather strong and changes your diet do to interactions.. most doctors leave MOAI's as the very last resort, kinda like the next step if THAT fails is ECT. ECT is not a drug..

SSRI's are probably not the greatest thing to take when a person has Adult ADD.. I do not recomend SSRI's, I have tried about four of them, they all failed. Now, I am on Welbutrin(sp??)XL 450mg, but still... To me I find it a bit weird, that all of the newer drugs and well, it seems like most of them eventually fail on me.. The newer ones have cruddy side effect... then the flip side, is these drugs do wonders for other's...
Unfortunately it is trial and error, hence doctor's practicing medicine.. btw, Welbutrin can sometimes can give you memory issues or more so, it's its like the word is there, but you can not get it connected to come out verbally, it is oh so frustrating.. 600mg of XL... a bit of mania strikes or is it insomnia.. well your mid races and you have all these idea's flood your head, and u are hyper as heck.. who needs crack or any othe street drug when your own body makes you higher than the moon. Then it wears off and you crash and burn.. I am so sick of the crying fits for no apparent reason, but a flood of negativity comes rushing back in... and you are miserably..
BP1 ( bi-polar) 1 and 2 were described to me on this very posting board, but I have the memory of a gant (about 3 seconds) so, what page, i don't know..BUT I DID remember it was in this health board.. I do not know if ADD can be mistaken for BP disorder, but depression will cause memory issues and sleeping issues.. I am currently on two drugs, wellbutrin(sp??) and sinmething that starts with an L, it's a newer drug, so it is no doubt not cheap. I am sitting at 450mg.. on one and 100mg of another.. I hate to say it, but things have gotten worse, I seem to lose my compusure at the drop of a hat.. my ups and downs seem more frequent..

I think there was an actual report stating that anti-depressants can cause depression... what a hoot.. I mean, what are you suppose to do.. Welbutrin is not for everyone, and although most people will lose weight (and might make u quit smoking if u smoke..) but 5% will gain.. the stronger dosages seem to quite the sweet tooth down.. but the side effcts .. I wonder if it is all worth it, or I am mis-diagnosed (oh, ya, denial...) or (hey, I know this sounds paranoid, drug side effect??) I wonder if what they say these drugs do, do fight depression, or if it is just a way to make money, bash your competitor... The drs give freebies because the drugs are new, and they are not cheap, so if it fails to do it's job, u don't get stuck with a $150 month supply u can't use.. WHY are meds so expensive? it's politcial more than anything, that and greed. The generic ones are less expensive and for the most part work..


Older true tried meds are going to be cheaper, and they for most people work better for most people.. But for me, I just don't know anymore.. and the wierd sounding part, kinda scary really, I don't know what frame of mind is the right frame of mind anymore.. and i think that feeling is drug related, but if I stop.. I get very depressed, eventually suicidual thoughts kick in. I know this will sound like I am making fun, and is inappropiate ( jokes are my coping meachinism or tacky no one is left out, ), but I thought of jumping off a bridge once, But being afraid of heights is stronger... plus we don't have any tall enough bridges here, the most you would to is break your ankle.. If I don't make fun, I am rather sure I will lose it all and become an empty husk... uh, no wait, shell... a zombie, not drug related this time either. Just hollow.

Well I am sure this helped no one, sorry... ALL I can say is don't give up, that dark cloud will clear up, even if I don't believe it myself.. pathetic isn't it to admit that...

btw, depression runs in my family, so does AADD
plus I have a few genetic issures.. which leaves me a bit more.. :( :mad:
well they don't make a smiley for it, and it will get edited out by the admins.. so I will leave it at.. not good.

whatever you decide, good luck.. :wave:

Quote from Ashley_Night:

Hello, hoping to find support and possible directions for my situation.

I am Bi-Polar and have problems as well with ADD. Years ago mistakenly diagnosed with Depression and placed o*n Prozac, which I can say (I had a field day with my Manic side back then).

Once properly diagnosed I was placed o*n Lithum & Ametriptaline (sorry if I spelled that wrong). These I definitely did not agree with, felt like it sucked all the passion / mania right out of me and just left me in general feeling like a zombie.

That was back in 1990's and I have since been un-medicated. Back then I ended up dropping out of college and today desperately want to return to school to advance my skills for opening up an business (hopefully).

I am now 32 and just the begining of this year did go back to my doctor, resulting in utter flustration, they kept rescheduling follow up appointments per visits, and continually adjusting meds (sometimes meds which I did not have any problems with) I told them time and time again that I was limited o*n what I could afford, but each time they would send me to the pharmacy for meds that cost well over $500 per month! There has to be generics out there, cheaper meds, least by my past experience I knew there were. o*ne time they mixed up the dosage and the pill I was suppose to take - I was not happy with them for such carelessness (I ended up overdosing and ended up o*n my office floor for a few hours out of it)... I dispared and have not seen the doctor since. They in the end cost me hundreds of dollars which has resulted in me not being able to seek medical treatment from any o*ne until I can pay off my current balances... I have no insurance, and our house hold income prevents me from getting financial aid.

So my reason for being here, is to learn about all the possible medications, to learn about the costs and side effects. Before I am financially ready to look for a new doctor to get a handle o*n my situation.

I should say that my background involves past problems with sexual abuse and many years struggling with self esteem problems, over the years couping without meds, I feel I have developed relative control over my emotions. Also mention that I have problems with aggitation o*n a regular basis now.

What I can't deal with is my attention span, racing thoughts, and over all distractability. I desperately want to get control over this, I have plans I want to go back to college and start my own business, and right now it is overwhelming in my goal to improve myself.

I have no problems today with my finances being my line of work and desire not to be dependant has driven me beyond expectations to what I use to be like years ago. Another problem which I have is my current job, I don't want to loose it, but I can't get into a better job right now. The current job requires multi-tasking o*n levels which I can't deal with, and my employer continues to ignore my stress in asking for relief being hired. I took the job to be a secretary, but now I am an office manager - I am afraid that I am going to fall o*n my face and have to be fired eventually due to poor proformance.

Lately I think my manic phase has been popping back up, I feel an urgeny like never before, I just don't know where to turn. I come from a very small town issolated from the bigger cities. I just don't know if the medical providers in my area can help me.

Thanks for your time,