Which one doesn't cause too much anxiety?

[Ammity]

Hi, my therapist is going to evaluate me next week for ADD, and I'm pretty sure its going to be + for ADD. I already am diagnosed as Bipolar II because of my anxiety and depression.

I take Lamictal 200mg, Zoloft 50mg, Effexor XR 150mgs. I take Klonopin PRN but thats very rarely because it makes me too stupid.

Soooo... whats the least likely medication to cause my anxiety? I mean, I am tired all day and usually end up drinking about 50oz of Diet Coke a day to keep me awake, but I'll quit that when I start the ADD med. I need motivation, I need less tiredness, confusion and feeling dumb cause I don't have any energy. And no, I cant quit the Lamictal and Effexor, because they've helped me tremendously until recently when I started to sleep all day long. Oh and btw, Strattera does nothing for me, and Wellbutrin drives me insane.

My Pdoc is always welcome to suggestions, so I'm hoping to get info on what the differences are between the meds. Whats the difference between Adderal and Ritalin? My mother and brother like the Adderal, they take bigger doses in the day and a small dose in the evening to combat any withdrawl effects.

k thanks!

[Sensation]

Try Ritalin & Adderall, or Adderall XR, cant tell you how you would react to either one/ just have to try them ! Adderall at 10mg works pretty good for me, and if you get anxious you can use a benzo to calm down. That zoloft may be whats making you tired.

[Velvet Elvis]

If you're bp, you're going to want to try Strattera before the others. Desipramine is also worth a look.

Your moods need to have been stable for quite a while before going near any of the amphetime derivities. That pretty much rules out all the traditional stimulants.

Of the stimulants, I found Focalin to be the cleanest and least edgy by far but YMMV on that.

[betcsu]

the best that ever really worked for my son was ritalin. but he's in high school and hates having to go to the office to re-dose so we had to look at extended release versions. he tried adderall first but it made him act like a pissy, grumpy A-hole. he takes concerta now (for 2 years) and doing okay. in fact, we just lowered his dose a few months ago to alleviate some side effect (headache).

[jonathanupr]

if you are stabilized there is no reason you couldn't try a stim such as Adderall. Some Bi-polar individuals actually have lower dopamine levels that cause their bi-polar issues in the first place.......studies have been shown to this extent. Also, there have been studies showing the efficacy of stimulant therapy in bi-polar children............the big thing you are going to have to watch out for is taking a dopamine enhancing psychotropic med along with a glutamate antagonist such as Lamictal..........as anything that enhances dopamine will be tripled due to the lack of glutamte to balance such dopamine out to an extent...... been there done that, dont want to go back.......that was when I was on just 50 mgs of Lamictal and had begun taking 300 mgs of Wellbutrin.......

[ldo]

The stims are short acting drugs, so you could try for a little while, and if you don't like, stop, with no big deal. For me, Focalyn was far less anxiety inducing than Adderall. But I like Adderall and am putting up with it for now.