Stimulants vs. Caffeine

[wj74]

Let's say you have 2 cups of coffee in the morning. Most of the time it makes you functional, less ADD. Sometimes it makes you a little hypomanic. It doesn't last long but it's enough to get you going.... I've asked the doc before about an ADHD med and he said once I'm more stable we could try it. So, I'm mostly stable... and I can't function in the a.m. without coffee. So is it a bad idea to take an ADHD med instead of the coffee (if the coffee already makes me hypo sometimes)??

I just don't know what to do... sometimes I think I should just wean myself off the coffee but then how do I get myself going in the morning? Exercising isn't something I would do that early in the a.m.... I need my sleep. I can't even see straight until the coffee kicks in. Opinions? I don't see the doc til mid July but I'm just wondering what you think.

[AnneMarie]

Does coffee energize you, over stim you, etc or actually make you hypo with racing thoughts and not sleeping that night? Oops, a morning cup causing sleeping problems because an afternoon shot will affect sleep for many non-BP people? This is relavent to answering your question because if you are actually going a little hypo, you should give up the bean and stay away from stimulants. If it is coffee buzz, then it might be worthwhile to ask your pdoc to start try stims at a child's dose (real low dose) while you give up coffee. See how it goes. FWIW, I take a compromise dose - one that helps my concentration some but doesn't give me a buzz.

[snugglepuss]

Maybe you should consider a stimulant for night-shift disorder. Provigil is a good example.

I have serious problems waking up, too. I always have. I found that if I take a trazadone, the next morning I wake up feeling well rested.

[wj74]

I take trazodone. LOL Maybe I'm not taking enough. I was doing better this spring so I backed it down to 25 mg at night. Maybe it's time for 50 again.

Hmmm... it really depends on the day as to how far it boosts me up. today is a lot but I've been on kind of a house cleaning spree for the past 4-5 days anyway... so I prob started out a little higher. Normally it's more of a coffee buzz until it wears off and then I'm good. So I guess it's only a problem when I'm more hypo. But if I was sleeping better I might not be asking.