If you take stimulants..

[NullChamber]

iv read that low-dose stimulants with dose changes can offset side effects of APs. i don't need an "edge", but if i would really like to have a baseline to my functioning instead of moving from one area to another, how could i not feel like I'm "cheating" life? (other than not taking anything). most people seem to have some kind of baseline to their day-to-day functioning, drugs or not- am i wrong?

[dedoubt]

I don't think it is cheating to use one med to offset effects of another. Of course, I wouldn't think so, since I use an AP and a stimulant... I'd been in a serious fog for well over a year before I started Adderall, and that fog is lifting. It doesn't matter whether that fog was caused by mood episodes, ADD or medication-- if a stimulant helps it go away, I am not going to argue. I can't stop taking medication (though I can try decreasing some dosages, per pdoc), so I need to do something. It's not like a magic bullet-- I still need to use practices to help increase my focus, such as sleeping enough, exercising, minimizing clutter. But I am much more capable of basic day to day activities than I was.

And yes, I think the average person has a baseline to functioning. I forget this quite often, and can't figure out why I've been flailing my way through my days...

[NullChamber]

actually i'm in a fog right now. i wonder if stimulants would bring back my creativity and interest in things like music and film, cause that spark, spontaneity, intuition and insightfulness is gone. maybe they were aspects of being ill. since i'm stable right now, those desirable qualities are absent? i just hope something can get me feeling like myself again. i feel so jealous of people who have a baseline - resentful, even. i had to be dealt an abnormal brain- way abnormal.