Hi all,
I just got done a therapy appointment and I feel perplexed.
I was diagnosed with ADHD a few months ago and, after reading about people's experiences, I felt super understood and not alone. I was talking to my therapist today about how I have felt emotions intensely all of my life and didn't realize that it could've been a symptom of undiagnosed ADHD.
Well, I guess that piqued her interest and she cracked open the DSM V and began looking at bipolar disorder (specifically II). I thought all of my problems with emotions were due to ADHD. If I do have bipolar disorder, so be it (it can join the list), but I feel iffy about it! I thought that my emotional regulation issues were because of my ADHD.
I guess I feel very comfortable with my ADHD diagnosis, and I am afraid of being misdiagnosed. I'm on Adderall right now and I'm finally feeling like the clouds in my brain have gone away. Does anyone have any experience with this kind of situation? Is it possible that my ADHD is comorbid with bipolar disorder? My therapist said that she would continue to look into it and wait until she's done enough research before deciding, which I'm incredibly thankful for. In the meantime, I'm doing my own research as well!
Any experiences anyone wants to share or any comments at all would be super appreciated!
Sometimes stimulant medication can cause mania in ADHD. Naturally, ADHDers are very quite energetic in a kind of cycle. Low-lows. High-highs. Adding and stimulant (in my own experience) makes this fluctuation more extreme as a result of the stimulant suppressing the limbic system. Sometimes you feel like dirt, and experience emotional blunting/dissociation, go into a low, then the next week you feel like a god.
The main question i’d ask is what's the dose your on? Lower the dose if you can, if you experience less ups and downs, and notice you can think more in the grey area (rather than black or white) it's probably just the medication that's too high combined with the ADHD. I'm going through this myself and have decided that the higher dose is good for now and that I just need to suck it up and deal with the side effects for the time being while I figure some major life event out.
I’m on 20mg right now, but I have experienced this before I was ever on medication. It’s been something l’ve experienced my whole life. I haven’t noticed a huge difference being on medication yet, so I think my dose now is good. I did have a low just a few days ago, but it wasn’t any more or less intense than when I wasn’t on a stimulant.
Oh. Maybe you need a higher dose?
A psychiatrist told me I was on a “preschool” dose when I was on 20mg. He said, “adults usually should be on at least 50-60mg”
Yeah, probably! I suppose it'll all get figured out with time