• The Dark Side 💕 Welcome Guest 💕
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads Urgent Hotlines
    Bereavement Mindfulness
    Suicide Support Anger Management
  • TDS Moderators: AlphaMethylPhenyl | paranoid android

Mental Health DR. prescribing me PRistiq/Lexapro type meds.. I feel I need stimulants?

Enchantress

Enchantress

Greenlighter
Joined
Nov 21, 2014
Messages
3
Location
CT
Hello- newbie poster here but been gallavanting through Bluelight posts for years now.. Thanks for all the amazing info everyone ;)

(OMG..my entire post just erased. Aghhhh)
So I guess I'll just start over and ask.. has anyone been given depression meds when really what you think you need is stimulants?


I feel unmotivated, unfocused, and completely energy-less during the day. Stay at home mother of two young kids. House has become a MESS, and there are days (6/7) a week that I don't even get them or me out of our pajamas.
Add a little anxiety at night at times, unless my two kids under two wear me out enough that I pass out. ANxiety I feel is because I am overwhelmed but everything I DID not accomplish during the day.
Dr. says there's a fine line/overlapping between anxiety/depression/ADHD and it takes time to figure it out/try different meds.


My dr. has prescribed anti depression meds (Pristiq, Lexapro).... and all they do is make me MORE TIRED and worse during the day.


How do I tell her that self diagnosed, I truly believe I'm more on the ADHD side of things/benzo's for nighttime..... not having anti depressant/anti anxiety needs? Without her thinking I just wanna score some adderall and xanax?


Adderall when taken in the past makes me SUPERMOM/SUPERWIFE. I get everything done... times a million. I am happy with life. I take my girls out for walks, play with them like I'm a child... nevermind get them dressed, clean the house and get dinner on the table. Pay the bills, make appointments I've set, you know, usual life.

THE MORE I research the more I feel I may be ADHD all these years. I have had many jobs ...all good, successful jobs but I do job hop a lot and not sure if that's because I like change.. or just get bored. All jobs six-figure, high paying jobs but require LOTS Of multi-tasking, crazy millions of tasks all being accomplished partially throughout the day, etc. But ask me to sit down, focus and work on ONE thing for too long..... shoot me. I'll find something else to do.. or would rather just smoke a bowl and fade out.

HELP! I just need to know what route to go without her feeling like I'm stepping on her toes, but having obtained these types of drugs recreationally I'm not sure if that would flag me as an abuser. But they REALLY do help me..? :(
 
Do not tell her that you have used them without a Doctors prescription. That will throw up red flags immediately.

In my experience, Adderall/Ritalin stops working for lethargy and depression after the first couple of weeks.

Have you tried Vitamin supplements like L-Tyrosine/L-dopa, Vit C, CoQ10, or B-12 before?
 
Hey Richard, thanks for your reply! First post, 110 views, one reply. LOL learning how it works here....

Actually I have a ton of supplements at home. I take L-Aceytl Tyrosine quite often... have "Focus Factor," Picamillon, "True Focus" and a few others (Vitamin B12, Vitamin C). Never tried/heard of CoQ10..? What is that?

I self medicate at night for the anxiety with marijuana which to be honest.. I've been consistently a pothead half of my life now and not sure how I'd live without it. So.. the nighttime anxiety can be held off for a little but for the bad nights/insomnia nights... a good muscle relaxer or xanax works 1000x better than good old Mary J.... SOMA OR CYCLOBENZ... mmm.
 
Enchantress said:
Hey Richard, thanks for your reply! First post, 110 views, one reply. LOL learning how it works here....

Actually I have a ton of supplements at home. I take L-Aceytl Tyrosine quite often... have "Focus Factor," Picamillon, "True Focus" and a few others (Vitamin B12, Vitamin C). Never tried/heard of CoQ10..? What is that?

I self medicate at night for the anxiety with marijuana which to be honest.. I've been consistently a pothead half of my life now and not sure how I'd live without it. So.. the nighttime anxiety can be held off for a little but for the bad nights/insomnia nights... a good muscle relaxer or xanax works 1000x better than good old Mary J.... SOMA OR CYCLOBENZ... mmm.
Click to expand...

CoQ10 is an enzyme that helps with energy production, but it sounds like you already take quite a few energy supplements, although, you might try magnesium, as most people are magnesium deficient and that will definitely take a toll on energy production.

As for getting a prescription, I would just tell your doctor what you said here--you feel lethargic, unfocused, unmotivated, depressed, anxious, and have problems with insomnia. It's possible that he'll try to put you on some sort of SSRI or SNRI, but it'll most likely come with a prescription for a stimulant. Just be careful and make sure to schedule yourself. If you don't take breaks every now and then you'll start to feel shitty when they wear off.

If I were you, I wouldn't do a Benzo. They seem like a miracle from God at first, but then tolerance builds, they stop working, and WD's will put you through hell, but sometimes, risking Benzo dependency can be better than going through the anxiety and depression, so I understand. If you do go with a benzo, especially if it's for sleep, I would try to get Klonopin. It lasts much longer than Xanax so it'll keep you asleep, and tolerance doesn't build nearly as fast.

IME, Clonidine is a good alternative to benzos, will knock you out quickly, and if the insomnia is related to ADHD, it will help with that dramatically. It's used off label as a non-stimulant treatment for ADHD/ADD.
 
amphetamines are a short term fix imo

sounds like all of your difficulties could easily be magnified quite a bit by smoking weed?

why dont you try having a t-break for a month?

if you do 30 mins of cardio exercise every day it will have a better effect on lessening your anxiety than getting high

if you ask for stims and benzos it will just sound like you are a drug seeker, but if you are a woman, ofc you have a way better chance of scoring than most guys.

i just think that if you are a mom, it would be better for you to try everything else before you think that you need drugs to get through life.
 
I would second mysterie's last point. I was thinking about it a lot since reading your post. Think about what you want to teach your children about life and how to deal with it--from boredom to lack of energy to negative emotions. Teaching kids not to abuse drugs can never come from words, it comes from modeling that life can be tough and you have to have strategies to deal with it when it is. Eating right, getting good sleep and exercise are three basics that most of us struggle with even though they seem pretty simple. Turning to stims for energy is a very dangerous trap.

I feel for you with the exhaustion of raising little ones. But it goes quickly so try to be as conscious and present as you can, realizing that the way you lead your own life is actually the teacher for your children.<3
 
If you need a anti-depressant and need something stimulating i would highly suggest trying Bupropion aka Wellbutrin aka Zyban the latter being marketed as a stop smoking aid if you haven't tried it yet. Tell your doctor that lethargy is a big problem for you and that you read that Wellbutrin helps with that as it's a activating anti-depressant. It's a DNRI or Dopamine Norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor thus it has no real effect on Serotonin and is one of the few anti-depressants i can tolerate or works for me. It's also one of the most commonly prescribed anti-depressants these days due to it having a much lower risk of triggering mania then SSRI's or SNRI's plus it's generally one of the more tolerable anti-depressants as it doesn't cause any sexual dysfunction that SSRI's and SNRI's are known for (in fact Bupropion can actually raise your sex drive) and it just generally has less side effects. It also helps with anhedonia better then most other anti-depressants and naturally helps lethargy as it is stimulating. I find that it kicks in pretty quick too and i generally feel some anti-depressant effect after about a week or so when i raise my dose to 300mg's of Bupropion a day.
 
I have the same symptoms as Enchantress. My doctors are prescribed me antidepressants, antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, mood stabilizers, but no one want to prescribe me stimulants. So I must take amphetamines to self-medicate.
 
DanielVonCalabrese said:
I have the same symptoms as Enchantress. My doctors are prescribed me antidepressants, antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, mood stabilizers, but no one want to prescribe me stimulants. So I must take amphetamines to self-medicate.
Click to expand...

They dont want to prescribe stimulants because its counter productive if you suffer from low energy and motivation. You need ADD/ADHD diagnosis for those because otherwise its not appropriate.
 
^And even then it is usually not appropriate. Adult ADD or ADHD is usually completely treatable without stimulants. Any adult can read up on the symptoms of this so called disorder, go tell it to a doctor, take a ridiculous test (completely anecdotal) and come out with a "diagnosis" and a medication to "fix" them. It may be way more difficult to learn your emotions, examine your expectations for yourself and try to create a life that is in harmony with your own nature but IMO that is what resolves the issues of living with ADD, not stimulants.

I have the diagnosis and while I do not accept the whole medical disorder paradigm I do accept that my mind works differently than others and I have had to learn to make adaptations for my impulsiveness, lack of focus, spaciness etc. In my old fashioned book that is called living. Some days are more successful than others.:\
 
I recently got put on a Lexapro/Abilify regimen for my MDD and it's worked wonders for my mood, though the side effects have been a bit horrendous (worsening nerve pain, akasthisia, tremors). Unfortunately I am at the point where I have to make that choice, and I choose happiness and side effects.
 
As I know people with ADD/ADHD has lower count of dopamine receptors in some brain areas or less sensitive such. So they really need stimulants such as amphetamines and etc. So what is the wrong thing with people with schizotypal personality disorder? As I know it's also in dopaminergic system in the brain, but what exactly? Is anyone knows?
 
DanielVonCalabrese said:
As I know people with ADD/ADHD has lower count of dopamine receptors in some brain areas or less sensitive such. So they really need stimulants such as amphetamines and etc. So what is the wrong thing with people with schizotypal personality disorder? As I know it's also in dopaminergic system in the brain, but what exactly? Is anyone knows?
Click to expand...
Too much dopamine, I believe. That's why atypical anti-psychotics turn people into lethargic slugs if the diagnoses is wrong.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top