I haven't been on in a while because I just started nursing school about 5 weeks ago and I have no time at all for anything else. On top of that I have a 1 yr old and a house to take care of. Thank god by boyfriend is able to support us so I don't have to work. On top of that, I have it all, ADHD, Bipolar II, Anxiety, OCD, and I'm just now getting over extreme postpartum depression.

Well, when I was diagnosed with ADHD about 9 months ago I started Strattera. I was at the max dose and it was helping a little but made me really tired and very nauseas and I hated food. I stopped taking that after that semester in school ended and I had extremely bad experience. I didn't want to get out of bed, my house became a complete wreck, I did a horrible job waitressing at work, and I began to drink again. My mind was a complete wreck.

Anyways, after that, my doctor let me try adderall xr. I got up to 60 mg a day and it still wasn't working. I then switched to concerta 72 mg a day which did absolutely nothing but make me so tired I was scared I was gonna fall asleep while waitressing. I still had a full bottle of adderall xr so I took that untile I went to my doc again. I then asked to try adderall IR which she let me do. I realized later she gave me generic but I'm not sure if the would make a difference.

Well I gave up after a few days and said no more stimulants. The only thing good the adderall did was keep me from wanting to sleep all of the time. On top of that, it gave me extreme OCD. I was so mean to my boyfriend, just moody in general. I had no personality at all. I was serious all of the time. I would just have severe rage inside sometimes for no good reason. I got really bad tics that I didn't even know I was capable of getting. I didn't even know what tics were until I searched for "adderall and eye blinking" on this forum. After a long search I finally found out that that was probably a tic. I then began to develop others and I knew for sure I had tics then, and they were bad.

They eventually got so bad I would have to lie down on the couch and press down on my eyelids bc they would even blink with my eyes closed. They began to hurt so bad. I would wake up in the morning and I could barely open my eyes bc they were so swollen and sore. Then I started flaring my nose uncontrollably, I would just hold my nose to stop it.

Well I was really worried when the tics were still there a month after I stopped the adderall. I called my doc and asked her to try me on effexor bc I thought it might be good for me. My tics were gone the next day.

Well I've been on the effexor xr for 3 weeks and it has helped with anxiety, some add (made the hyperactivity worse, that why I didn't say adhd), and depression. It has made me kind of manic but I only have bipolar II so its not really bad mania. The only thing is, I always wanted to sleep. I had to drink red bulls continuously all day so I wouldn't yawn every minute. I was passed out on the couch by seven everynight, as soon as my baby went to sleep. Well that was a problem bc that is my only time to truly study.

Anyways, I went way off subject but I thought knowing all of that might help you give better advice.

Since I still had a full bottle of the generic adderall ir, I took a 30 mg a couple of hours ago to see if it would be diff on the effexor. Well I feel great. This is what I have been looking for. I don't have that fog anymore. I have been able to do what I know I need to do. I am gonna call my doc tomorrow and tell her and see if it is ok if I continue trying these together.

I am just so worried! Is this gonna continue to work? Are my tics gonna come back? Is my anxiety gonna come back? Do you think I have maybe found the right combination for me? Is it possible for adderall to be horrible for me but with effexor combined it be great? The effexor helped with my attention better than the adderall did I think, but it was bad for a lot of my other symptoms. Them combined seems to make me have hope. I might actually be a normal college student and be able to study instead of sleeping all of the time.

What I am happiest about is I don't feel overwhelmed anymore. I had severe overwhelm from everything. It was so bad I wasn't able to function normally. I was just sit there and look around me and feel so helpless, bc my life seemed impossible. I was so sick bc of that.

Please tell me what I should expect! Tell me I might actually be ok for a while! Anything! Tell me what I can do to improve myself knowing all that I have told you. I need all of the help I can get bc I have to get through nursing school! Anybody ADDers in college with tips please tell me!

And thanks to whoever reads this. I know its long!