I'm 24 and have had ADD all my life. When I was younger it was mainly the hyperactive type. I'm told I was put on ritalin when I was 4 :eek: because it was so severe but the side effects were too severe, mainly crashing at night and crying allot. So for the rest of my years I was put on an antidepressant, imipramine which didn't do much but calmed me down a bit. So wierd thing is when I got into my late teens I lost any hyperactive problems, I still had pretty much all the other symptoms you can get with ADD but I became very lethargic in the mornings and had a real problem getting started on anything. Since then I've found out I'm also bipolar so I'm on lithium, but a year ago my pdoc put me on Dexedrine since I hadn't tried it before and the lithium does a decent job of keeping me stable. Well it's been about a year and I'm currently taking 20mg in the long acting form and it does a ok job of keeping me focused and motivated plus it helps my impulse control. To sum it up basicly I'm wondering if there is any other medication that might help my lack of focus and motivation but isn't a stimulant? I dont mind taking it but I dont like the idea of being on something so powerfull for the rest of my life if there is other alternatives. I've heard some good things about Wellbutrin, would it be anywhere near as good as dexedrine? Anyways sorry for the long post but there's no one else I can talk to about this who really understands.

Other stimulants exist - like Adderall, Ritalin, etc.

And there are non-stimulants (i.e. the NRIs - Wellbutrin, Strattera, etc.) but they aren't as effective as the stimulants for inattentive types generally.

You can take Ben's advice and try out the non-stimulant meds and see if that does anything. But you can also take take a break from meds altogether and really see how you can handle things without meds. If you're worried about long term effects, I definitely feel you, I worry about it also.

Hopefully the meds can help you adjust and change some habits, and see if you can continue these habits without the drug. Really try, don't just assume since you don't feel a certain way (without the drugs) that you can't still live your life perfectly fine.

Try taking fish oil, caffeine, start working out, etc as alternatives and see how things go.

How high is the lithium dose?