I've been taking the ssri zoloft for a little less than 2 years now for mild depression and anxiety. This last year, through a lot of research, I realized that it's very likely that I also have ADD. My doctor gave me vyvanse to try (30 mg, the lowest dose available) to take in combination with the zoloft. I felt fine until this summer when I decided to stop taking the vyvanse (I figured since I'm out of school for 3 months then there wasn't too much of a need to take a stimulant). What happened though, is that my depression, which is usually mild and just on and off, became much worse and constant. After 11 days of feeling depressed, I finally started taking the vyvanse again (I was afraid to start it again because I thought my system might get too messed up and I could have worse side effects, and also, I tought that if I waited it out long enough, the depression would go away on its own). After 11 days, though, I couldn't handle it anymore and saw a doctor, who told me to start taking the vyvanse again. My mood seemed to get a little better but not completely.

Right now I'm just really unsure and confused. My doctor told me that she's baffled by why I should feel depressed after stopping the stimulant. She said that my reaction should be that I would get more hyper, not depressed. She prescribed lamicton, a mood stabilizer to add to the zoloft, and does not want me to take vyvanse anymore.

But also, I read that if you mix a ssri anti-depressant like zoloft with a stimulant then the combination could make your body more sensitive to the stimulant. So then, would this make sense that I would feel depressed after stopping the vyvanse, because maybe my body was reacting as if I was on a higher dose than I really was?

I read that if your on a higher dose of a stimulant then you could become depressed if you suddenly stop taking it. But sense I was on the lowest dose, the only solutions I can think of is 1. that the zoloft somehow caused my body to react as if I stopped taking a higher dose, or 2. that I could have a mild bipolar disorder.

Any similar experiences/ ideas anyone has would be really appreciated!!!

Thank you!

I'm not sure about the ssri and vyvanse. I do know that stopping amphetamines can cause withdrawals and one of the sympotoms of that is depression. Are you seeing a family doc or a p-doc??

curseandablessi: i'm seeing a p-doc. i know it's a really complicated situation so thank you for trying to help me figure this out!

I asked because the family docs threw the prozac at me for years. The p-doc is great and much more knowledgable. I'm still on 40 mg of prozac with the vyvanse.

Sorry I'm not more help, there's not as many here taking vyvanse as some of the other drugs.

Yeah, that's okay...I know it's much newer than the other stimulants. Thank you though!

I've been taking the ssri zoloft for a little less than 2 years now for mild depression and anxiety. This last year, through a lot of research, I realized that it's very likely that I also have ADD. My doctor gave me vyvanse to try (30 mg, the lowest dose available) to take in combination with the zoloft. I felt fine until this summer when I decided to stop taking the vyvanse (I figured since I'm out of school for 3 months then there wasn't too much of a need to take a stimulant). What happened though, is that my depression, which is usually mild and just on and off, became much worse and constant. After 11 days of feeling depressed, I finally started taking the vyvanse again (I was afraid to start it again because I thought my system might get too messed up and I could have worse side effects, and also, I tought that if I waited it out long enough, the depression would go away on its own). After 11 days, though, I couldn't handle it anymore and saw a doctor, who told me to start taking the vyvanse again. My mood seemed to get a little better but not completely.

Right now I'm just really unsure and confused. My doctor told me that she's baffled by why I should feel depressed after stopping the stimulant. She said that my reaction should be that I would get more hyper, not depressed. She prescribed lamicton, a mood stabilizer to add to the zoloft, and does not want me to take vyvanse anymore.

But also, I read that if you mix a ssri anti-depressant like zoloft with a stimulant then the combination could make your body more sensitive to the stimulant. So then, would this make sense that I would feel depressed after stopping the vyvanse, because maybe my body was reacting as if I was on a higher dose than I really was?

I read that if your on a higher dose of a stimulant then you could become depressed if you suddenly stop taking it. But sense I was on the lowest dose, the only solutions I can think of is 1. that the zoloft somehow caused my body to react as if I stopped taking a higher dose, or 2. that I could have a mild bipolar disorder.

Any similar experiences/ ideas anyone has would be really appreciated!!!

Thank you!

I read on the vyvanse site that like 1 out of 9 people who have depression, also have adhd. Just because you aren't hyper, doesn't mean you don't have adhd! (or ADD- without hyperactivity as they say it) I mean, guessing that you think you have ADD, you probably are just mostly inattentive,forgetful, and off task with things? If you can look back into elementary school or middle school, do you remember not really wanting to do your homework or studying? Finding class boring or anxiously wanting to leave/ looking at the clock, doodling or finding some way to occupy the time? If your stumped on that.. a really good way to really find out is by looking at your past school records and what your teachers said about you.
If everything was going well on vyvanse, it might be a good idea to try it again with some patience in your mood. You said you did see a difference in your mood a little when you went back on it, how many days did you give it a chance? If you didn't give it like a week or two you might have seen a difference.--- FWI if you really have ADD, it isn't a good idea to stop taking your medication for awhile because sometimes it won't work nearly as well or at all when you try to use it again. It seems like by what I've read people can get it to work again but it can take a long time. I even had that happen to me on concerta and had to match a complete switch not having a psychiatrist who knew that it could eventually work again. Honestly, you're missing out on a lot of things you're not paying attention to when you're not taking it anyway!

Another thing I've read is sometimes stimulants can be used as an anti-depressant anyway and it seems to brighten people's moods on here. Did you try the same dose you were on before? or did you like start out low? and if you just did the lower dose, how was your concentration? I don't know why your doctor didn't try upping your dose of zoloft, as most psychs would do, before giving you a whole nother medication- mood stabilizer, what kind of symptom do you have of bipolar disorder besides unstable mood? Is the on and off mood more every couple of days, weeks, or months? Do you ever get really high moods that are abnormal for you?

it's also probably a good idea to ask yourself why you are depressed? If you're just down about some things, sleeping fine,eating the way you normally do, and not sitting in the tub or in your bed not feeling like you can move almost all the time, you probably aren't that depressed.If you're bored and have nothing to do most days on top of a little history of depression, that's like a killer with ADD...

kwalk: (http://www.addforums.com/forums/member.php?u=22336)

"I mean, guessing that you think you have ADD, you probably are just mostly inattentive,forgetful, and off task with things? If you can look back into elementary school or middle school, do you remember not really wanting to do your homework or studying?":

Yeah, I'm very forgetful and I have horrible time management/ conception of time. I underestimate how long things will take and am chronically late...especially because waking up in the morning is often a huge struggle. I'm also disorganized in the sense that I will just stare at a pile of things that need to be cleaned up but avoid doing it because it's too much mental effort to figure out where everything goes. (for example, it took me 12 hours to pack for a one-month trip). I try to do everything- mostly school-related work- at once and end up feeling overwhelmed. I zone out involuntarily during conversations/ movies and find myself trying to pretend I heard everything that was said. I take a very long time to write papers and am often one of the last students finishing a test or leaving the classroom. In elementary I would often day-dream and had a huge pile of papers on my desk that I could not get rid of, and in middle school it started to feel like there must have been something I was forgetting to do when it came to doing homework.

"You said you did see a difference in your mood a little when you went back on it, how many days did you give it a chance? ":

Yeah, I felt instantly happier once I started taking it again. But I guess that's not a good thing, because it meant I was getting too emotionally dependent on it.

"Another thing I've read is sometimes stimulants can be used as an anti-depressant anyway and it seems to brighten people's moods on here. Did you try the same dose you were on before? or did you like start out low? and if you just did the lower dose, how was your concentration? I don't know why your doctor didn't try upping your dose of zoloft, as most psychs would do, before giving you a whole nother medication- mood stabilizer, what kind of symptom do you have of bipolar disorder besides unstable mood? Is the on and off mood more every couple of days, weeks, or months? Do you ever get really high moods that are abnormal for you?":

When I went back on the Vyvanse, it was the same small dose (30 mg). I felt like it worked as well as before. My doctor had tried upping the zoloft over the last few months, but it didn't seem to be doing anything anymore. So she prescribed the Lamictal because she said it could "enhance the effect of the zoloft" (make it work better). But then I had to stop taking the Lamictal because it gave me an allergic rash, so now I'm on Lexapro instread of zoloft. I think it's still too early to tell if it works any better.

The only reason I was getting worried that I could have bipolar is because I read that stimulants could aggravate your moods more if you are bipolar, and my mood definitely has been aggravated since going on and off the stimulants. But I think it's really just that the stimulants were both elevating my mood and then aggravating my depression when it got out of my system. I think my moods are more characteristic of ADD up-and-down moods rather than bipolar...but I can get obsessive about things at times so I think I've been doing a lot of "what if..." obsessing about it lately.

<!-- / message --><!-- controls -->"it's also probably a good idea to ask yourself why you are depressed? If you're just down about some things, sleeping fine,eating the way you normally do, and not sitting in the tub or in your bed not feeling like you can move almost all the time, you probably aren't that depressed.If you're bored and have nothing to do most days on top of a little history of depression, that's like a killer with ADD...":

My depression is mild. It's just that it became so much more constant, and felt more intense on and off. Also, it's usually situational, but what was worrying me is that lately it was becoming random (there wasn't always something to trigger it). The have been on and off moments of just crying in bed or in the shower, but after that I'll feel better. During these times, it's not that I don't want to cry, I want to and I'll be waiting to because of the emotional release of it.

...Anyway kwalk, thank you so much for helping me figure this out. I would love to hear what you think about this now that I've *hopefully* explained things a little better!

A layman's opinion...Maybe you had grown used to being without most of your ADD symptoms, and the reappearance of them depressed you? Simplistic I know, but just because it's not complicated doesn't make it wrong.

Just my opinion - and NOT directed at the original poster or anyone else for that matter . . . BUT

This doesn't seem like Rocket Science to me! (Duh!) Amphetamine medication is known to improve peoples' moods (but later became demonized when docs were handing it out like candy and everyone was getting addicted and kids were abusing it and stuff). So docs STOPPED rx amphetamine medication except for sometimes for hyperactive ADHD little kids (ritalin was mostly used for that at first, I believe).

It's also becoming real obvious to me that just because someone is a psychiatrist, does NOT mean they will REALLY be helpful with these sorts of problems.

Anyway. I do NOT mean to offend anyone who posted. I am just starting to get frustrated when I hear about how lots of docs (gp's, p-docs, t-docs) seem SO CLUELESS about stuff. Anybody else?

Sincerely,
Sue

P.S. Whenever I have had to go without my Adderall due to missing a rx appt or whatever, I feel very depressed, lethargic, irritable too. And the only thing that seems to help is to get back on the medication. I guess that I've been addicted to "drugs" before, so it's not a big deal to me how I'm reacting without the Adderall. I'm just happy that FINALLY there's a drug rx to me that actually HELPS me and DOES something. (I also take Zoloft and have taken MANY anti-depressants over the years which never did help me much. Later I was dx with ADHD & getting meds for THAT made a HUGE difference!)

I'm addicted to air too, but I find it helps my quality of life considerably. If I happen to get addicted to medication I need to control my mental issues, and it continues to better my life, so be it. I'm addicted.

Amphetamines cause withdrawals if you take them for long enough. Mild withdrawal could start after a month of daily dosing. And regardless of your mental addiction or lack thereof, physical addiction happens no matter what.
Addiction and Withdrawal Users of large amounts of amphetamines over a long period of time can develop an amphetamine psychosis, which is a mental disorder similar to paranoid schizophrenia. The psychosis is manifested by hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia. Bizarre, sometime violent, behavior is exhibited by those with amphetamine psychosis. Symptoms usually disappear within a few weeks after drug use stops.
Withdrawal Symptoms Amphetamines have the potential to produce tolerance, which means that increased amounts of the drug are needed to achieve the desired effects. Withdrawal symptoms can occur when use of amphetamines is stopped abruptly. Users may experience fatigue; long, disturbed periods of sleep; irritability; intense hunger, and moderate to severe depression. The length and severity of the depression is related to how much and how often amphetamines were used.


craving
exhaustion
depression
mental confusion
restlessness and insomnia
deep or disturbed sleep lasting up to 48 hours
extreme hunger
psychotic reaction
anxiety reactions

Medical treatments include the use of antidepressant agents such as imipramine, desipramine, amitriptyline, dosepin, trazodone, or fluoxetine (Prozac). These affect serotonin, the neurotransmitter in the brain that deals with both depression and drug craving.

Sedatives such as Dalmane, chloral hydrate, Librium, phenobarbital, or even Valium are used, very carefully, on a short-term basis to treat anxiety or sleep disturbance problems. Antipsychotic medications such as Haldol, Thorazine, and others are also used to buffer the effects of unbalanced dopamine, the neurotransmitter that moderates paranoia and pleasurable sensation.

IRC SSRIs lower the seizure threshold... that + amphetamines = bad idea?

Oh, and are you sure it was lamicton and not lamictal?

Amide,

Could you tell me where you got that info from - I'd like to check it out myself. It's very interesting to me.

Thx,
Sue

Well, addicts and serious drug users know more about it than those who don't do drugs, so a place like http://www.erowid.org/ tends to accumulate good information on most everything, with sources, and external links, and so on.

As for SSRIs lowering the seizure threshold, well, I'm not completely sure how much they do, but I do know that all SSRIs carry some risk of seizures. And while it's not anything like Zoloft, I do know that Wellbutrin lowers the seizure threshold a lot, like to the point where any doctor prescribing it and a stimulant to anyone should be shot, or at least arrested.

Sue:

Yeah, see, I thought the answer was pretty simple too! So that's why I was confused when my doctor told me she was "baffled" by my reaction. Also, I couldn't find anything written about people experiencing withdrawl symptoms from such a small dose of a stimulant. Everything I read said that someone would only experience withdrawl if a large dose was being used. But I guess some people are just more sensitive than others?

Also, Amide:

First, you're right...it was lamictal, not lamicton, sorry.

Thanks for your info., that was helpful. I read similiar stuff online, but again, everything I read said that a stimulant would have to be taken in large amounts to cause withdrawl. And I'm a bit confused about what you were saying about the ssris and stimulants: "IRC SSRIs lower the seizure threshold... that + amphetamines = bad idea?" You're saying a doctor should never prescrible wellbutrin and a stimulant together because of the risk for seizures? Or that ANY ssri and stimulant should never be used together? And what do you mean that wellbutrin isn't anything like zoloft? Zoloft is safer, right?

Sorry for the ton of questions...just trying to understand :)

*Also, my doctor at first wouldn't tell me over the phone whether or not I should start taking the vyvanse again. (I was scared to just start taking it again because I read that if you start it again after the withdrawl symptoms have shown up then you could end up feeling even worse...that you could still have the withdrawl and plus get additional side-effects). So my doctor told me I had to go to the ER, which I thought was pretty ridiculous. (I guess she wanted to be overly sure that I wasn't going to do anything to hurt myself when I told her I was more depressed, but why she would think this anyway I have no idea...I didn't say anything to insinuate that). When I got there, I was told that it wasn't a withdrawl, but just an "effect" from not taking the drug anymore. First of all, what's the difference? Doesn't "effect" = withdrawl?? And then they just told me to start taking the vyvanse again. Gee, couldn't I have just been told that over the phone?

great posts, now I know why the doc discontinued my wellbutrin when he put me on the vyvanse. Thanks Amide.

The first med my doc tried me on for ADD (Type 2, Inattentive) this year was Vyanse. The first week was amazing...I was so organized, together, clean. But at the end of the day, I noticed myself becoming more and more irritable. It eventually escalated to depression/social withdrawal. My doctor said it was the med, switched me to Adderall XR (which has been better).

It's true that depression and ADD often co-exist, but personally? Before I knew I had ADD (or wanted to accept it :D ), I tried all sorts of anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds, and all of them left me either 'spaced out' or somewhat apathetic. Wellbutrin helped me the most, but the side effects of further anxiety weren't worth it. Without a doubt, Adderall has helped the most in terms of anxiety/depression, because I have more confidence I can actually get things done correctly.

I'd try a few things: fish oil (cold pressed, get the good kind, even if its more expensive), maybe Tyrosine? (this helps me.)

Also, talk to your doc. I've met 2 other people on Vyvanse who had similar problems with it making them irritable/depressed at the end of the day. Its a fairly new medication, so just because your doctor hasn't heard of those side effects doesn't mean they aren't common.

From what I understand, it is a long process to find the right combo of meds. Maybe you need an anti depressant with the Vyvanse, but I'd check into another stimulant first, personally.

i agree with the above, irielon. i had the same journey with vyvanse. im excited to try adderal to see if its make the difference for me.

thanks

Right, this makes sense. Even though I do have mild depression, I really do think that it was made worse by the vyvanse. Also, someone before suggested the idea that it could just be that depression was caused by having to deal with the ADD symptoms again now that the vyvanse is no longer covering them up...this is a good theory and it makes logical sense, but in my case I think it was more of a chemical reaction from stopping the vyvanse, which seemed to lift my mood. (I'm not sure that the vyvanse even helped all that much with my ADD symptoms in the first place).

Hi Pearl,

RE Doctors - this is just my experience, but over the past 5 - 10 years - and especially A LOT these past 3 - 4 years, I have seen therapists, counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists and they seem to NOT know quite a LOT about how pharmaceuticals (or any drugs for that matter) effect many people. At least that's how it appears from what they say!!

I don't know if it's related to some sort of legal concern (like the E.R. staff telling you that you were experiencing an "effect" from stopping the Vivanse, but not withdrawal?) or what it is that seems to make doctors avoid certain language, subjects, and/or fulling EXPLAINING how a drug they are prescribing might effect you. (It's almost as if they think if they DON'T tell the pt. about certain aspects of the med., then the pt. won't experience it.)

Pearl - if you're freaked out by your Vyvanse experience, would you be interested in trying a different med? Sounds like Adderall XR or Dexedrine (XR?) might be just as effective without causing that depression & w/d-feeling after-effect.

Best wishes,
Sue

Sue,

Yeah, wow I feel for you. If I'm frustrated, I can't imagine how frustrated you must be after going through this for the last 5-10 years!

I just don't know anymore if I should try a different med. My therapist doesn't believe that I have ADD, despite how much I try to tell her that I really think I do. She insists that it's depression and anxiety and that it can feel a lot like ADD. She strongly feels that I should not be taking any stimulant meds. She also says that my wanting to take them is a sign that I'm addicted and that my persistance that I have ADD despite her judgement that I don't is a mark of drug-seeking behavior.

I understand that depression/ anxiety can cause inattention, stress and maybe even activation problems...but they don't cause someone to have chronic time management and organizationization problems, impulsiveness...? Also, I've had psychological testing (IQ test and questionairre) and the results came back as that I'm highly likely to have ADD. I really respect my therapist and she's very good, but I also really do believe I have ADD. Do you think I should listen to her and not try to take any other stimulants?

What I'm most frustrated with is that I really believe from everything I've read that I have ADD, but it's like I feel like I can't get it truely confirmed because I feel like the doctors I've seen haven't really been that thorough. My first psychiatrist didn't believe me when I first realized that I could have ADD, so I finally had testing and saw a new psychiatrist. She believed me I guess...or she just didn't care and decided to prescribed the vyvanse and see what happens. But she wasn't all that thorough...she talked to me for like 15 minutes before making the diagnosis. I've read Driven to Distraction, and it explained that doctors are suppossed to thoroughly question whether or not you had signs of ADD in your childhood. She didn't really do this. So even though I think her diagnosis was right, since she wasn't very thorough I feel like I can't use this as a confirmation. After talking to her, I also had a "second opinion" from another psychiatrist, who said he thought I had mild ADD, but he didn't really ask much about my childhood symptoms either. And I feel like doctors are assuming that since I go to a UC school that my ADD must not be that bad since I was able to get good enough grades to get in. They don't seem to understand how many nights I don't sleep, how stressed I can get being constantly late to class and oversleeping despite how hard I try to get up, how scary it is to have papers finished the exact minute they're due or even late. Sorry for the rant, kinda went off track. I'm just very very frustrated about this.

Sue, how did you find out you had ADD? Was your diagnosis more thorough?

Is there anyone else that can share their experience of getting diagnosed with me? Do doctors just kind of rely on their intuition rather than the books now days or something?

Is switching doctors an option? Honestly, if it weren't for how great (and stoic!) my P-doc is, I'd never get treatment for ADD. I'd just be off in Wonderland, life of the party, but not accomplishing anything. My doctor is the one who suggested I get tested for it, because I didn't seem like I had anxiety/depression, yet those were the types of symptoms I complained of. (Along with ADD symptoms, of course...I had to take several tests)

My diagnosis went like this: went to Dr. for therapy regarding other issues, suggested I might have mild chronic depression. Tried some anti-depressants, all made me either tired or spacey, except Wellbutrin, which was great but exacerbated my anxiety. I'm really sensitive to medication and don't like the idea of using medication to solve problems. Gave up on meds for a few months.

Was sitting at lunch with a good friend of mine a few weeks later explaining how frustrated I was about WANTING to be more organized, and study, and get things done, but being unable to. I felt lazy, unmotivated, and was confused because I do well at my job, and have a high IQ, but when it came to my college courses was constantly procrastinating and/or NOT SHOWING UP due to anxiety if I knew I hadn't prepared for a test. My house was a mess; little things stressed me out. DUMB things. Like, remembering to unload the dishwasher. I'd also get really emotionally reactive to things for no reason; couldn't focus. I'd read more than one book at a time; I'd try to clean my apartment, but that would end up a nightmare. (Example of thought pattern: "Oh, I'll fold laundry. Oh look! I found nail polish next to the laundry basket. I should put this away. Actually, I should color coordinate my nail polishes. Right now. There's my nail file! I'm just going to paint my nails now instead, if I can find the polish remover. Did the phone just ring?" etc, etc.)

My friend suggested I get tested for ADD; she'd had similar symptoms, and until she got treatment and medication, was a wreck. She's my age and a corporate attorney; went to a good law school, successful, well dressed, "together". I was really surprised, and touched, that she shared this with me. I went to my doctor and mentioned it; he said there was a very high chance I had type-2. I'd been prevoiusly diagnosed with ADD back at age 17, but I thought it was a joke, and so did my parents. My doctor this time explained things to me in detail, about how it works (frontal lobe), why stimulants help, etc. He also gave me books to read, and had me take a test in his office and one online at Dr Amen's site. It's kind of long and about $5, but it helps diagnose you with ADD as well as what "sub type" you have. That was four months ago...still trying to figure everything out. It's frustrating to KNOW what's wrong with me, but not how best to deal with it. But i"m working on it :)

Another point...ADD manifests itself at different times. I never made less than a B until in my later years of HS (all A's), when my ADD came out full force, and then my GPA plummeted... I can't memorize or study at all on my own, which isn't such a big deal in lesser grades, but matters a great deal more in the last years of HS and college. So I'd have amazing standardized test scores (more abstract questions or logic puzzles) but really mediocre grades due to not turning things in and not studying. While at the end of HS I consoled myself with being a hip artistic slacker, that stuff got kind of old and REALLY frustrating when I decided to go to college. So just because you're "getting by" doesn't mean you don't have it. Not everyone with ADD is some hyperactive 10 year old boy flailing their arms in the air and throwing around their GI Joe's, refusing to sit during class, you know?

Everyone's different, of course, but if your doctor isn't supportive of the diagnosis in the first place I wonder how helpful they'll be in helping you find the right stimulant. Also, suggest you read some books by Dr. Amen... that was helpful for me when being first diagnosed. Maybe you'll read the book and realize your ADD symptoms are being caused by something else; maybe you'll relate to a sub-type.

Irelienon,

Thank you so much for sharing your story with me. It's interesting how we kind of have opposite situations with our doctors...your therapist feels like you could have ADD aside from possible mild depression, and mine feels like I for sure don't have ADD but that I do have mild depression/ anxiety...

Actually, the way I first realized that I could have ADD is from coming across Dr. Amen's questionairre online. I really related to his "overfocused" ADD, because I've had OCD symptoms on and off over the years, and I probably would have been diagnosed with OCD as a kid if I would have seen a doctor (but the amount of symptoms eventually faded away on their own over time). When I took Dr. Amen's online self-diagnosis quiz about a year ago, I scored positive for inattentive ADD.

The thing is, my psychiatrist has no problem going along with the idea that I have ADD, she just never did much to diagnose me. My therapist is the one who doesn't believe I have ADD...

Maybe I just shouldn't worry about it so much? I think I'm kind of obsessing over it...is it normal to be so hung up on not having an exact specific diagnosis written on a piece of paper?

Switch doctors like the other people said... everytime you abruptly get off any kind of stimulant you are always going to become more depressed. Vyvanse has worked worked better for me than Adderall XR 30 and Adderall 10 mg later on in the day but I had been on Adderall for almost 7 years. I'd also mistake it sometimes for class and so I could play basketball even if I was tired... I also drank on it. Vyvanse makes me far less impulsive on it and I can actually pay attention to other people around me instead of just zoning them about. You honestly don't sound bi polar. Vyvanse is the way to go because the potential for abuse is nowhere as bad as Adderall. Any doctor who doesn't know why someone would become depressed after using something with amphetamines in it really is in the wrong field.

okay, thank you battleroyale! yeah, it's so strange that my doctor apparently "prescribes 5-6 times more stimulants than the other doctors in the area" (her own words) and refers to herself as a specialist with these types of medications and yet didn't understand the way it effected me.

first note- taking a ssri with a stimulant does increase the stimulant effect a bit. i'm sure if this is the case with all, but i know it is for prozac. /kind of unrelated

secondly, i did the same thing. i went off vyvanse when summer vacation started figuring that without academic responsibilities that it wasn't necessary, and was hit by depression as well, though not to the intensity you described (my depression has always been a less detectable kind with extreme motivation loss to the point where i sometimes don't even notice it's there, but regular mandatory check ups clued my doctor in to what was going on) at which point i decided that i could benefit from it every day, and not just for academic purposes. ADD affects all aspects of life, which i something i knew but...as alice says, "i give myself some very good advice, but i seldom follow it." like sue said, taking into consideration the nature of amphetamine medication, this all shouldn't be too surprising.