Expert: Libby Bonner - 10/6/2008

Question
hello,im jessica. i've been diagnosed bipolar. i currently am taking medication, i havent had an episode in a few months,the last one was a severe depressions that lasted not even two days. a few weeks ago, i started an ADD medication that was not good for people that have mood disorders and i had the common side effects. it triggered one of my most severe eppisoded, i had what appears to be racing thoughts(i was hooked on the same two thoughts,to the point i could not sleep) i had "voices" which i labalize as uncontroled thoughts, i had one very hooked on dellusion. i recently fell outof this,i had relized i had an episode,i freaked out because i had thought i had developed shizsophrinia(excuse my typos) are these symptoms common in these kinda of eppisodes?should i get on an anti physcotic?or stick to my medication?

Answer
You should ask your doc, not me.

BUT - is your regular psychiatrist the same doc that started the ADD med???  If it was a different doc, the lesson here is not to start any med, almost, without checking w/ your psychiatrist first.  

If it was your own regular psychiatrist who prescribed the ADD - and shouldn't have, maybe - you might want to think about staying w/ him, or not.  This is not a recommendation; it's just something to consider.

I am very glad to hear that you are on medication, since it seems to be helping you.  And I'm very sorry you had such a bad experience with the ADD med.

Absolutely go on taking the med or meds that had been working for you.  Just be sure all docs whom you see know about what happened w/ the ADD med.

If you think you are still not quite back to where you were before the ADD med, don't wait for your next appt: go ahead and call your doc.