Q: Is Dexedrine Useful in Treating Bipolar Symptoms?
I have been diagnosed with something called mixed state bipolar II
(something like that) Dear KL -- Lamictal can be pretty great sometimes. I've not heard of using Dexedrine for bipolar symptoms. Some think there might be some risk of the stimulant having a destabilizing effect, in fact (e.g. particularly in kids where it's being used for ADD). So at minimum I would think you would want to get up to speed on the lamictal first, unless your symptoms demand treatment faster (it's pretty slow to get going). In that case, perhaps your doc' is trying to buy time with the stimulant as an antidepressant, and thus avoid antidepressants per se, which are clearly destabilizing, particularly for folks with "mixed state" symptoms. Or perhaps she/he is trying to treat ADD-like symptoms? I hope you get a great response to lamotrigine, as many have. Just be careful not to go up too fast and get the rash -- then you'd never be able to take it! Dr. Phelps |