ADD makes me feel bipolar at times.

[matthew pippin]

 

ADD has always made me feel somewhat bipolar. I dont think I go as low as someone who is bipolar. But sometimes I wonder if their is something else going on. Stress has a huge impact on the emotional state of our minds and bodies. But even with going to the gym and working out, I still feel up and down. My confidence of course changes as well. I'm either realy high up or down and sometimes it doesn't take much to take me one way or the other multiple times in the same day. Sometimes the circumstances or event may not even be that exstravagent to throw the emotions one way or the other. I felt This way for years and maybe always. Just assume that's normal. Growing up I took cylert. Then later during and after high school for about 10 years or so I took aderall. Now within the past year I now take vyvanse. I even went periods without any meds. All these medications and they don't seem to change the ups and downs. I was diagnosed with ADD and thats what the meds are intended for.

 

So I guess what my goal is, to find out if this is just life with ADD, general life, or if something else might be going on here.

 

Do you fellow ADDers experience the same ups and downs

[Nichole]

I've actually read before that some of the symptoms for ADD and bipolar are similar, but for very different reasons. I don't know a whole lot about it, but I know I've read about it before in my research after being diagnosed! Maybe you've already tried this but go to google and just search ADD and bipolar similarities... 

http://www.healthyplace.com/adhd/articles/diagnosing-bipolar-vs-adhd/

there's a start i guess? i don't know if thats quite what you were looking for as a response, but it just popped into my head when I saw your post! When I was a teenager I kind of had the same problem, before I was diagnosed, but I htink a lot of it for me was that I knew that there was something different about me, I just didn't know what? Anyway, Good luck!! 

[MrsHm]

I feel kind of bipolar a lot of the time, although for me a better term might be "rapid cycling cyclothymic" (cyclothymia is essentially a mild form of bipolar disorder, and the rapid cycling bit refers to the fact that my moods are up and down A LOT, as opposed to the more extended periods of depression & mania in "standard" bipolar).

Personally I feel that a lot of the "bipolarness" is down to the fact that I am so distractible & forgetful that I forget what mood I'm in from one moment to the next, combined with the fact that I tend to get "carried away" by my own emotions very easily. I can literally be sobbing in a heap on the floor, feeling utter despair & hopelessness about my life, then 15 minutes later I'm absolutely fine, even over-exuberantly happy about something! It's weird by most people's standards :)

When I'm in a good mood & I'm excited about something my mood is often bordering on manic, but I don't think it would be described as full blown mania as I don't get seriously delusional or anything (often rather overoptimistic, but not to a pathological level), and when my mood is low I can really sink to the depths of despair, but thankfully only temporarily so it could never be described as clinical depression (diagnosis of which requires more extended periods of serious low mood). Luckily I've never been suicidal, although to be honest when I'm feeling really miserable committing suicide would just be too "proactive" - I'm far too demotivated to do anything other than sit and sob, stare vacantly into space, or sleep.

I'm afraid I can't say whether this is "normal" ADHD or something more, I haven't yet figured that out for myself, but I'm sure whatever it is, having an ADHD brain must play a large part in it. I suspect, as with many things in life, it's a case of us all having a unique mix of things going on in our brains & our experiences, and things like ADHD will always interact with other aspects of our brain function, the way we were brought up, and the environment we find ourselves in, and will be expressed as our own special "flavour" of ADHD! 

[matthew pippin]

MrsHm Excellent, I think I can relate 100%. Has to be all related somehow or another. Everyday can be a huge struggle. Dealing with people and they're hyper personalities, having them get wound up over things and not slow down. If I dont stay calm and keep myself at a distance to stay in check. This in it self can cause my brains file box to dump out onto the floor and create complete disruption for everything I need to focus on in life. I think this is what causes some to react in anger. I myself do not.

People just dont understand what it does when Im approached or handeled in the wrong manner. This alone will bring me down on a daily basis if exposed to noncompatible insesitive people. Especially in the work place. Ive learned to not get angry and react. I usually just suck it up and somehow usualy know that there's not realy much I can do about it. I will always have to go my own pace and direction on things and if people dont like it wheather its in the work place or not, they're going to have to deal with and eccept it. Keeping peace with people and being sincere is my greatest advantage to survival.  Knowing where we struggle the most I think is the key!

[Canny R.]

Very well put and so descriptive of myself, as well.  (I wonder if people who don't know me well think I'm unstable!  Sometimes I'm confident, talkative, and interested, and at other times I come across as indifferent.)

Thanks for sharing this, MrsHM.

[Elizabeth]

Sounds just like me.  All my life.  Exercise does help, because I can feel the symptoms increase when I go without it for awhile.  Drinking more water regularly helps too--I feel more clear-headed.  Recently I am changing my sugar intake, and that seems to be helping too.  Maybe it's a comorbid mood disorder?

[Judy]

Absolutely!  Up and down like a roller coaster, even with medication.  The difference is, I live in the moment, so once I acknowledge the bothersome feelings and what is causing them, I move on.  Fortunately, it's usually moving on to something that promotes feelings of pleasure.  

The point is, I cannot wallow in any one feeling because I cannot sustain the focus it takes to do the wallowing:)

Know what I mean?

[MrsHm]

Ha ha, yes, "cannot sustain the focus it takes to do the wallowing" is a more succinct way of putting what I was trying to say!

[Canny R.]

So true!  Being easily distracted can be a blessing!

[Leebold]

Your post rings true with me and my moods, I am  being treated for bipolar 2 at the moment because the lows are very low and the highs/norms can be extremely productive but once the stimulation has gone and I start to lose focus and make the same mistakes over and over again I start down the slippery slope and then the add gets worse and so on. I love living in the moment but as the others have said here, its amazing how one minute I can feel really negative emotions and then as soon as something good happens I forgot how I felt a moment ago but this happens so many times a day that it can be so confusing and I wonder who and how I am at times.

I'm on the road to a proper add diagnosis soon and so hope to try and build my life to how I would like it to be.

Thank you for your post and all that have replied to it. it has really helped me today as I am going through a particually difficult patch at the moment,

[doug puryear]

matthew

i think we tend to get ups and downs, partly because our self esteem tends to be shaky, and partly because our performance tends to be erratic.  so when we accomplish something we can feel really good, and when we don't or we mess us, we can feel really bad.

bipolar 2 can be pretty mild, so you might want to get that checked out.

self talk, either negative or positive, can have a big effect and you might work on that. 

exercise is great, and getting outdoors can help

good luck

[Lynn Scott]

A symptom of Borderline Personality Disorder is rapid cycling vs Bipolar where the cycles last longer. 

[Janet S]

This sounds a lot like what I've experienced, and I find that Effexor (Venlafaxine) smooths out my highs and lows to the right amount of each. I have wondered also if I'm Bipolar, and certainly wondered it about my daughter for years before she was diagnosed with ADHD. So far Concerta keeps her wild swings within an acceptable range and when they go far out either way, well, who's to say its not adolescence?! Good luck, there is some great information on here.