Posted by mtdewcmu on April 29, 2011, at 23:25:22
Hi,
I just restarted Dexedrine this week. It has done wonderful things for productivity and it makes mental work possible and pleasant when it would otherwise be impossible. I also went back on Celexa around the same time. I had previously gotten up to 60mg of Celexa while being on it for years. I could feel potent effects from Celexa immediately this time, and I have been aiming for 40mg. However, when I first took 40mg together with Dexedrine, it seemed to make the Celexa side effects stronger to the point where I felt like I was on a different planet. Sort of like a depersonalization mixed with LSD. So, I have taken only 20mg Celexa most days this week. The Dexedrine has gotten less effective over the past few days. Yesterday and today I took 40mg Celexa to try to help with lingering depression symptoms, and although I seemed to sleep better last night, the Dexedrine felt significantly less helpful today.
So, I am trying to figure out how to manage depression symptoms and ADD symptoms simultaneously. The lessening effects of Dexedrine could be attributable to either rapidly increasing tolerance, an accumulating sleep debt, or an interaction with Celexa. I know that serotonin and dopamine can oppose each other, and the Dex has seemed less effective on those days when I've taken the higher dose of Celexa. But I also slept better last night, which I think may have been thanks to the higher dose of Celexa. So I need to figure out how much Celexa I can take while not inhibiting Dexedrine. If Dex tolerance is the main problem, then I should take the 40mg of Celexa and take the weekend off Dex to help reduce tolerance. If Celexa dopamine inhibition is the main problem, then I should stay at the lower dose of Celexa. If a sleep debt is the main problem, then I should go to 40mg of Celexa and try to find other interventions to benefit sleep. Depression has interfered with my sleep before, so I'm not sure if the sleep debt is more attributable to Dexedrine or depression.
Over the past week I have taken Dexedrine first thing in the morning, and I almost immediately feel good and like doing work. However, in the afternoon and evening when I'm waiting for it to wear off enough to sleep, I have felt somewhat anxious and depressed. So another question in my mind is whether I'll just have to get used to crashing from late afternoon until evening most days, or if the evening malaise is more a symptom of depression that had been masked and then unmasked by the Dexedrine. If it is indeed depression, then that argues strongly for an increase in Celexa.
I know this is a confusing mess, and I'll probably figure this out on my own sooner or later from trial and error, but any comments or suggestions are welcome.
poster:mtdewcmu
thread:984113
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110418/msgs/984113.html