Amphetamines and Benzodiazepines: The Curious Nature of Polypharmacology
I was curious to see or hear if anyone else had been prescribed both stimulants and sedatives within the same cocktail for Bipolar disorder.
I am current prescribed ; .75mg clonazepam prn, .5mg lorazepam prn, 1000mg Divalproex, and 30mg Vyvanse, and my first though was "Well... that sounds an awful lot like a speedball", I do have an informal background in pharmacology but I was quite surprised that a specialist was willing to put this much trust in a 20 yr old male. Especially when considering that they "allow" me to set a range of benzos I wish to take (their recommendation being .5-2mg clonazepam and lorazepam as needed), I just prefer to take them as little as possible to avoid any risk of dependence. I already have a serious illness at a relatively young age, I don't need a serious addiction as well.
The use of stimulants to treat Bipolar has long been an elephant in the room of the medical community, yet it is not THAT uncommon and has seen a gain in research with the rise of nootropic stimulants such as Modafinil that have risen in popularity (and may provide neuroprotective benefits) for treatment resistant depression. I myself was on 400mg of Modafinil at one point with the same levels of benzodiazepines.
So has anyone else suffering from treatment resistant depression seen any success with psychostimulants or nootropics?
Hell, I'm sure almost everyone with bipolar disorder has seen odd combinations of pharmaceuticals so this could even be a thread for (positive and negative) experiences with polypharmacology.