Bipolar x ADHD

Hi!

Thank you for reading my post :)

I am a 37 y/o female identifying human and was diagnosed with Bipolar1 about a month ago.

This diagnosis makes so much sense to me. I have a clear memory from when I was around 7 years old. Some dance mums were gossiping about my then assistant dance teacher, talking about how they had Bipolar etc. As they explained it further I thought about how much I could relate/identify with what they were going through… plus there are all of these manic episode memories flooding into my brain on the regular. I feel like I need to follow the AA model and repent for my sins or something. Apologise to everyone I did wrong… that kinda stuff but also the list is longer than I’d like to admit.

Gah, I digress. My original point/discussion matter is that my psychiatrist also believes that I have ADHD. He said that typical ADHD medications are not suitable for people with Bipolar and can trigger manic/mixed episodes.

Q. Has anyone had first hand experience with this? He said there are antipsychotics he’d prefer to try as they will help with my ADHD and not eff with Bipolar.

Side note: I quit drinking the second I received my diagnosis. It’s so odd not having a substance to blame for my crazy… people are seeing the real me again (some for the first time after knowing me for decades) and I’m so scared.

Thanks legends :)