hi all,

i'm new to the group and want to introduce myself. i've been reading the forum and have a few questions.

first off, i am bipolar & adhd. my job demands a lot of concentration, so i'm trying to come up with something that helps me stay focused, but won't make me manic.

my current stack is as follows:

morning:
multi-vitamin
b-12/b-6/folic/selenium (one of the ones you put under your tongue)
l-theanine 100mg
cal/mag 1000mg/500mg
omega 3.6.9 (consists of: fish oil 800mg, borage seed oil 800mg, flax oil 800mg, alpha linolenic oil 424mg, oleic acid 290mg, epa 240mg, dha 160mg)
relora 250mg

afternoon:
l-theanine 100mg
omega 3.6.9 (consists of: fish oil 800mg, borage seed oil 800mg, flax oil 800mg, alpha linolenic oil 424mg, oleic acid 290mg, epa 240mg, dha 160mg)
relora 250mg

evening:
l-theanine 200mg
cal/mag 1000mg/500mg
relora 250mg

i was also taking rhodiola 205mg / 2x a day. i was feeling great, fairly stress free and had good energy and concentration. but, i started getting really hyper and after looking at everything on my stack, i stopped taking the rhodiola since that was the only thing that i've read has a potential for mania.

the problem is, since stopping the rhodiola (it's been about a month now) i am still hyper, but in a more 'edgy' & irritated way. and, i'm not very clear headed anymore. i feel a bit dreamy and foggy. also, i have been clenching my teeth quite a bit, causing me great facial pain.

so, i'm hoping someone will see something in my list that i should change or possibly add. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

i was just reading some info about how acute anxiety can be caused by too much dopamine. isn't l-theanine a dopamine reuptake inhibitor? i thought i read somewhere that it decreases serotonin, which would in turn increase dopamine...right? could that be part of the problem?

I think your list is overall fair for someone with your condition. I would be somewhat cautious with increasing serotonin or dopamine however. Although there are cases where Dopamine can be safety increased. Theanine has a mild effect on Dopamine which should be somewhat countered with its effects on GABA.

You may wish to consider Myo-Inositol and taking Rhodiola if you saw no side effects taking it.