Hi Gord and welcome to our forum

i have done a lot of reading and bipolar and ADD can indeed be difficult to peel apart. some people actually do have both and in those cases i'm not sure it's even possible to always tell if something is due to ADD or due to hypomania. mania is usually clear by degree, although by definition hypomania is considered mania if it lasts a week or more... so.... heh... there too the diagnostic tools do not help us.

i was originally diagnosed with depression and comorbid ADD but it was very quickly changed to bipolar disorder because my doctor felt my overall thinking was "too organized" and the ADD-like symptoms were episodic. that is perhaps the biggest differential aid - mania or hypomania are episodic while ADD is always there, even though it may change in presentation over time. ADD/ADHD can present as primarily hyperactive, primarily distracted, or combined. are you using the term ADD synonymously with ADHD, or do you mean it the "primarily distracted" form of it?

Effexor is activating even for some "normies." i think it will be interesting for you to see how things go over a period of time without the Effexor.

~ waves ~