Kristin - I've been suffering with my first mosquito bites of the summer. One of them was awkwardly placed so that my watch strap rubbed it ... which made it get worse. I'm relying on Benadryl cream to reduce it. How do I get bites? I'm almost never outside!

Well I doubt these are mosquito bites since we don't have very many of them here in desert country (especially during a drought), but the alternatives are even less fun to think about. I just Frontlined the cat.

Frontline?

Becky, at one point I had an unoffical diagnosis of ADHD to go wtiht he official depression, but that was before I got the bipolar diagnosis and that fits better.

I'm not familiar with Trileptal, but the Seroquel I take worked wonders for the racing thoughts and my inability to sleep. And I was given Lamictal because it works well with depressive episodes and I was having a lot of them but my shrink forbids any antidepressants. He said all the ones I took over the years were just triggering the manic attacks -- so I'd cycle, I'd get depressed, take the meds, feel better, feel great, omigodmanic! stop taking the meds, crash. Stablize. Repeat.

That's why I'm worried about taking any kind of stimulant.

But the problems I'm having aren't hypomanic. It's more that my brain is getting bored a lot. I watch something or read it and I'm okay for awhile, then it's not enough and my brain's looking for more stimulation so I move on to the next book, or start watching 2 (or three or even 4) tv programs at once. But it's not frantic, desparate need to do something, anything (even really stupid things) to make those feelings go away. It's not scary, just damn annoying.

There's also my massive disorganization in my personal and professional life. I try go get organized and sometimes it works but mostly I just sit there and feel overwhelmed at even the idea of starting.

I look at a pile of papers or try to think about organizing my files and it's like looking at Sanskrit. Or a 5000 piece jigsaw puzzle that's all one color, I just can't even being to decipher it and figure a starting place.

ah ... Buffista cat.

Toddson, Frontline: [link]

aha! I thought it might be something like that, but wasn't sure (not having a pet myself).

I think I'm going to switch to Revolution ( [link] ) since ticks aren't as much of a problem out here, though.

Check with your vet first, Kristin. One of the OTC systemics has caused problems, especially in cats and young puppies.