I have adhd and high anxiety. I started taken adderall xr 15mg and first day was great, I felt like a new person. Just to be safe I checked my blood pressure at the grocery store and it was 139 and heartrate was 73. The second day I took the adderall I felt fine in the morning but around 12-1pm I started to feel really wired and felt a fast hearbeat. I went to the walgreens to pick up a blood pressure monitor and bp was 150-160 and heartrate was 95. I went into a panic and went to the grocery store to check my bp and it was 169 and hearrate was 115. I was thinking this was a bad reaction to the med so I went to er. They took my bp and it showed 170 with a heartrate of 137. They did a cardio test and it was ok. They gave me 2 xanax and after a while the bp came down to 138 and heartrate to 90. The er doctor told me that the high bp and heartrate were consistent to the effects of the adderall and told me to discontinue use and call my doctor. When I got home around 5pm my bp was 130 and heartrate 73. The discharge papers from the hospital said that a significant amount of your condition was caused to anxiety. I asked my doctor today if anxiety could make your bp and heartrate go that high and he told me no. He gave me a script for adderall 5mg xr and told me to start it tomorrow. Today when I picked up the prescription they told me that sodium can intesify the effect of the adderall and cause my bp and heartrate to go up. Was this incident most likely a panic attack or could I have ate something that caused the bad reaction? Has anyone ever had similar problems when starting the adderall? I am real nervous about taking the 5mg xr but feel terrible off of the adderall.

Took the 5mg xr this morning at 7:30. Bp is around 130 and heart rate is 60. Feeling real good so far.

Anxiety can raise your BP I think - I know when I'm anxious for a doctor's visit, it's higher! An panic attack can also raise your BP and Heart Rate, as far as I know - people mistake them for Heart Attacks! Anything stimulating - like Coffee or anti-histamines, etc. - can intensify the effects of Adderall and make your BP and HR higher, so if you ate or drank something with caffeine in it, it could have made the effects worse.
It sounds to me like you had a panic attack - you took your BP and HR, thought them to be high, and then paniced! You should be aware that the BP measuring devices found at drug stores are very inaccurate, as are the small automatic home units you can buy. Everything from the size of the cuff, to the person taking your BP will vary the readings. I have my BP taken on a regular basis and even the fanciest, hospital quality BP machine gives a much higher reading than a nurse or doctor using the proper size cuff. Keep that in mind in case you feel like panicing over your BP again!
Regards,
Greg

I'd like to add that when people go on Adderall they do get increased heart rates and pulse for the first couple of days, then the stimulating effects go away and the good brain helping part stays. You feel like you're on speed for the first couple of days.
Yes, anxiety and panic attacks DO cause high blood pressure. I've had them at the docs office and they took my bp and it was sky high, my norm has always been extremely low.
Greg is right, in my opinion you panicked and drove your blood pressure and heart rate up even more than the Adderall was because you gave yourself an anxiety attack.
So calm down, and try not to panic when you feel like your a little 'speedy', if you get scared do go to doc or er, but you might not have to if you can calm down.
Do you know about drinking ice water when you have a panic attack? It helps stop it. And deep breathing does too.

~Susan

Yes, anxiety attacks, fear and anger can raise blood pressure and heart rate. I have proof. While having a routine exam my standing b/p was 100/60 with a heart rate of 60 bpm. During the exam they noticed a lump in my breast (I'd already been thru one lump and knew what kind of hell I was about to go thru again). Within minutes I was in a full blown anxiety attack which consisted of chest pain, nausea, vomiting, headache I was just pretty miserable. It landed me in the hospital with a b/p of 160/140 and a heart rate of 120 bpm. Next time I have an anxiety attack I'll take my heart rate chances are it's going to significantly higher it probably has a lot to do with most anxiety attacks kick in your adrenaline and the flight or fight response..how do you run from yourself?

Thanks for the responses. Today is my 3rd day on the adderal 5mg xr and I feel so calm. I feel like on I have been on xanax all day and have not took one today. I don't feel angry as usual either.

I take adderall xr 20mg in am and 20mg in pm. I was just dxed in nov'04 and had high bp before starting the adderall so was nervous about bp going higher. It did go higher....:(Just for the record..to make long story short.. I am now into the third month of taking Adderall xr and having no problems and even have better BP readings now than I ever did before starting the adderall Xr. My doctor said he believes this to be true because I have less anxiety issues now that i have been dxed adhd..So there is light at the end of the tunnel.. Good Luck! Everyone is different so I hope this med works for you--if not I am sure there are many more good meds out there. Hang in there.... dear!