My psychiatrist thinks I have ADD, but I am a little confused. I have been reading that most ADDers can't sleep, but I sleep way too much, and I am currently recovering from chronic fatigue with which I was off work for 6.5 months. I have heard chronic fatigue mentioned around the forums and I was just wondering what the relationship was between this and ADD. Is it possible to have both?

I think it is possible to have both. Do you drink a lot of caffeine, by any chance? A lot of ADDers self-medicate by drinking a lot of caffeine, which in the long run wrecks the quality of sleep you are getting and makes you need MORE sleep instead of keeping you up. (<--- been there done that.)

Also, is it ADHD or just ADD that you have?

You could also have a comorbid condition. I think Dr. Amen said sleep apnea and a couple of others are more common among ADDers.

Sure, you can have both. Your Chronic Fatigue may also be linked to depression...and many of us know that depression can often be found comorbid with ADD/ADHD.

Also, keep in mind that your Chronic Fatigue could be caused by many other things as well. ADDers have been known to burn an excessive amount of energy trying to keep up with their daily lives. That's enough to get most people exhausted. There are other reasons you could be tired as well.

I sleep a lot as well and I have ADHD. I call Saturday my sleep day. And trust me I sleep. Paul mentioned sleep apnea. You can test this yourself. Get a tape recorder and record yourself sleeping. Later on listen to your breathing patterns. If you have problems in breathing while sleeping, that could be part of the reason why you sleep so much or why you are tired all the time

Becca,

Some medications for ADD are also prescribed for Excessive sleepiness. Some ADD people find the meds that relate to norepinephrine help their ADD...and there are norepeinephrine drugs to keep you awake(Provigil/Adrafinil). If you want to read more, here is an explanation of what noradrenalin does and it's link to CFS.

http://www.beatcfsandfms.org/html/NaTutorial.html

Sleepz.

Becca,

I too have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) & AD/HD. But I also suffer from Fibromyalgia, and have been an insomniac since birth.
(11 p.m. till 4 a.m. colic as a baby & the rest of the time I would sleep about 40 minutes and wake up ready to go again.)

The Doctors I have seen, and much of the information I have read, CFS is basically the bodies defenses working because when one doesn't go into the deep sleep that the body needs to repair it self, and achieve the amount of sleep that is needed. We then feel tired all the time and will sleep for hours on end. (that is if you aren't an insomniac like me.)

This lack of deep sleep also can be associated with other ailments other than AD/HD. Some of those being, Narcolepsy (when one falls asleep at the drop of the hat.), Chronic pain & inattentiveness. And I'm sure there are many other ailments that can arise from this problem.