Hey comrades, I have read a bit about adhd. The book by Hallowell was my bible for awhile. Does anyone out there have a problem with extreme tension. Like I have neck tension so bad it drives me crazy because i am so uncomfortable. I feel like i want to spin my head around like in the old exorcist. Actually my whle body gets tense. Shoulders, etc. Somedays i am constantly writhing around trying to get the kinks out. I know i act like a freak. I have never read about anyone else feeling like this. I am sure it's related to adhd because my meds releive this feeling, but when my meds start to wear off i feel the tension creeping back in. It really bites. That feeling is actually the first sign that my meds are wearing off. Then i feel the urge to run to my purse and pop a pill. What a stupid existence. Anybody out there as tense as me?:mad: GRRRRR

Hrmm, are you anxious? That's the only reason I could think of for muscle tension like that.

Have you talked to your doctor?

So you don't think that is a part of add? Why does my stimulant help me with that?

I think it's related to ADD. One of the first big changes when my meds kicked in was my clenched up stomach relaxed. I also have an anxiety diagnosis secondary to ADHD, but stimulents frequently make regular anxiety worse, they make mine better. Yesterday I did an experiment and skipped my meds. I woke up with a bad back ache this morning. I definately get bad muscle tension and neck tension/headache related to that. I'm not sure if it's that the meds help me find the off switch for my thoughts so I can relax or if it's something else but there is definately a connection. Hallowell talks a bit about it in his new book too Delivered from Distraction as well as other useful tip for dealing with uncomfortable feelings -- medical and non medical. That's a good one if you haven't read it yet. I've found outdoor exercise helps a lot too with the relaxing the muscles part of things.


Scattered

Thanks scattered, I also have anxiety issues that I take celexa for. Matter of fact I kept telling my family Dr. The celexa helps somewhat but i still feel like crap. I told him how my thoughts were cloudy, I still felt overwhelmed, on and on but he didn't get it. So finally at the ripe old age of 46 i went to a shrink. I didnot know much about adhd at the time. It took him 10 min. to tell me what was wrong as i sat there bobbing up and down in my chair. So when i went on the stimulant i noticed achange in my tension level. I also found out that i have social phobias. I think i'll start a thread asking people if they know much about cognitive behavorial therapy. Thanks again

Sometimes I catch myself all tensed up when I'm doing something as simple as laying on the couch watching tv. I have to remind myself to relax. I hold a lot of my anxiety in my muscles. I've thought a lot about this because it does bother me and it causes physical pain sometimes, especially in my neck and back. I very rarely drink alcohol but when I do, after about my 2nd drink I can acatually feel my muscles start to relax and it's such an uncomfortable feeling. I really think I'm like this because of the way my childhood was. You know the fight or flight mode your body goes in to when your in danger? Well I think mine is stuck in fight mode. Horrible things happened to me and around me as a child and I always had to be on edge, ready for anything because the flight part was not an option for me. I believe this is why I startle so easily too. If someone comes around a corner too fast I jump and sometime scream. It's very embarrasing.