Perhaps some of you could lend advice. Currently prescribed Adderall 20 mg XR daily for ADD-inattentive. It is helpful but leaves me chronically agitated and often I just feel 'gross' for lack of a better term. I clearly have Anxiety issues that are real and appear exacerbated by the Adderall/have discussed this with my GP numerous times. Anyway, during a short bout of extreme anxiety due to school and life a friend gave me a short supply of Xanax. I often took it once I felt the adderall kick in and the impending sense of doom arose. I must say it was the most positive/functional/lucid/emotionally bright week I've had in ages.
As such my question is, with a doctors help is this a plausible daily combination (taking into account all the negatives of benzodiazepines)? Additionally, if not is there any sort of RX alternative people have had success with for general anxiety/disphoric moods associated with Adderall and just general anxiety?

It should be noted I take fish oil, magnesium, b vitamins, Vitamin D etc daily. Have tried L-theninine, Valerian, Kava Kava and of course red wine http://i.bluelight.ru/s/rolleyes.gif with limited success. Thanks.

Anxiety + ADHD is a terrible combo. Most medications which help one tend to make the other worse.

Benzo's work great for anxiety, but make ADHD worse. Taking them over a long term sounds like a bad idea based upon some of the dependance widthdrawl stories I've seen posted here.

non specific beta-blockers like propanolol can help block physical anxiety effects. However they do nothing for more generalized anxiety. Also they drop Bloodpressure + After about a week I noticed increased sweating. After two weeks they were loosing their effectiveness. Betablockers do work great for occasional use for public speaking (stage fright).

Reducing my stimulant dosage seems to help as well, but my ADHD gets worse.

So far the best solution I found is low doses of SNRI's like effexor or cymbalta. I believe they increase NE which triggers a feedback mechinism and reduces stimulation. There are drugs specific to only NE, but a little extra serotonin seems to work well for me.

BobC

Effexor worked well for me, it helped my mood especially, and anxiety but not the hyperactivity. I also have ADHD and anxiety. However, yes, stimulants can increase anxiety. For me, they lessened it. Just different I suppose.

Wellbutrin is kind of a 'combo' med. There are others, just ask your doc! Different ones work on different receptors, and sometimes it is just a trial and error. You definitely should not take adderall if it makes you feel 'doomed'! Ugh, how awful!

People do take anti depressants with stimulants, but not benzos. These can counteract each other, and overall a very addicting and unhealthy combination. Benzos are far more addictive (in my opinion) and your tolerance to these builds up very very quickly. As a side note, I would stay away from Kava, this can be very bad for your liver. Look up FDA warnings on Kava, more research is being done where people have had liver *failure* due to it. I drink passion flower tea for my anxiety.. but it makes you VERY tired and foggy, but it does wonders for nerves! Its nice once my adderall is wearing off.

You might just need to try a different ADHD med also. Ritalin made me more calm than the adderall. I don't recommend ritalin, but never know, it could work for you.