Opinions on ADD and Anxiety.

[notpersonallyme]

Hey Everyone! This forum is great. It's really nice to be able to identify with people.

I have a few questions.

With a little bit of history here...I was diagnosed with ADD at 15 years old (I'm 27 now) and took medication for 5 years. My life was amazing. I had self confidence, I had friends, I could keep up in conversation, and in the world in general. When I was 20 I stopped taking the medication. I was young and stupid and didn't realize just how much it was helping me in every aspect of life. My life suffered. I lost all of my friends, could not get a job, my mind races and wanders constantly. I have every typical ADD symptom there is to be had. I went on like this until I was 24. I finally got the courage up to go to a psychiatrist and I told him I had ADD and anxiety. He told me he'd only be able to help me with one or the other and I should choose which disorder I felt needed the most help. Not knowing much but knowing that I had panic attacks and I had a lot of anxiety - I told him anxiety. We tried a bunch of medications that didn't work for me. I stopped going to this doctor. A year later at 25 years old I went back to him desperate because my symptoms were just unbearable. He gave me klonopin twice a day and xanax for insomnia. Present day... i am 26 years old and taking Klonopin as needed (max 1mg twice a day ... but I mostly take it once a day) and xanax for insomnia. My anxiety is feeling really low and my stress level is way down. THE PROBLEM IS I still have all of my ADD symptoms. It's like one thing was solved and now I need the other to be solved as well.

I have a dr's appointment with a NEW doctor who is hopefully willing to help me with BOTH of these issues crippling my life. My question is, with my current medications what could a doctor prescribe for the add? Are they effective? I just want to know what the options possibly could be. Thank you guys so much. I really look forward to your opinions and input. THANK YOU!

[ADDinHDefgHi?!]

I think a good doctor will recognize that they both need to be treated. My psych prescribes me Klonopin for anxiety and Ritalin for ADD. We've tried different combos but this works best. I occasionally take Ambien for insomnia.

They're both real disorders, I see why some doctors are hesitant to treat the ADHD in anxiety patients but I think it's so common people to have ADHD and Anxiety that it surprises me when I hear these stories.

If the next doctor won't treat both find one who will. You deserve to be treated for both conditions since they are both effecting your life. My Anxiety never really got under control until I saw a psychiatrist who diagnosed the ADHD. I needed the ADHD dx and treatment to get the correct treatment for my Anxiety.

It's been a long journey but a good doctor will treat both and there are many options med and therapy wise.

Good luck with the new doctor, if you aren't seeing a psychiatrist I'd recommend seeing one.

I didn't get anywhere until I saw a psychiatrist, my other doctor just kept giving me xanax and I just ended up addicted to xanax, it was a nightmare!

[sarahsweets]

Is it possible that your anxiety was being addressed by the wrong stimulsnt?

[rockstarrmommy]

In my personal experience, once I started on medication for the ADHD, my anxiety got sooo much better. I think ADHD/anxiety kind of go hand in hand and that the ADHD symptoms alone are enough to cause a moderate amount of anxiety for people. It makes sense right?

So what I'm saying is, it is possible that if you started on medication for ADHD, you may not even need the anxiety medication anymore, depending on how bad the anxiety really is and what is causing it. For me it was my inability to function as a normal person because I have kind of severe ADHD. So once those symptoms improved (I'm not 100% "cured", but no one's perfect)

On the other hand, a lot of the ADHD medication side effects can include anxiety. I take Adderall, and although it makes my anxiety better, I have heard others say that it causes them a little anxiety. I have never taken anything else, so I couldn't tell you about the other meds. You most likely will still need something to help you sleep.

But even if you still do need the anxiety meds, it's no biggie, so many people take both. I will occasionally still take xanax as needed, but much less than before. I have panic attacks on occassion, so that's when I take it.

Hope everything works out for you, keep us posted

[425runner]

That's weird...I have anxiety as well as ADHD and take Klonopin 0.5-1mg/day for anxiety and Dexedrine ER 10mg bid for the ADHD. Apparently anxiety and/or depression are common co-morbid disorders in someone with ADHD so I don't see why a doctor would refuse to treat both.

[notpersonallyme]

Thank you sooo much guys. It's really nice to be able to hear from people who just "get it"

425runner: I was pretty shocked too at how he handled my symptoms. "I can help you with one or the other" ... Very odd... But as time went on I could see that he is a horrible psychiatrist. 80 years old. Doesn't really remember who I am when he sees me. It was my fault for staying with him for this long but I am forever grateful for the year that he has been prescribing me klonopin and xanx because my stress and anxiety levels are WAY down and I haven't had a panic attack since... EVERYTHING ELSE still seems to be the problem though lol

Thanks again, guys.

Lots of love and success to us all!!!!

[fracturedstory]

I'm not sure if anyone has recommended it but you might want to try cognitive behavioural therapy alongside the anti-anxiety meds to help you overcome it. I've never ever taken medication for anxiety and I've had almost every kind you can name and some were very severe. I'm starting to get agoraphobia now. CBT really does help me out. You just got to change your way of thinking. Anti-anxiety meds just block the anxiety, but don't actually deal with it.

I don't know if I should add, but I experience a different type of anxiety on my medication. I just have to remind myself that it's the meds and not that people actually think that way about me and I'm ok.

As for refusing to treat both. ADHD symptoms can look like anxiety symptoms, and vice versa. That's why doctors want to deal with the anxiety first to see if the ADHD is still there after it's treated. Same goes for depression. I couldn't be diagnosed with dyslexia because I was also suffering from stress, anxiety and according to a whole panel of university psychologists, severe depression. That last one I never believed.

[notpersonallyme]

Yeah... I understand that CBT is what can possibly CURE anxiety and whatever else might be going on but i'm not "there" yet. I can't even really go to the store without being overwhelmed so medications that just "block" symptoms aren't really something that I am worried about right now. I'm worried about my well being and being mentally clear and stable. If I were to be on a ADD medication and Klonopin for the rest of my life, so be it. I just want these feelings gone and I want to be able to live a reasonable normal life. With friends and my family and a career. If it takes medication to have me at that place. That is what it'll have to be. Thanks so much for your input, I appreciate it.

[notpersonallyme]

Do any of you guys take Strattera or any non stimulant medication? I guess I would assume that is what my new doctor would prescribe me if we decided that it was best I stay on Klonopin (which I would really like to since the before / after has been pretty major) I'm curious about medications.... Do any of you guys take klonopin, xanax, or any of those types of medications with ADD medications? Which ones and how successful are they? I was on Adderall when I was diagnosed. Being older now and more of a nervous wreck then i was when I was younger, I'm a little scared. Maybe a small dosage would be proper.

[rockstarrmommy]

Originally Posted by notpersonallyme

Do any of you guys take klonopin, xanax, or any of those types of medications with ADD medications? Which ones and how successful are they? I was on Adderall when I was diagnosed. Being older now and more of a nervous wreck then i was when I was younger, I'm a little scared. Maybe a small dosage would be proper.

I take adderall 10mg twice a day and xanax 0.5mg just as needed, which isn't every day. The xanax used to knock me out which I hated but now when I take it, that doesn't really happen. I guess the stimulant will sort of cancel out the "sleepy" effect from the xanax, but it doesn't cancel out the therapeutic effects...which is good.

No experience with klonapin or any other anxiety med.

Also no experience with strattera, interested to see if it would work tho, so let me know if you try it!!

[Monkey Bean]

I can relate a lot to what rockstarmommy said. A huge contributor to worry and anxiety is just being in the constant state of NOT being able to effectively manage day to day life. Once you are on ADD meds for a consistent while, then the anxiety is bound to abate somewhat because your frontal lobes have been pitching in to help you react and respond to life situations. Before starting medication, I used to worry constantly about pretty much everything.

[DarkShadow]

Originally Posted by notpersonallyme

Hey Everyone! This forum is great. It's really nice to be able to identify with people.

I have a few questions.

With a little bit of history here...I was diagnosed with ADD at 15 years old (I'm 27 now) and took medication for 5 years. My life was amazing. I had self confidence, I had friends, I could keep up in conversation, and in the world in general. When I was 20 I stopped taking the medication. I was young and stupid and didn't realize just how much it was helping me in every aspect of life. My life suffered. I lost all of my friends, could not get a job, my mind races and wanders constantly. I have every typical ADD symptom there is to be had. I went on like this until I was 24. I finally got the courage up to go to a psychiatrist and I told him I had ADD and anxiety. He told me he'd only be able to help me with one or the other and I should choose which disorder I felt needed the most help. Not knowing much but knowing that I had panic attacks and I had a lot of anxiety - I told him anxiety. We tried a bunch of medications that didn't work for me. I stopped going to this doctor. A year later at 25 years old I went back to him desperate because my symptoms were just unbearable. He gave me klonopin twice a day and xanax for insomnia. Present day... i am 26 years old and taking Klonopin as needed (max 1mg twice a day ... but I mostly take it once a day) and xanax for insomnia. My anxiety is feeling really low and my stress level is way down. THE PROBLEM IS I still have all of my ADD symptoms. It's like one thing was solved and now I need the other to be solved as well.

I have a dr's appointment with a NEW doctor who is hopefully willing to help me with BOTH of these issues crippling my life. My question is, with my current medications what could a doctor prescribe for the add? Are they effective? I just want to know what the options possibly could be. Thank you guys so much. I really look forward to your opinions and input. THANK YOU!

I understand what you're going through. I also have ADHD and anxiety. I'm currently on Vyvanse for ADHD and Zoloft for depression and anxiety. I also have klonopin if I need it, and take ambian when I need help sleeping.

When I started seeing my psychiatrist, she told me the same thing. She said that normally she tries to treat one condition first, to see if that helped with other symptoms. Sometimes what we think are anxiety symptoms are the result of untreated ADHD and vise versa. Since I had already been taking Vyvanse for a year, and the symptoms were still present, she determined that she would treat me for both anxiety and ADHD. Then after a while she put me on something that would help my depression also. Now I'm treating all three issues.

Since you have been treating the anxiety and still notice the ADHD symptoms are unbearable, mention to your new psychiatrist that you feel you need to treat both. Like I said earlier, Vyvanse has worked very well for me. My wife is taking adderall and has had success with it.

[DarkShadow]

Originally Posted by fracturedstory

I'm not sure if anyone has recommended it but you might want to try cognitive behavioural therapy alongside the anti-anxiety meds to help you overcome it. I've never ever taken medication for anxiety and I've had almost every kind you can name and some were very severe. I'm starting to get agoraphobia now. CBT really does help me out. You just got to change your way of thinking. Anti-anxiety meds just block the anxiety, but don't actually deal with it.

I don't know if I should add, but I experience a different type of anxiety on my medication. I just have to remind myself that it's the meds and not that people actually think that way about me and I'm ok.

As for refusing to treat both. ADHD symptoms can look like anxiety symptoms, and vice versa. That's why doctors want to deal with the anxiety first to see if the ADHD is still there after it's treated. Same goes for depression. I couldn't be diagnosed with dyslexia because I was also suffering from stress, anxiety and according to a whole panel of university psychologists, severe depression. That last one I never believed.

I recently had to take medical leave due to stress, anxiety, depression, and a series of breakdowns that eventually gave me three weeks in a nice hospital with better than I imagined food.

Anyway.

While out on leave I noticed that I was becoming way too comfortable staying in the house, and got really nervous at the idea of going out in public. I just didn't want to be around people. I still don't. I was afraid I was developing agoraphobia and spoke with my therapist and psychiatrist about it.

Unfortunately they decided to send me back to work. Both have told me they were worried about me, becuase neither felt I was really ready to return to my unbelievably stressful job. However, they felt they needed to get me out of the house and in public before my anxiety developed into full blown agoraphobia.

I've been back at work for two months now. I still feel completely overwhelmed with the simplest of tasks. I also still do not want to be around people. However, I'm not comfortable staying inside anymore. I feel like my growing agoraphobia was changed to social anxiety. I don't want to be locked in the house, but neither am I comfortable in large crowds.

Hopefully you will be able to break through the agoraphobia. It is a tough disorder. I have a friend who has suffered with it for 6 years. She can't even take a trip around the block without throwing up.

[starrykitten]

Originally Posted by notpersonallyme

Do any of you guys take Strattera or any non stimulant medication? I guess I would assume that is what my new doctor would prescribe me if we decided that it was best I stay on Klonopin (which I would really like to since the before / after has been pretty major) I'm curious about medications.... Do any of you guys take klonopin, xanax, or any of those types of medications with ADD medications? Which ones and how successful are they? I was on Adderall when I was diagnosed. Being older now and more of a nervous wreck then i was when I was younger, I'm a little scared. Maybe a small dosage would be proper.

I'm on Strattera and Klonopin. Only been on the Strattera a couple weeks and have been on 4 mg/ Klonopin a day for several years. I haven't noticed any harmful interaction.

I did try Adderall, but after a few days I was a mess. I think the dose was too high. But for the first few days, things were glorious, and I had NO anxiety. So it certainly didn't make it worse at first.

[notpersonallyme]

Are you seeing that Strattera is helping you?