ADHD/ADD and anxiety disorders?

[estarsign]

Earlier this week when I saw my therapist I told her I felt like my mood was still unstable and that I possibly have an anxiety problem in addition to ADD. She agreed. Not sure how I feel about that

Comments

[kisekileia]

Yes, I have anxiety and ADD. Copied and pasted from another comment:

The drug that has worked best for me is Zeldox (Geodon in the States). My hyperfocus isn't as intense, I'm not as anxious, my executive functioning seems to be modestly better, and my delayed sleep phase is pretty much totally resolved when I take Zeldox at dinner and melatonin at 9:30. Zeldox makes it possible for me to take Adderall without feeling like a meth addict, but I'm going off the Adderall tomorrow (already down to 5 mg XR--I started at 10) because I think it may be worsening my hyperfocus and anxiety. (I'm not doing quite as well as when I first started on Zeldox, and I wasn't taking Adderall then.) Zeldox is CRAZY expensive ($250/month Canadian for my current dose of 80 mg/day), but it's worth it in my case.

[_unsure]

Oh yeah, I definitely have anxiety issues. (And depression!)

I was NOT an anxious kid at all (though I was very ADD...), so I think that my anxiety was caused by life-trauma and/or as a side-effect of my shame due to ADD making me feel unreliable/worthless/stupid.

It's an unholy alliance when I'm anxious about doing something, so I find it painful to do for both anxiety and ADD/focus reasons, and battling with the procrastination from both... @___@

If I get TOO anxious to where I'm flipping out, then I do things to calm myself down - take a nap, take a bath, watch a movie, drink some booze. Sometimes it helps to approach it from a better starting point later on.

Other than that, it's kind of like.. having to jump in a really cold pool, where you hover around the edge a while, desperately wanting to avoid going in, and then finally you just have to fling yourself in there and deal with the unpleasant shock to your system. Once it's over with I usually retreat to my comfy bed to recover.

[estarsign]

I don't think I have depression, but my mood is just really not stable. I have this parent meeting Monday for example which wasn't set up by me that is something I'm not entirely certain of what it's about and I wasn't given any information when I asked for it.

My reaction is to assume the worst. That I'm going before a firing squad and that it's going to be this horrible awful thing. Usually things are not as bad as I make them out to be but my brain seems to always get this way and I almost obsess until I get through the event.

I'm talking with my therapist about it and will also be talking to my doctor, but it's crazy ridiculous and frustrating.

[taiba]

I do have anxiety, but I'm pretty sure most of it comes from external influences and from the difficulties of undiagnosed ADHD.

I feel fine at the moment, but I'll see how I go with school.

[estarsign]

External influences how? Like tests in school or things like this?

[taiba]

Yeah, that sort of thing. I get very stressed about work and very stressed about some disagreements in my family. But when none of those things are being a problem, I'm usually fairly ok.

[estarsign]

Those are the sort of things I get really anxious about as well, but I feel like my ability to handle the anxiety sucks. I like obsess about the things that are my stressors to the point where I can't fall asleep or I wake myself up dreaming about them.

[nebulosity]

I have only very situational anxiety, in which case I don't think I have an anxiety disorder. I guess I think of my anxiety as situational because I have the ability to from all anxiety to no anxiety by simply switching environments or changing mindsets.

So, I don't have any advice to offer, but I wish you luck in finding a solution. :)

[estarsign]

And see I don't seem to have that ability. The situation causing anxiety almost becomes an obsession or fixation for me, hence my conclusion that I have a problem.

[nebulosity]

Aw, I hate to hear someone say "I have a problem;" instead, I like to think of it as needing a little extra help. You may not perceive that phrase in a negative way, but I personally have been stuck with being told "I have a problem," and it has always had the negative connotation that the difficulties were always my fault or due to my lack of effort. I hope you don't feel that way about your anxiety.

It does sound like you could use a little extra help. Do you have anxiety pretty much across the board? Or do only things like school or relationships stress you out?

I wish I could recommend a natural supplement or something for you, but I've never tried any. Breathing exercises and physical exercise in general -reduce- my stress, but it never makes it go away. If you ever need any non-medication related suggestions for reducing anxiety or stress, I might be able to help a little bit.

Again, good luck. :)

[estarsign]

I think I do feel that way actually, that it's my fault, that if I just get stronger or try harder or something that I will stop feeling this way

[estarsign]

I'm much less anxious on my ADHD meds, so in my case, I don't think that they are the cause of my anxiety. I just have to figure out how to deal with the remaining anxiety as I feel like it's still affecting my ability to function rationally in my decision making/coping/etc.

[indy_md]

i treat both successfully.