Anxiety or ADHD

[Anonymous]

Hello all,

I have a question and I would appreciate any response. I was diagnosed ADD as a child and didn’t stick with treatment. As I got older I really struggled into adulthood and developed a serious drug and alcohol problem. After making life changes – getting sober and seeking therapy – I suffered from severe anxiety and panic. Once that was under controll I relized that I was still facing attention problems at home and at school. Low and behold a new psychiatrist diagnosed me with ADHD and I began treatment with meds and therapy. My question is…Do ADHDers find that the chatter upstairs can primarily – not always, I need to point out – be anxiety based? Is that normal?

Regards,

B

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[Scattybird]

Hi BLuna79 – I can only speak personally….however, if I am particularly stressed about something or if I am anxious or even just overtired, the ‘chatter upstairs’ is certainly worse than when I am less stressed or feeling relaxed.

I think it’s important to try to deal with anxiety as well as the ADHD. Both can be linked in a kind of feedback loop – each feeds off the other even though they may be separate issues.

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[Anonymous]

Hi Scattybird!

Thank you for your response. I am exactly the same way. This anxious chatter is usually only present when I’m under stress. I almost never have this problem when I’m decompressing, so to speak. I really don’t have that much negative chatter when I’m off work and home relaxing (weekends, vacation, ect.). For example, I have an interview on Wed. And as a result, the ussual overactive chatter in my head is replaced with negative self talk. I have to rediirect, all day long.

I seem to always be questioning whether or not I have ADHD or Anxiety, even though I have been diagnosed with both. Also, my anxiety seems to always follow thoughts of looking like a dumb ass in front of others and not phobias.

I’m grateful for your feedback

-B

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[Scattybird]

Hi B – I know what you mean! I hate the negative chatter – it’s so draining both emotionally and physically (because it messes up my sleep patterns).

I take Ritalin and it really helps me with my emotional regulation. So if I do some dumb-ass thing then so what, who hasn’t made an error? If I am not on Ritalin and/or stressed and I do a dumb-ass thing then the chatter (negative) goes on for ages and I go into a downward vortex of self loathing or loathing for the other people involved.

I used to question my ADHD diagnosis and wonder if it was actually anxiety – but looking back, I have always had symptoms of ADHD but the anxiety comes and goes.

Since you were diagnosed as a child and again independently as an adult, it’s maybe safe to assume the diagnosis of ADHD is correct. The fact that you don’t get the chatter unless you’re stressed suggests to me that you’ve perhaps got anxiety as a co-feature.

Good luck with your interview on Wednesday. Prepare well for it so you don’t feel so anxious on the day – sleep well so you can ‘think on your feet’ and be positive about yourself. Turn that negative chatter into positive mantras. Good luck.

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[Amy]

I suffer from GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) AND ADHD, and I ditto Scattybird’s post. It’s best to treat both the anxiety AND the ADHD. It’s very common to have co-morbid disorders along with ADHD, so you are not alone.

Amy

http://acatwithadhd.com

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[Anonymous]

Thanks, both of you!

I take Vyvanse and Effexor, which both help. I’m a coffee drinker and sometimes it’s like “rolling the dice,” whether or not it’s going to interact with my vyvanse, which usually leads to more anxiety. Some days it is beneficial and other days I want to crawl under my bed and hide from the world. I’m obviously exaggerating, however, I can’t seem to stop drinking coffee while on vyvanse. Its bitter sweet because once I get to a certain level of stimulation, the anxiety kicks in and makes my attention problems worse. I’m very stubborn with this…

Thanks for the support. It’s comforting to know others go through the same issues.

-B

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[Scattybird]

Hi B – I used to drink gallons of coffee until I started taking Ritalin. Somehow the two don’t mix with me at all and interestingly I don’t crave cofffee when I take the med.

But, I DO like my morning coffee so I have a coffee (or two!) when I get up – and take my Rit when I am about to leave for work.

The next time I’ll have a coffee might be evening when the Rit is wearing off – it helps with the crash if I have one.

Amy – sorry you have GAD – c**p never happens in ones does it.

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[ipsofacto]

I find that the occasional cup of coffee does not cause anxiety problems for me, but drinking two or more a day regularly will. It’s as if there is a cumulative effect. I do drink coffee with my breakfast, and drink a cup on the the way to work, only it has to be decaffeinated.

Strangely, tea does not bother me, even though I do feel it give me a lift in the afternoon.

I used to put my ADHD symptoms, or at least those I was aware of, down to anxiety. This was because after having an anxiety attack in my twenties, I learned to use relaxation response and improved dramatically. I now understand that it wasn’t just being more relaxed, but also the type of RR I used promoted mindfulness. Progressive Muscle Relaxation has many properties with meditation, but is far easier to learn and see results.

Since my ADHD diagnosis earlier this year, I started using PMR again after a twenty year hiatus. The quality of breathing is a good indicator of stress and I had often been finding myself breathless for no reason. It has taken a few months, but now my breathing is relaxed slow diaphragm breathing all the time. I can exercise quite hard and still breath through my nose.

I have also been working on mindfulness generally to improve my ADHD symptoms, but for me relaxation is the most important first step if anxiety is also causing problems.

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[Anonymous]

Hello all. I just joined this group. I’m hoping to get some information/support/ideas from others who have experienced what i am experiencing. I am a 31 yr. old woman. Single mother of a beautiful 4 yr. old girl. Unfortunaltry I have not been feelong or doing well at all. I have bever felt this aweful in my entire life. I started looking up some of my symptoms online and my searched would often end up in ADD/ADHD forums or web sites. I am wondering…

1) Is it possible to get a diagnosis of ADD as ab abult (I have read something about having to be diagnosed before the age of 7 in order to get a diagnosis of ADD).

2) My home (2 bedroom apartment) is ina constant state of disaster. Getting my place cleaned up is on my mind constantly. I am always declining invited to family and friends events like family barbeques, weekend camping trip with friends or family, visiting my grandmother who is very lonely and confined to an old age home…just everything that I used to do I no loger can. Sometimes i say Ì dont have any motivation. Sometimes I say I dont have the energy to clean my place, organize my paperwork, finish jobs in my home that have been left unfinished for years. Whe I do find some energy to clean I find that i end up with a messier apartment than when I started. I njust make piles, and more piles, move the piles around…but I never actually get to the part of putting each item from the piles where they belong. My paperwork is out of control. I have boxes of paperwork…my family tells me to just throw the boxes out as some papers are several years old but they dont understand that I do have some important documents (of either myself or my daughter) so I cannot just throw out all the boxes. I CAN NEVER FIND IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS OR ITEMS WHEN I NEED THEM. I cant get myself organized, I cant stick to aschedule or routinethat I try to come up with for my daughter & I. I ger distracted soooooo easily.I just cant seem to focus long enough on one task to actually complete it. I never finish anything I start (examples include: dishes, cleaning my bedroom, cleaning my daughters bedroom, ORGANIZING my daughter`s dressers, ORGANIZING my dressers, cleaning ANY room in my home for that matter, cleaning my car (my car looks like a trash can and storage room…yes i know…disgusting and embarssing). I cant seem to follow through with schdeduled appointments or committments (dentist appts, dr appts, dinner with a friend, attend a weekly group I joined etc.).

Its like I KNOW what i need to do. I just cant seem to get the energy, motivation or self-discipline to actually begin a task and follow it through completion. I feel lazyon a daily basis. I feel so guilty that my daughter doesnt have a neat, clean, oranized home to comes home to after daycare. I feel so guitly that I just cant bring myself to prepare homemade, nutritious dinners like a normalhousehold does. I will take the meat out of the freezer in the morning with the intention of cooking aproperdinner for my daughter & I but by the time dinner time comes around I am TOTALLY DEPLEATED (both physically & mentaly). So after picking my daughter up from pre-school (daycare) I usually ask her what she feels like and go to a drive through, or I order pizza or if shes lucky Ill make Kraft Dinner (mac & cheese) or a grilled cheese for her. I need yo have enough energy and motivation to do those though its sad. I feel so guilty. I want to give my daughter anormal home life`…especially with her starting school next week (kindergaten 4). But I lack the energy, the focus, the concentration, the motivation to do regular daily things that most parents just do without even really thinking so much about it.

2) I don’t believe I have tge hyperativity aspect of ADD because i have always been an introverted, shy, reserved and generally quiet person (both as a child and as an adult). I have never been a hyper child or adult.

Sorry for the long message. I would appreciate any thoughts, opinions or advice from anyone. I cannot continue living like this…for my own sake and for the sake of my young daughter. And comments, information etc would be welcome and much appreciated.

Krista

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[Anonymous]

Sorry for all the typos in my (long) post above. I just read my post nowand I could not believe how bad the typing and spelling is. I know its annoying to read a post with a bunch of typos…especially if u cant even make out what the writer trying to say. I will be more diligent on reviewing my message before I post it. Sorry for the inconvenience. Again, I would really appreciate any and all comments, advice, information, personal experiences etc. This is the first time I have ever been able to talk aboutt what I (my mind & body) go though on a daily basis.I do not know anyone with ADD or ADHD. So its nice to know that there are others out there that experience some of what I experience.

Thank You for listening (well actually reading. lol.)

Krista

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[Scattybird]

Hi Krista – welcome to the forum.

Your description of yourself/your life could be that of any number of people within our ‘community’ here. So you’re not alone.

When things become overwhelming it’s best to ignore what doesn’t matter until you get back on track and focus on what does matter for the immediate time. I can only give you my personal thoughts which might be wrong of course!

What does matter is that your little girl feels loved and gets decent meals. It doesn’t matter to her if your home is in chaos as long as it’s not dangerous for her. So, start having some fun with her. When you feel better you can start turning your attention to the less important stuff like tidying/organising. It’s important to try to prioritise. Not easy I know – especially when it all seems too much.

Yes you can be diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. I was diagnosed at 49 – because everything became overwhelming – I could have stolen your description of yourself (except for your age and having a little girl!!).

You do not have to have had or have now, any signs of hyperactivity. You might have the inattentive version. It’s a spectrum disorder.

The bit about childhood comes into things because there should have been some evidence of it in your childhood. So if you’ve always been a little bit like you are now then it’s a positive in determining the problem. It might be that you developed great coping mechanisms in the past and it’s only recently that it’s got out of control because you’re juggling more in a busier life than perhaps you had previously. That’s how many adults discover they have ADHD.

Sometimes it’s difficult to get proof of it in your childhood – maybe you were told at school to concentrate more, or something like that?

However, if all this has come on relatively suddenly then it might be due to something else – so the longevity of symptoms is important. Has something recent triggered how you feel or has it crept up on you?

Please seek help. It’s vital that you see a specialist in adult ADHD – it’s a rare GP who knows what to do. If it is ADHD you have then there are all sorts of tricks that you can use to help with organising your life and it might be that you would benefit from medication? Untreated ADHD can lead to depression if you feel constantly overwhelmed. But you need to see your GP in the first instance to rule out anything physical like a thyroid problem.

If your GP wants to just treat you for depression (many do if they don’t know about ADHD) then demand to be referred to a psychiatrist who specialises in ADHD. You could even print out your posting here and take that with you in case you find it difficult to explain to him/her.

Check out all the threads on the forum and the videos – they’re helpful.

Good luck.

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[ipsofacto]

First time, You don’t have to be hyperactive as a child to have ADHD. Often anxiety and other issues can mask hyperactivity and impulsiveness. You might not even be aware of how ADHD affected you as a child. You could looked up “types of ADHD” to see how the disorder is divided into subtypes. There is a lot of good info on this site that will help you understand the disorder and how the symptoms manifest themselves.

I think the first professional to see is your own doctor. The family Doctor will want to rule out some other medical issues that mimic ADHD. Some Family Doctors will start working with you if they suspect that you have ADHD, others to varying degrees might not be sympathetic to, or knowledgeable about adult ADHD. If it looks like it is ADHD, and even if your Doctor prescribes medication, you should still see a mental health professional that specializes in ADHD.

You should try to gain as much knowledge as possible about therapies that are used to help adults with ADHD, so you can make an informed choice about who to see for therapy. The other aspect of ADHD that a therapist will be able to help you with is the emotional baggage you mention in your post. Most of us with ADHD have suffered some emotional damage, and often have deal with anxiety or depression as well.

Hopefully you will get some answers and life will start looking a lot better.

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[Scattybird]

PS – Krista – like you I have problems motivating myself to cook, but recently bought a slow cooker. It’s fab – I just chuck stuff into it and it cooks itself. Healthy meals with minimum effort and minimum washing up. Sorry… It’s still a new toy for me.

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[ipsofacto]

In my darkest times I still feel motivated to cook. It’s actually when things are going well that I don’t like to waste too much time preparing meals. I think this is because when I am feeling at my best, I don’t like to waste the evening. There’s nothing like a excellent meal and a glass or two of wine to make me lose the motivation to do anything else.

There are many one pan dishes where the leftovers can be kept for other days. I nearly always cook two to three times as much as we need for one meal. Dishes like rice risottos can be made in about 45mins from scratch in just one large pan. You don’t need much meat and you can add all kinds of fresh and frozen vegetables.

Us Brits are lucky with our baked beans on toast. In the US baked beans are only usually served with BBQ. There’s also the knife and fork issue that makes eating anything on toast difficult for Americans 😉

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[Amy]

Hi Krista, I can sympathize. I have two small children as well (7 and 3 1/2), and I don’t know how you do it as a single mom. Kids are very tiring.

Like ipsofacto said, be sure to go to your regular doctor and have regular blood tests done and get your thyroid checked (and hormones) if you haven’t already. Those things can cause the symptoms you are going through, especially since you said you have never felt this awful before. It’s always good to rule out everything else before going the ADHD route IMO.

Good luck!

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[Author]

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