Anixity or ADHD

[Onthemove1971]

I was learning about what Anixity is and boy it is very similiar to ADHD.. but it doesn't have impulsivity as a symptom.

Does anyone else wonder if their child has Anixity instead of ADHD?

Just curious.

[Hidden]

I know my son has ADHD, but he will do things like overly scratch his skin or pick at his skin, and bite his nails. I can’t tell if it’s a fidgeting symptom of ADHD or anxiety on top of the ADHD, I lean towards the latter.

[Canadianmum]

My daughter has diagnoses for ASD (mild) and ADHD. Sometimes I wonder if she has anxiety as well, although anxiety is common with autism as well. It’s so hard to untangle the symptoms, especially in young kids. I think it’s not surprising that there are some kids on this board who are doing well on a combo of stimulant and an SSRI. My DD is on Intuniv, but I would be surprised if when she is a teen we need to switch it to something like Wellbutrin or lexapro. Most of her meltdowns are anxiety induced and can look a bit like a panic attack.

[barneyjing]

This is a live question re our son

Does anyone know what the differentiating symptoms would be between anxiety and ADHD?

[Onthemove1971 in reply to barneyjing]

Here is what I learned about Anxiety

Overthinking, Avoidance, Sweating, Stomach issues, Panic Attacks, Needing reassurance, Lack of Patience, Constant worrying, Headaces, Rapid Heartbeat, Trouble concentrating, Insomnia, Memory issues.

ADHD

Trouble paying attention, Difficulty following through on tasks, forgets responsibility, careless mistakes, very disorganized, difficulty sitting still, fidgets, feels restless, Lack of Patience, over talkative,

Now that Iist the issues, our son has ADHD and he has each one of them, but he also has some of the symptoms from Anxiety.

Hope this helps

[Mom-911]

Both of my kids have anxiety plus adhd; we started them a couple of months ago with focalin and Prozac. This combination has worked much better.

[EssentiallyMe]

Hi there. My son has a dual diagnosis of ADHD and anxiety, which is quite common. Frequently, the ADHD leads to anxiety because the child senses his differences and struggles to meet expectations like his classmates or siblings are.

[Swimmerbunny38]

My son has both. He was first diagnosed with anxiety and most recently ADHD. The teachers just see the ADHD , while I see both. I had a comprehensive evaluation completed to look at the possibility of ADHD. One thing that really “sealed” the additional diagnosis for the psychologist was how terrible he did on a boring computer test in comparison to both other students his age and his other tests.

[Onthemove1971 in reply to Swimmerbunny38]

Yes.. that is our son, he does very poorly on all computer based test...

[MaudQ]

My daughter has both. I think it’s the most common dual diagnosis. The symptoms overlap so closely that it’s really hard to determine what’s what. But she is on adderall for the ADHD and lexapro for the anxiety - and both of those drugs help in different ways. Anxiety is treatable through medication and therapy - so if you have concerns, I would encourage you to pursue them. Treating the anxiety has made a big difference for our family.

[Canadianmum in reply to MaudQ]

How old was she when you started on Lexapro?

[MaudQ in reply to Canadianmum]

She was 9. It took a while to get the dosage right but there weren’t really any adverse side effects.

[ADHD_DAD]

Hi Onthemove. It tends not to be an either or situation but rather anxiety (like other "conditions" such as OCD, ODD, etc) commonly coexists with ADHD. There is a big difference between anxiety and an anxiety "disorder " and for many with ADHD the anxiety may not require separate treatment.