Hi,
I am 54 and diagnosed inattentive ADD in 2021. Tried various meds but anxiety issues.
The non-stimulant antimoxetine had zero effect so no good.
Elvansse made me very anxious and Dexa less so sometimes as bad.
Think it more likely meds are exaggerating and underlying anxiety issue.
So…….has anyone successfully combined anti-anxiety meds with stimulants or have any other thoughts?
Very frustrating so ….l to hear from anyone.
Many thanks and all the best.
John
After 15+ years of Adderall, I am now off it. I am just taking Wellbutrin. My focus is lacking a little but I feel better, although I am also going through a lot right now. I think I am better off not taking the amphetamines. I think I might have been taking to much for a long time, and it did effect my "anxiety". Please see my Bio for more info.
The big question is what are the symptoms you are trying to help with. Two non-stim medications that I started taking that changed my whole world were Naltraxeone and Mementine. Naltraxeone reduced my impulsiveness so much that it gave me the ability to extend focus. If this were the first drug I was given, I would have sworn that I was cured. How it works is by filling up your opiate receptors. This allows for your brain signals to connect with your pre-frontal cortex easier....which is what ADHD really is.
For Mementine, that is another one that works with the opiate receptors. That takes the adrenaline rush out of arguing, opposing, etc. It helped a ton with the relationship with my wife.
i can report three things which might help.
Sometimes there's a period of a few weeks when starting or restarting stimulant meds in which you might have heightened anxiety. This happened to me once after a three-month break due to loss of medical insurance. It settled down, for me, after three weeks.
That can be avoided by slowly tapering up the dosage, one doctor told me.
I can also tell you that I had anxiety issues with Ritalin but NOT with Adderall.
Finally, combining the stimulant with a benzodiazepine can work very well for mitigating this. However, many doctors are very wary of prescribing benzos because of how much they are linked to addiction. I can understand why.
However, there is at least one safe antianxiety medication which you could ask about - buspirone. It's commonly used for generalized anxiety disorder and has been given in combination with stimulants.
That said, there are also some SSRIs which relève anxiety. Depending on your mood symptoms or history of depression, this might be an alternate route. I've heard of lexapro and vilazodone being used in this way in combination with stimulants often ar a half dose.
Similarly, bupropion is sometimes prescribed to ADHD people who do not respond well to stimulants. It actw directly on dopamine and neuropenepheine.
i have these issues too.
the dose of meds is extremely important because many with adhd and spectrum disorders are inclined to also have very sensitive body chemisty, like i do, and too much/too little of a dose causes me tons of side effects, like worsened anxiety.
firstly- having a psychiatrist who is very experienced with adhd and ASD prescribing is very important. i will never allow a family practitioner to treat me because when they have i needed emergency care cause the doses of things were too high. also a paych who tries you on different stimulanta. i got stuck on adderall by a prescriber and ket saying it didnt work- It was not until I changed prescribers that I was able to try other medication’s that works a whole lot better. dr brown talks about this(below)
dr brown- fine tuning adhd meds for chemistry webinar
chadd.org/adhd-weekly/webin...
it may help you to watch videos on youtube produced by the ADDitude adhd community- their videos are interviews with MDs who treat adhd and asd patients- generally they are experts in this field and the videos have given me a greater understanding- especially of medication dosing. also- look into dr thomas e. brown- he is an adhd/asd expert in the US and has lots of info about correct dosing to share- he also has videos on youtube regarding this under his name or the ADDitide channel.
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