I have been on tritation on for nearly 12 months and have gone through several stimulants medications to find which one and dose was right for me.
I was on xenidate for a while and thought I had low levels of anxiety which might be caused by the meds. I changed to Concerta XL and it was immediately great and gave me focus and didn’t feel anxious. I tried 36mg, then 56 and tried 72mg for a week and then dropped back down.
now on 56mg for a month. I’ve started to feel anxious and have had to take some time off work.
Previous partner (6 years) told me that I’ve always been an anxious person (something I knew and used alcohol to treat). The tritation team have said that the medication is simply showing me my new emotions which I wasn’t aware of before medication. Which kind of makes sense, as I am flagging up lots of masking and coping strategies in therapy at the same time.
I still have doubts whether this is life anxiety or medication based. This is coming at-a time when tritation team want to sign me back to my gp to take over current prescription for next 12 months. Meaning I won’t be able to make changes to dose or type of meds.
Life situation is fluid, new ish job which is unclear and very chaotic, new relationship starting, friendship group changes and probably little bit of loneliness creeping in. It feels as I’m typing this it’s life situation, but wanted to see if anyone else had experienced anything like this?
Is it true, on medication we start to relearn our emotions and see them more clearly?
Thanks for reading.
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Nicolai41
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We're always in life situations, and new situations. Always. And if we don't have new situations, we can have anxiety and depression about that!
We are supposed to be able to deal with new situations without anxiety. Some fear of course, some nervousness, sure ... but not the chronic anxiety. Fear is "normal." But fear goes something like this, "I'm a little scared." Period!
Anxiety is more I'm scared and I notice I'm scared and I'm getting worried that I'm scared and what if I pass out and what's wrong with me.
I would trust your ex gf's observation. You can not get a better observer than someone you date who has seen you up close. Dating partners can see stuff that siblings can't see--since families normalize so much. Interesting: I first got on Zoloft for anxiety because my ex gf told me I was obsessing about things and pointed out that I had repeated myself like 4 times in our conversation. I trusted her and she was right! Zoloft dramatically reduced my anxiety--it's funny, I am reshaping my memory here because I've been telling myself I went on zoloft for depression.
Why not ask for a low dose of an anti-anxiety med and see how you do. Or go to therapy specifically for anxiety and see how you do.
Now untreated depression can also cause overwhelm, which blends into anxiety. We don't feel we have the energy to tackle life's tasks, we get hopeless quickly--that can be depression.
But "life situation" is not something you want to fall back on. All of life is hard. I've got a sister dying ... I'm late on her tax returns and other business stuff ... I work with young people, still freaked out and low on social skills from covid. My university is planning major budget cuts ... Just had hip surgery and I have some lingering fatigue from covid last summer and some brain fog. We're supposed to be able to handle that without chronic anxiety. I've also got tons of good stuff happening.
Another thought ... you've got some good changes going on in your life ... new relationship for example.
And maybe I missed what you were saying.
Were you saying an increase in responsibilities and new relationships could lead to more anxiety? Yes, but that's still an anxiety problem. Anxiety is not correlated with responsibilities and stressful jobs and so on. Let me be more precise: anxiety is not a problem of the busy vs the unbusy.
But yes, for individuals, yes, if our life has new stressors, sure it can increase our anxiety. Doesn't mean the world is the anxiety problem and not us. We might have a low anxiety threshold.
Part of my therapy was to raise my anxiety threshold. In other words, to do more activities and take on more projects and new projects at work without tripping my anxiety.
Almost every step along the way, my anxiety would be tripped. And then I'd work on that with my therapist, regain some balance. And then I'd take on more responsibilities (some of these "responsibilities were fun activities I've wanted to do). Again, I'd get overwhelmed, then work on that in therapy ... and the cycle keeps going.
I think the question I’m Looking for any help in answering is…..my anxiety has increased from what I’m used to. Is this increase of anxiety because of medication interaction or because I’m seeing things more clearly?
Some new stuff has come up which could cause an increase, but in the past my feelings of anxiety were not so strong. I wasn’t expecting to be feeling quite so anxious.
My adhd team believe this increase in feelings/ awareness is because I’m learning to experience things fully since being medicated. Which kind of make sense as I’m unmasking lots of work around and things about myself I had no idea about which I have the opportunity to work on 😀.
yes I’m doing cbt alongside medication (uk) and seeing some good results. However, the doctor, adhd team or therapist can’t tell me if it’s meds or increased awareness of emotions as they all specialise in their own one area and don’t have that total overall view.
I’m only nervous as I’m about to be signed over to gp on this dose for the next 12months and is difficult to make changes if things become worse (meant to be stable when gp takes over my care).
Has anyone else see their emotions change or seen a deeper awareness of them after being on medication?
From my experience I believe the meds don’t directly make me anxious nor do the meds “show me new emotions I wasn’t aware of”. What I believe is the medication helps me think clearly and I then realize there are very really consequences of current life events taking place(good or bad). Thus now I’m a little anxious because I have a clear perspective of the potential future outcomes based on my decisions.
Unmedicated me operates with no anxiety, but the lack of anxiety stems from me not realizing the impacts my choices can make. (So I believe)
Quick example. I was medicated for 10 straight years and had very little anxiety (exception - big life events). Then last year I went off my meds in May and just restarted them last month. Let me tell you. I had a blast….BUT there were very negative side effects from my ADHD that continued to add up. It got to the point where I knew I had to go get back on them, because I was letting my impulsivity control my life.
Now that I’m back on them I have a little anxiety that I didn’t have before. However I’m confident this will fade over the next 30-60 days.
My advice would be to try to focus on the positive things happening and also to give it a little time. With these meds if you get stuck in a negative thought pattern it can be very hard to break out of it.
Ok, let me try again to answer your question now that I have a better sense of the question.
The answer: I don't. I also (like an earlier poster) felt something difference once I went Concerta. But I chalked up that feeling to me being newly assertive and feeling some fear from feeling assertive. And that fear (maybe anxiety--didn't call it that) passed.
The thing is I NEEDED to be more assertive. Not being assertive had caused massive problems for me. Terrible for my mood. Times when I blocked myself from getting credit for something good I did or didn't insist on getting credit. Times I didn't speak up when I wanted something. So I chalked up these feelings to me being assertive when I wasn't used to doing that.
Also, like another poster said, I started taking deadlines seriously way ahead of time. I began to really work to get to places on time, which was HUGE FOR me, and yes, there was certainly some fast heart beating involved in taking deadlines seriously and pressuring myself to get to places on time.
Again, I NEEDED to feel some fear about deadlines ahead of time. I needed to feel some pickup and go about getting to places on time.
Now earlier you said your ex gf said you'd always been anxious. But seems now you don't think you were anxious in the past ... or that you were must less anxious?
I will just say don't allow them to send you to your gp until you feel comfortable going to work. If you're taking off work, then something needs to change in your medication and treatment. That means your anxiety is really hobbling you, which means your current meds are not working as they should. I think perhaps it's normal to feel some anxiety on an ADHD med, but not at the level to keep us from work.
Tell your providers exactly what's going on. Do they know you've missed work? That's beyond "normal" anxiety.
Whatever the cause of the anxiety (meds or just new feeling) that anxiety needs to come down.
that’s really helpful. I really resonate with now being assertive and feeling fear because of it. I’ve had lots of issues which I’ve not dealt with due to not being assertive enough and needing to be. I’m now finding myself doing things out of my comfort zone and have that fear attached to it. It’s not wrong, I just need time to get used to it and understand how far to go with standing up to myself. People who know me are still adapting to this new me without realising it.
I’m back at work now and the anxious feelings are lower. Still feel a little bit racy at times, but I’m gaining my clarity and am believing that some of these feelings are due to me pushing outside of my previous comfort zone with a whole host of unknowns going on too.
Thanks for sticking with the thread as I’ve clarified further. Really helpful
I agree with Gettingit. That anxiety needs to come down whatever the cause. I have ADHD with GAD (Generalised Anxiety Disorder). Anxiety may have developed in childhood as a result of untreated ADHD or independently of it. Anxiety dominated as cyclical exacerbations with depression on an undercurrent of low key anxiety most of the time. Kind of a vulnerability/hypersensitivity which was easily triggered by known circumstances such as exams, loss of relationships, my mother's wrath etc. So I'm on a combination of Lisdexamfetamine and Venlafaxine, both high doses. Lately I've been getting mood swings with a bit of the familiar anxiety plus feeling lowish but it's not the same every day and I can handle it by way of distraction because it's due to work circumstances which will run their course however much I ponder them.I've also been wondering if mood variations are now partly amplified because of the ADHD meds or if it's the same old anxiety. The info leaflet in the meds box tells you all about side effects and what else you may want to know. If you're still drinking now that may interfere. Too much coffee also but probably less.
Fact is, I don't believe in Paradise so every day without anxiety and/or depression is most welcome and I don't intend to waste my time letting my mood sabotage me.
So I'm happy that there's a drug for almost everything and take them gladly.
I think you could also try a combination. Your current dose of Concerta XL plus an SSRI or SNRI at NORMAL dose (not low dose. They don't tend to work at low doses) or whatever your psychiatrist or GP chooses. Noone says you have to but I'd give it a shot. You have nothing to loose.
Just wanted to provide an update for anyone who may have similar questions and might find my answer useful.
After a few weeks of continuing my medication, I can confirm that my anxiety has been partly based on my life situation, but also on the medication providing me greater clarity and confidence to confront and deal with conflict I would have previously avoided.
I’m not used to these situations and the associated feelings that have arisen. I still have a string sense of things being all of my own fault, so challenge people that are behaving badly but then feel anxious as unsure of my convictions so to speak.
I’m learning an awful lot about myself and that I am a naturally anxious person, but am finding glimpses where I’m able to overcome those feelings and choose not to feel anxious. Still very much some way to go, but finding peace and acceptance around my adhd a bit more.
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