Ritalin/Adderal will it help?

Hi.  I suffer from anxiety.  I am currently supposed to take 2 .5mg of Xanax a day.  One in the morning and one at night, but honestly I hardly ever take them.  I take it when I have a lot of trouble sleeping, and if I have a lot of troubling thoughts and stress in my life.  I take them as needed and don't want to become addicted to them or basically feel like I need to rely on them.  I try to deal with my anxiety in other ways as much as possible, but when that doesn't work or I have a full blown attack I definetly take them.  Well to my ADHD question.  I am 22 and just started school again and I just cannot consentrate.  I used to be a really good student in high school.  I was a procrastinator, but always got my work done, but since high school I have had some trauma in my life and now I am starting school again and cannot even pay attention.  My mind doesn't want to consentrate on one thing.  I have absolutely no motivation, but have energy.  It's not that I want to lay around all day.  I will start to read something and I just can't focus on it.  I am not able to study or really sit still to finish anything.  I think I maybe suffering from ADHD and am thinking about asking my doctor to prescribe me adderall (adderrall) or Ritalin to help me with consentration.  I have never had problems with school before so this is really bothering me.  I used to be a straight A and a couple B's student with a GPA of around 3.8.  I'm afraid that my doctor won't prescribe me something for ADHD because of my anxiety and my prescription to Xanax.  And I don't want my doc to feel like I am drug seeking even tho I have never asked for anything specific in the past.  I just worry about stuff like that.  But I really feel that Ritalin or adderall (adderrall) will really help me.  There were a lot of people I knew in high school that used adderall (adderrall) to help them with school that didn't really need it, but it really helped them they said, but I really honestly feel that I need it.  What do you guys think?  Do you think that this will help?  Do you think that having anxiety and a prescription to Xanax will make it so I will be unable to have a prescription of adderall (adderrall) or Ritalin?

[allmymarbles]

If you are suffering from anxiety and need to control it with Xanax, you certainly do not want to use any form of speed, which is what most ADD medications are. You would wind up in a straitjacket.

You are very wise to use Xanax only on an as-needed basis. It is extremely addicting. And here is something you might try. When I was suffering the effects of adrenal fatigue, I was told to use Xanax on an as-needed basis, which I did, and it helped enormously. I was given .25 mg pills, a very low dosage, and told to take a second one only if the first did not work. But I wondered what would happen if I tried taking only one-half a pill, and just the other half if I needed it. That worked fine. Mostly I only used the 1/2 dose. See if a lower dosage works for you. The less of this garbage you take, the better.

[compnet]

There are A LOT of people on ADD medicine that had anxiety and/or panic attacks, and some have said their anxiety decreased or went away, and some have had panic attacks gone -- all after going on ADD medicine.

I read it on this site:
http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=21977&name=VYVANSE

(just search "anxiety" and "panic attacks" under edit on the top toolbar.)


Also, under one of my threads, someone said they had their adrenals treated and their panic attacks left.  I have read from alternative doctors that underneath ADD/ADHD and CFS is an adrenal problem.

[allmymarbles]

Then maybe the adrenal problem should be treated before ADD is diagnosed. I have long held that before ADD treatment be undertaken, that the patient should be examined for physical illness or disfunction. We may be dealing with the cart before the horse. ADD treatment should not be prescribed lightly.

[compnet]

I would just like to add that I have been on ADD medicine for about two months now on low doses and I have found I'm calmer, less nervous and less anxiety, so I guess it's true.  In the beginning I had sooo many side effects, but they all passed in time.  I don't know that I could have handled staying on them if the side-effects lasted.  I sure am glad I persisted as they passed and I recommend everyone give them time to pass as the medicine is a great helper.  I started out on Vyvanse and then due to insurance problems went to generic Adderall (adderrall) XR.  It doesn't work as well.  I figured out the insurance issue so I will be returning to Vyvanse.  My doctor thinks it is the best and I found it works great and it really stopped my hyperactivity, thank God.  The challenge is I need to up my dose to help with attention, but I tend to be sensitive to the side-effect of sleeping difficulty, so my doctor wants to keep the dose low.  Hopefully all works out.

Good luck to everyone starting medicine.

[Sandman2]

  Some very good points by the above posters.
Personally, from what you have said - I don't think you have either ADHD or ADD.  I do think that your symptoms are pretty typical for anxiety/depression.  I have seen other posters who have been put on a very low dose of Ritalin or adderall (adderrall) to get them going again.  Anxiety/depression can suck the life out of you.  And Ritalin or adderall (adderrall) would help, but it can carry a price.  I would let your doctor know how you are feeling, and get and follow his advice.  I would also make sure that you know and understand what anxiety/depression can or is doing to you.  Knowing what is happening to you, really makes it easier to deal with.
   Once again, from a personal viewpoint, I would try other alternatives from exercise, to yoga, etc. before going the speed route.  And I think that the ideas given above are certainly worth trying.  Good luck.

[compnet]

If you were referring to my post...  Oh, I've tried lots of things.  I didn't list my classic ADHD symptoms.  The worst is the inattention and poor focus.  My mind just goes blank and can't pick up what I'm reading or hearing, or my mind goes off into thinking about other things.  It's a real struggle that my will and effort can't fix, and it is so frustrating.  I've been through all the psychological testing and everything, too.  I can tell the difference when I add even just a small does of ADD medicine.