So my meds were worsening my anxiety...

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#1

Hello, everyone! I’m a junior in college and I went to go get diagnosed with anxiety recently because I’ve been struggling really badly for the last few years. However, recently I’ve had problems getting my ADHD meds (adderall) because I’m out of my home state and I messed up appointment stuff (so basically I can’t get my medication without jumping through a bunch of hoops cause yay controlled substances). Recently, we had a large winter storm and I was unable to pursue any action regarding getting meds. I was left off of my medication for a week and I realized something.

My adderall was causing my anxiety to worsen considerably.

I don’t really have the resources to change medications or do trial runs right now (I want to talk to my normal doctor about all of this when I’m back at home in the summer), but I’ve decided my mental health regarding depression and anxiety is more important than productively functioning. (A lot of other decision making went into this as well such as finances and things).

My only problem now… is I still have to accomplish my school work and ya know… live.
Any tips for things that can help while I don’t have any medication? Getting things accomplished has been difficult to say the least.

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#2

Can you get a referral to a caregiver in the state you are currently in, either from your primary caregiver or from your health insurance company?

I was without stimulant meds for a month, while my doctor was deciding whether or not to continue me on Adderall because of his concern that it was causing tachycardia (elevated heart rate). I think that it wasn’t (I’ve tracked my heart rate for almost two months now, and it looked like if it did elevate my heart rate, it was by a barely-perceptible amount.) We reached a compromise on a lower dose which doesn’t seem to help, at least not very perceptibly.

I’ve done a lot of research, and I’ve found mostly anecdotal references that people with ADHD can be helped by some supplements (such as Ginseng, Ginkgo, certain amino acids, other herbals). Some clinical studies indicate that some supplements work (at least marginally better than a placebo).

While I was off of Adderall, I did take Ginseng and Ginkgo together (along with multivitamins), but I can’t say whether they really helped much…maybe a little. The problem is that I’ve also been dealing with a lot of stressful stuff and also not sleeping well, both of which make my ADHD symptoms more prominent.

Some days that I was overly-tired, I did find that a quick 20-30 nap in the early afternoon helped me get back in the swing of things.

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#3

Hi,

Something similar happened to me while I was at university and I couldn’t get my medication for a few months. I found it really hard, mostly because it wasn’t my choice to go off my medication and because I haven’t had much success with anything other than medication to help with my ADHD symptoms.

What I would suggest is reaching out to your college for support and taking anything they have to offer. I don’t know if you have a student support centre or something similar but they have so much information and resources to support you. In the UK you can get appointments with tutors to help you organise your work. They are so helpful especially when I was off my medication and couldn’t see the woods for the trees. They also had people to talk to in you find yourself in a crisis etc. I think it’s good to be aware of these resources so that if you need them you know where to go.

So, be gentle with yourself, try to make a routine, work in short spurts and take timed breaks, do things that make you happy and calm and take advantage of any and all support that your college has to offer.

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#4

This may help . . .

https://chadd.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/ATTN_06_12_Exercise.pdf

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#5

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This book was cited in the article that I sent a little while ago. Looks interesting . . .

John Ratey, MD works closely with Ed Hallowell, MD. In addition to “talking the talk” they “walk the walk” . . . Both of them have ADHD!

(Years ago I heard them at an all day workshop! Impressive and very personable.)

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#6

I am a bit nervous. I am attempting to drop my antidepressant. Today is the first day I will be lowering my dose. I am finding that I was probably treated for depression when I should have been taking medication for ADHD. Since taking my medications for ADHD I have not been depressed. I have had a big problem with side effects. I even had a bad reaction when a generic medication was changed to a different generic. I have stopped taking two medications and it was difficult. I am hoping to decrease or stop taking one more.

It took almost a year to ween off one of my medications. I took a month for another. Even doing it very slowly I got sick. I can get sick every time there is the slightest change. That is why I am nervous. If I am unable to stop the antidepressant I hope to lower the dose or switch to a different one. The medication I am trying to get rid of works well for my antidepressant but I have around 20. side effects from it. :cry:

I did get permission from my doctor and we communicate as needed.

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