ADD-Anxiety - HELP | ADHD Information

I have a 7 year old girl recently diagnosed by a Neuropsych and child psychologist w/ a significant case of ADD. After the anxiety "kicked in" from struggling at school we decided, with a psychiatrist, to put her on meds. Our pychiatrist said it would "help her not feel like she's falling off of a cliff all the time." We chose Selegaline.

She is now so anxious. She has no "h" and is the most charming little girl AND her teacher can't believe she has the anxiety I describe to her at home. She was so distraught over missing 1 on a test she stayed in bed for a full week. Her insomnia has kicked in also and she sleeps in our bed every night. Our calm little girl has had several tantrums like none I have ever seen (she says she can't control her anger). She has been on the meds 2 weeks and her academic performance has been amazing but her anxiety has skyrocketed (as has her insecurity). Any advice? I like the melatonin and will try that for sleep.

My main questions (though any advice on all of this is appreciated) are: was the anxiety there the whole time, simply masked by the ADD??? AND, am I doing any favors putting her in a private (hard to get into) school faced with trying to compete w/ the other kids who don't have ADD?

Thanks in advance from a new user.mommyto439104.9162384259

Hi,

In my humble opinion, our children tend to get anxious, b/c after all, life is a little more difficult for them than for anybody else.

However, all you are describing happened to my son under Focalin XR. We tried it 6 months. Things got worse and worse, until we decided to stop altogether.

My only advice is that you try the meds for a few months, and then take her off them for say, summer time, and see what your DD is like w/o them. You might be surprised.

These children have tendencies to anxiety, but stimulant meds make it worse for a lot of them, and then it is easy for doctor's to say they have something else on top of the ADHD.

I can tell you now, that I don't regret using the meds, but at least in my son's case, the side effects became unbearable (no sleeping, no eating, rebound @ night, losing weight, not growing, excessive anxiety, became obsessive, etc.). For others, a few side effects are tolerable, b/c they get so much better in other aspects.

As for the school, I will share my opinion in my son's case. He's brilliant, under meds he is even more brilliant. But I decided to take it one step at a time. That is, I pulled him out of the gifted program until I was able to decide what meds were doing for/against him. A more challenging school environment is, in the end, another variable around him. And I thought it would be easier for me to handle one variable at a time.

Today, he is with Occupational Therapy, and is working wonders, but that is another subject. The thing is that OT takes a lot of time, too, so I decided to leave him in a regular classroom, until we finish that.

He is now in a private school, and they are not academically great, but they show a lot of support for DS. It is a mainstream school, but were willing to make a few acommodations for him, and coach him on how to make friends. To us, that is the best school he could be in. Too bad we are moving this week!!! He'll go back to public school in the new place.

I will not be able to post in a few weeks until after the move... Wish you the best.

These a tough decisions for any parent. Good luck!

jpmomagain39105.2850115741

I believe that ADHD exacerbates the anxiety. I know in my son's case he gets more and more anxious when he believes he can't do something, so if he's battling with something in clase bcause he can't focus on it he gets more anxious. The two rub each other up the wrong way!

I believe that the ADHD does hide the anxiety. My son also has anxiety. He was so HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH that I never noticed until mediction. He is also a perfectionist like his mother

I was told that when people including children take their medication for adhd, that shows their true personality. My son is really quiet, very intelligent, not aggessive or silly. When the morning comes and the medication has not taken affect, he is "a mess" literally! He is goofy, silly, impulsive, etc. It reinforces why he is medicated.

I don't know if I can answer the question in regards to a very demanding private school. I think anyone who has anxiety and is then at a school like the one you describe will be more anxious, if it is TOO demanding from them.

My son is now receiving letter grades and is really pushing himself for all A's. He gets upset at anything lower. I am afraid at his age of 9 that he will have a nervouse breakdown, really!

I completely understand your post and look forward to reading other's responses, as well as what the end results are!

Take care!

Beth

Focalin made my son more anxious too

I'm not familiar with the medication your daughter is on, but I know that some of them can increase anxiety and/or depression symptoms. My son's doctor was very careful with his meds for this reason- the last thing we wanted to do was make some symptoms better while making others worse. You may want to talk to your doctor about trying a different med- there are many out there and they all are different, even when they have the same active ingedient.

I feel for her- I remember all to well what that level of anxiety is like, and unfortunately I don't think they prescribe xanax for children.

Hi and welcome. I have read that stimulants increase anxiety in some children. I also notice anxiety now in my dd that I didn't notice before, but it is not as extreme as you are describing. When your dd gets upset at missing one thing on an assignment, I would suggest you ask your ped about obsessive/compulsivivity(OCD). There must be a middle ground where your dd is able to focus well enough in school yet not be showing OCD tendencies. Maybe you should talk about changing the dosage or the med. Just my .02. HTH

< ="text/">// Begin Ad Muncher helper script wYZXso(1,"wYZTimeout('enableDesignMode()', 20);"); // End Ad Muncher helper script Childhood BiPolar can mimic ADHD in an anxious child. If the meds are making her depressed, it is something you need to talk to her doctor about TODAY. [QUOTE=jpmomagain]

Hi,

In my humble opinion, our children tend to get anxious, b/c after all, life is a little more difficult for them than for anybody else.

However, all you are describing happened to my son under Focalin XR. We tried it 6 months. Things got worse and worse, until we decided to stop altogether.

My only advice is that you try the meds for a few months, and then take her off them for say, summer time, and see what your DD is like w/o them. You might be surprised.

These children have tendencies to anxiety, but stimulant meds make it worse for a lot of them, and then it is easy for doctor's to say they have something else on top of the ADHD.

I will not be able to post in a few weeks until after the move... Wish you the best.

These a tough decisions for any parent. Good luck!

[/QUOTE]

Hi there,

that is such a shame to find a good school for your son only to have to move and start all over again. I am concerned about how your son will do at the new school, so many new things and changes.

Have you tried any other medications? I wonder if you might want to use a psychopharmacologist who specializes in medicines for all these disorders.

regards,

Beth

Welcome to the boards!

The combo of ADHD and Anxiety is a tricky combo. My son is dx'd with both ADHD Primary Inattentive and Generalized Anxiety. It is a vicious cycle.

Back when he was in elementary school, the anxiety seemed to increase with each grade as more academic demands were made. By 4th grade he was in terrible shape with the anxiety causing more problems than the ADD inattentive symptoms. Until we got control of the anxiety, treating the ADHD was useless in our case. My son's anxiety fueled his anger intensely....just like it is doing with your child. Many parents don't realize that when their children display these intense anger rages, they are being fueled by anxiety and not neccessarily just the ADHD.

We sought professional help with both a child psychologist and a psychiatrist who took over all medication management. My son was put on Zoloft for the anxiety. It was like a miracle drug for him. Like all these meds we talk about on this board, it doesn't work for all. Therapy was also very important. Anxiety responds well to CBT...cognitive behavioral therapy. Some kids can do well with just the therapy....others need medication in combination with therapy. Most of all....parents need training on how to react and respond to the many frustrating situations that come up trying to parent a child like this......example, if a child refuses to go to school, won't sleep alone, etc.

Get professional help. Your in this for the long haul, but don't give up trying to find your child the help they need.

Good luck. Okiemom