Posted by viridis on August 28, 2002, at 21:30:15
In reply to Re: adderal and other questions-Hildi, posted by noelle on August 28, 2002, at 15:25:09
It's interesting how people's responses to these drugs vary -- I find low doses of Adderall (5-10 mg) actually reduce anxiety and make me feel more focused and motivated. However, I didn't start Adderall until I had been using Klonopin (1 mg/day) regularly for several months, and my anxiety and panic attacks had subsided. I've almost always taken Adderall with Klonopin in place, so I don't know what would have happened with Adderall by itself. The two (for me) seem to have a special synergy, and I've seen this expressed by others on this board in past.
For someone with severe anxiety, Adderall (or other stimulants) alone might be risky. The strategy my pdoc used -- first stabilize the anxiety with benzos, then start adding more activating drugs cautiously, starting with very low doses -- seems like a sensible one. And, it might make sense to try a "milder" pstim like modafinil or adrafinil first, since some ADD types seem to respond very well. Although modafinil (= Provigil ) wasn't great for me, that doesn't mean it wouldn't work for others -- some people find it very effective. It might even be worth trying Wellbutrin (quite stimulating) once benzo stabilization has been achieved. WB freaked me out at standard doses and was just irritating at low doses, but again, some do well with it, and it should be easy to get a trial prescription.
So, my advice (based only on my experience) would be to get the anxiety under control first (preferably with a bzd such as Klonopin), then see if your dr. will let you try low doses of more stimulating meds. Here at least (US) it seems like free samples of Provigil, Wellbutrin etc. are widely available, and you might just luck out and find that one of these does the trick for ADD. If they don't, then at least your dr. knows that you made a sincere try with less controversial pstims than the amphetamines (Adderall & co.), and might be more willing to try these next.
I suspect you'll find that the relief the benzos provide is so great that you'll be willing and able to gradually try augmentation with pstims etc. to achieve the optimal balance.
poster:viridis
thread:117297
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020821/msgs/118090.html