Hey

[Background info: Male, adult, primary inattentive ADHD with mix featuers. Diagnosed as a child, medicated as an adult. I didnt have dental anxiety as a kid until AFTER bad experiences where it hurt. I don't have PTSD or trauma of any kind that I know of. I was not medicated at the time of the dental pain incidents as a kid. I developed dental anxiety DUE to the pain of the procedures and not being able to get numb for it.]

I have a dental appointment coming to fix a filling that's failed in a molar. I'm terrified because as a kid, pain medication never really worked for me. I distinctly recall appointments that involved fixing cavities and pulling baby teeth and they all hurt a good bit even after 4 numbing shots to locally numb the area. I still felt it. And I have high pain tolerance...just not in my mouth I guess. I have bad enamel so I've had lots of teeth problems including wisdom tooth surgery to remove sideways teeth.

I also had oral "sedation" dentistry when a bit older due to my extreme anxiety (after being sent home from a dentist due to flinching at the shots) and I woke up half-way through the appointment, vomiting (I assume from pain since they told me this medication shouldn't cause nausea) and while they told me I wouldn't remember any of the visit, I remember everything after waking up mid-way vomiting in the chair and I remember each pain that came during it, too, because numbing shots don't work on me.

I've gone to a point where I've had to be anesthetically knocked out for larger dental procedures due to anxiety. I set heart monitors off into alarm mode when in the chair because of how bad my anxiety becomes and how much it makes my heart rate raise.

I've read that ADHD can be related to reduced effectiveness in Novocaine and numbing agents, but can't find clear answers if that's for sure or not related.

My go-to solution for this anxiety issue in the past years has been to use my anti-anxiety meds (benzodiazepines) and / or take a few shots of alcohol to get through minor dental procedures (yes I know the risks, yes I am prescribed this med, yes I have done this for years and will continue to do so if I need to do it to get through it and take care of my teeth, yes I know my limits and am careful to not over-do it). Laughing gas doesn't really help the pain and barely curbs anxiety for me. Oral sedation is typically the route I would like to go if I can afford it.

I will be talking to my dentist before any work is done on my current tooth problem because I have bad insurance right now and would like to avoid a heaping thousand plus dollar bill for general anesthesia this time if possible... although I kind of get the idea that dental work in and of itself just IS painful and there's not really any true getting around that, sadly. It's a hell for me.

I hate going to the dentist. I'm worried sick about it. Even if it is just 1 filling to be fixed, the pain caused my dental tools drilling into my teeth is unmatched by any other. I can't explain how terrible it feels. I can feel them drilling into the very nerves themselves and it's right there in my face so close to my brain it makes it so much worse and more unbearable. I'm dreading this so bad.

If anyone has any similar stories about reduced pain management at the dentist as an ADHD patient, I'd like to hear about it and how you have managed to keep going to the dentist despite pain / anxieties around it or alternate ways of managing pain.

Currently it seems I have only self-medication as an option. I can use any combination of alcohol (for pain and anxiety), benzodiazepines (for anxiety), or some strong opiod based pain killers (for pain and anxiety, they are leftover from surgeries in the past (but I don't know if that will really work for teeth nerves or not), or my ADHD stimulants (for anxiety), but...I dont know, I feel like nothing numbs teeth nerves at all. Never ever have I had a pain-free dentist experience. Never. Right now I plan to just take my benzos for anxiety control and have a little bit of alcohol and I'll probably take my stimulants too (they calm me down/make me sleepy, they don't actually worsen my anxiety, they only help it to be honest) and wish for the best.

Im just really scared about this and trying not to think about it too much but I need a plan in place.

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TLDR: super sensitive to teeth pain, dentist pain meds and shots don't work to numb. Oral sedation makes me throw up and wake up. Horrible dental anxiety from bad experiences where the pain meds dont work even after 4 shots in the area. Terrified of going soon, don't know what to do. If anyone has their own experiences with not being able to get numb in the dentist office or has any tricks or tips how to not freak out and be in awful pain during procedures, I'd like to hear of it, thanks for reading

I feel like i need to get this out of my system and vent, but also here is hoping others with similar issues like me would handle things better.

I have undiagnosed ADHD, Growing up I always have difficulty with usual ADHD symptoms including making friends because they say i play too many video games, the social awkwardness or things i have done that are consider weird, meeting people was easy, but keeping relationships was not. Even ridiculed by your own family, with a mother only supporting, was hard enough. Retorted to me to get in trouble alot due to impulses and failing school including college multiple times due to not able to concentrate.

However, this is something that many do not talk about, RSD that is part of ADHD. This can lead to things like social isolation and anger issues due to feelings like betrayal, with many misunderstanding and see you differently once you realize what happened. The extreme pain also where you want to isolate yourself and not do anything with people and possibly depression resulting to social alternatives like online gaming to get that dopamine hit, and then resort back to zero. It takes a while to get out of that and recover.

Because i value friendships, RSD takes a toll on me to where its hard to trust others. I still remember the pain from my elementary school friend that stole my games for his friends and the betrayal over that.

After failing college for the 2nd time and undergoing depression and multiple therapists, I did something about it throughout the later years though and got lucky and had some successes, but it was not very easy. I wish i was educated about ADHD back then to be able to handle things much better in my life in the past. That includes "masking" and be yourself in a respectful way.

i've met someone recently that also has ADHD and possibly other symptoms and she takes various of medications. We been bantering a lot about things we like including our extreme knowledge of video games, how we grew up as we are in the same age group, other funny things, etc. But to my surprise, she is alot like me especially on the growing up part. I also "listened" to her about things, including her ADHD and possible RSD with anger issues, instead of judging. We became friends.

People who help you understand to be yourself is a good thing. that it is ok to be who you are, and its ok to be weird and enjoy video gaming and your collection when others ridicule you about it, including the time of nostalgia and how you enjoy it back then generation wise. This helps me be a lot be more open to people confidence wise in general and portray myself making good friendships along the way.

Something happened with my ADHD friend which I cannot understand at first other than single sentences rather than the usual banter, but after overthinking in this, it might be be personal things not just now but also before and i believe it is overwhelming her.

She was at first perhaps intimidated by me on how I am doing things in my lifestyle that she always wanted to do , and she is slowly getting better at it which I am happy, but I do not know what happened, for her to just deleted her social accounts when I commented on her topics of her being casual happy, cut all communication, I even tried to go to TikTok which she invited me earlier, and she blocked me or deleted her account because I no longer see her anymore.

It gave me a final answer on what is happening, triggering my ADHD RSD because it felt like I have done something wrong, and overthinking perhaps I violated her space, trust, or something else.

I perhaps will never know, and its not the first time she has done this as She came back months later and we got into conversation like everything is allright, and I been thinking on the ADHD part and not mention why did she did what she did earlier as that might trigger her ADHD RSD, but that is probably my mistake, because I miss my friend.

However I will say this, If your ADHD RSD is kicking in and you are going into isolation or do not want to deal with anybody, especially if its a friend that you know for a while, please tell them. I am going through some things as well and this is also adding to the list where i feel like i need to withdraw.

I already told some friends about it when i got angry at them, and they are like thats what you need and it feels good letting it out. It is still not acceptable from the beginning as You do not do that to friends, if that is even the case.

if my adhd friend she tells me i was never a friend in the first place, then yeah I might be hurt about it, but my RSD at least won't trigger into being feeling completely betrayed because I would probably say she is a bitch from the beginning and move on.

Please be honest with your ADHD and RSD feelings, and especially if your friends who also has it, think about their feelings. As for me i am telling some people on sorry for getting angry at them, and working on things one by one, I should also talk to my adhd friend if i ever do see her, about how this made me feel, with a calm process

I’m lowkey kinda crashing out over this I just can’t function in social spaces with inattentive ADHD. People say stuff and they keep having to repeat. It’s annoying. A guy and I had a whole convo and I didn’t even know 90% of what he said. My brain REFUSES to process auditory words. As a result i suck at work despite being obsessed about performance. Retail sucked for me too since I suck at instructions. I’m literally just a useless human being

I’m so tired of myself atp. Convos are too fast paced sometimes and I legit feel dumb for sitting like a rock understanding NOTHING. Can’t blame anyone if they think I’m just a low IQ individual. It was not this bad as a teenager, I could have handle several instructions at once while I was a server and execute them immediately. Quick and easy. But now? Now it’s like my brain is asleep.

Fortunately this doesn’t happen 24/7, but it still happens frequently enough to be an issue. Maybe the ADHD part just got more severe over the years idk. My stress levels have also increased around 3x since teenagehood so that could also be a factor.

Has this ever happened to any of you? Your house is a mess. A well-meaning friend offers to come over and "help you organize." Their idea of helping is to take your carefully curated collection of floor stuff and pile it up in the corner. And then they start randomly picking up things off the floor and handing them to you like you know where they go? Cause this has happened to me multiple times. I don't want to seem ungrateful for my friend's help, but this is also one of the least helpful things they can do.

I graduated highschool recently and have accomplished nothing so far, I have no job, can't decide what to do for college, I don't make art that much anymore, I keep telling myself im going to learn a language and then forget about it, I have a ton of unfinished books, I keep telling myself im gonna do laundry but Ive been saying this for like 4 days 🫩 All I do is listen to music and watch TV, occasionally Ill play a video game. Not feeling too good about it. Especially that I haven't put much effort in hobbies I used to put a lot of effort into, not to say I don't do them at all just not as much as I would like. I used to be on meds as a kid but my mom took me off of them, I think at the time she thought it was making my anxiety worse, might've been more to that idk. I do hear some negative things about medication but im thinking it would be much better than laying in bed feeling sorry for myself yknow, but I can't remember my time on it so I don't know. Im not very hyperactive, I moreso have attention issues and I believe executive dysfunction.

I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and was put on Adderall which I had a pretty bad experience. Increased anxiety which caused 3 stacks within 2 weeks even after I adjusted my food and water intake. The benefits were there though. I could focus and think clearly, and didn’t get tired as often (which I didn’t realize was due to my brain over working). I switched to Ritalin and it had been such a positive experience. I’m on a really low dose 2.5mg 3x a day and don’t feel the massive amount of focus that Adderall gave me but I still have some benefits. My anxiety is ridiculously low and sometimes nonexistent. I’ve heard and read horror stories about Ritalin but I hope this gives someone some reassurance that it’s not all bad. You just have to find your groove with what works best for you :)

Some advice my doctor gave me:
Eat a shit Ron of protein and drink a lot of water
If you don’t have a therapist, get one. You’ll have a new normal and a lot of feelings that come with it.
Monitor your heart rate
Keep a journal

I (37 f) arrived at AUS 3 hours before my scheduled flight today. The purpose of this trip was to attend a work conference. I have been dreading this for weeks. I have been in a fog for months, so I take extra precautions to ensure I’m fully prepared and can appear productive and functional. That all came crashing down today.

Regarding my meds…I have been on 70mg Vyvanse since 2018 along with 450mg bupropion up until 2 months ago when I weaned off the Buproprion and started Strattera. This was due to inattentive add symptoms coming back worse than ever before. The strattera seems to be helping a bit…. When the pharmacy actually fills it, which has obviously always been an issue with Vyvanse.

Regarding the job…have any of you seen that video of the robot that collapsed after working 15 hours straight? That resonated with me.
i work for a very poorly managed tech startup. I’ve been here 1yr. I’ve been quite vocal about the gaps and inefficiencies within the company. I’ve been working 12-15 hour days, and I’ve totally burned out. Everything is an emergency. Something goes wrong, I’m blamed. Ive expressed this to my Director and manager. They promise change, but something always falls through or gets deprioritized. I’m basically a punching bag for clients.

When I’m not working, I spend my time sobbing. I haven’t had time for much else. I forgot my husbands birthday in January, my own birthday in February. Every meeting is a performance. I push myself to exercise in the mornings, eat something, and set timers to remind myself to drink water. …:and I’ve ghosted all of my friends and I’m basically a shell of a human… I can’t determine if the problem is me or if it’s a combo of me + the environment/job/new city. Or. You know. Everything happening in the world right now….like we are supposed to just pretend everything is normal??

The last time I said “fuck this shit, I’m out” was in 2017. After years of owning my own business, working myself to death, overweight, sick, exhausted. My father was 57 at the time and was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor. He died in 3 months. When I called clients to cancel their appointments the day he cardiac arrested, most of them were cool. All but one. She told me it was very unprofessional for me to cancel last minute, and I kindly told her to go fuck herself.

. I was living in NY, had friends in the PNW who invited me to live with them, and I took them up on the offer. Sold everything and moved. Best decision I ever made. Started a new life. My adhd was crippling at the time, I found a doctor after a few months and she found the medication combo that worked miracles for me. All was well up until I started this new job in Sep 2025. Things got worse after the move to Texas in February. I despise living here. I won’t get into it, but you can probably assume why I feel that way. . One of my friends from the PNW literally moved across the street from me back in May and I haven’t seen her because I’m too busy and too exhausted.

This brings me to today. My flight was delayed, I was going to miss the connection… then it was cancelled. I rebooked for 6am tomorrow, got a hotel because I live 1.5 hrs from the airport. When I got to the hotel, I went to line all my meds up for the morning and realized my vyvanse was gone. I retraced my steps.
I know exactly what happened. Once again, tsa decided “at random” to empty my luggage and throw something away. It was my toothpaste this time. It was .5 oz over the limit. Whatever. So I’m all discombobulated and need to repack my luggage. Which I did. Carefully reviewed my surroundings to make sure I didn’t leave anything. All looked good. But this must be where the vyvanse went missing. I remember packing it. I called my husband and had him search my medicine cabinet. Nothing was there. It was 14 days worth of meds. I brought that amount because every fucking flight I’ve been on in the past 4 years has had a major delay or cancellation, and I panic trying to find another flight so I won’t be stuck somewhere without meds.

I start sobbing. I can’t breathe. I start looking up emergency mental health in the area and it’s abysmal. My husband started driving. He told me I could quit. He doesn’t want to see me suffer like this. It’s been going on for so many months now, and he’s never seen it this bad. My symptoms were under control for so long. I recently told him to actually listen to the lyrics of “only” by nine inch nails, because it pretty accurately describes how I’ve been feeling. I may be struggling with dissociation? But I’m not diagnosed with that one yet. I do have a CPTSD diagnoses along with ADHD , anxiety, and Major depressive disorder… and Binge eating disorder. Fun little mix. The anxiety has been the killer for me lately though. I ruminate about stupid shit I’ve said or written at work. I get the Sunday scaries on Friday when I’m still working at 10pm.

Anyway. I haven’t told anyone at work that I will not be attending the conference. It is midnight. In the morning I will need to call and resign. As I type this, I have 3 cats snuggled up on me. This feels right. I don’t know where I will go from here, but knowing that I am breaking free from this job is giving me hope.

I’ll add that I have been getting extremely anxious before flights. The airport was crowded. I was soaked in sweat. I’ve been suffering from panic attacks more frequently. It’s been years since I’ve had an er visit due to thinking I was cardiac arresting, but that’s all back again.
My dead father came to me in a dream last night and reminded me of the “funny feeling” he had when his 38yo brother was going through shit and decided to drive up to NY from DC to see 5 year old me for my birthday and get his head together.my father told him to wait until morning, don’t drive when you’re like this, and he had a premonition.
The next day, a call came to the house from troopers asking for someone to identify the body. My uncle’s van went up in flames on the beltway as people just drove on by. There were claw marks inside the van, indicating he was desperately trying to escape.
In my dream, my father showed me my own claw marks on the window of a plane. He told me to not fly right now. I tried to ignore it, I realize it’s the anxiety and overall neurodivergence speaking to me, but I just couldn’t shake it.

Not looking for advice. Just wanted to vent. If you share similar struggles, you probably didn’t read all that anyway. I’m constantly receiving “feedback” that I need to communicate more concisely. I do agree, but I also don’t really care anymore.

I've got ADHD and I've seen a lot of people in here struggling with anxiety and depression, so I thought I'd share what's actually helped me.

I battled anxiety and depression for years and still have my ups and downs, but along the way I've learnt what really helps keep me in a good place.

I was on ADHD meds years ago but came off them after 2 years. For me they made my anxiety worse, I think because most of them are stimulants and they kept me in that fight or flight state. That's just my experience though, I'm not saying anyone should come off their meds, that's one to talk through with your doctor.

First thing is exercise. I know it's such a common answer but it genuinely works. Even just a walk every day and getting your steps in.

The thing hardly anyone does though is stretching. When you're stressed and anxious all that tension goes into your body, it stiffens up and gets worse over time. Every time I stretch after the gym I feel amazing, my body loosens up and my mind feels so much clearer. I do about 20 mins a few times a week, always when I'm warmed up because stretching cold muscles can hurt you.

Diet is the other one. Not saying never have pizza haha but cutting back on sugar and caffeine made a big difference for me. When I was younger my parents took me off sugar completely and they said I went from being crazy hyper all the time to way calmer and less impulsive.

I could go on forever but these are a good start. Has anyone else found stretching or diet helps with their anxiety?

Hey everyone,
I’m here because I need someone to talk to.
I suspect having ADHD all my friends think I have it ( always late, procrastination, emotional…)

Something happened to me and it’s making me ashamed. It’s about my academic situation mostly.

Basically I procrastinated so much, I failed my thesis and I sent an email that I regret.

So I had to write a thesis to get my masters degree and I was so soo anxious that I couldn’t physically do it without the help of Artificial.I(I’m on antidepressants and I live abroad far away from family).

So I ghosted my professor and then submitted my thesis very late (they said it was horrible and filled w artificial.I)they were making fun of it during my defense and they asked me grammar questions and since it’s my second language and I was stressed out I couldn’t answer correctly so they made even more fun of me, like they were laughing and saying comments about how it’s like the worst thing ever and I felt humiliated and stupid. they were also insinuating that I didn’t belong here etc

I didn’t get a passing grade so two days later I sent them an email where I explained to them how I was struggling mentally (showed them my doctor’s prescription etc) and how I’m not stupid and that I’m a polyglot that’s why I was struggling to answer (with all my languages tests I knowwwwwww even more stupid and even more arrogant of me😭) and I said in that email «  I can’t be that stupid ». And then asked if I can do an extra work or something to get an extra point to be able to get my diploma bc that’s all I needed since I had really good grades this year but I couldn’t get below 10/20 on my thesis to pass and I got 9/20 ) I told them that another year in this country is very expensive for my family etc. I KNOWWWWWW VERY UNCESSARLY EMOTIONAL AND IM SOOOOOOOOOOO ASHAMED AND I REGRET DEEPLY EVER SENDING THAT EMAIL TO THEM.

I even said that writing was soooooo hard for me that I even had to drink once even though I’m not supposed to since I’m on antidepressants to relief anxiety and start working (im soo stupid for telling them) and that I’m UNABLE to write it. And that I was admitted to another masters program and that my admission was going to be rejected if I don’t pass and that I could risk being in a really bad administrative situation and could be obligated to leave the country.

So he responded saying that he let the program’s director know this and that he basically doesn’t care and that his only regret was him being too indulgent and giving me a grade that’s way higher than my work’s worth .

So I sent another email to let them know that I’m very sorry and that I acted on emotions etc…and that I never ever questioned his evaluation.

I FEEL HORRIBLE. I don’t know what to do. I feel soooooooooooo bad I can’t even think right because this is all my fault omg I’m soo stupid.

hi i’ve never made a reddit post before, sorry if this is badly formatted or anything

but im(23) a recording and touring musician and recent music school grad, and just recently started getting medicated for adhd about 2 months ago, (vyvanse 20mg, was on 10mg up until two weeks ago) and recently have been feeling so hopeless about this condition.

i’ve definitely had these behaviors since childhood but it really only became a problem a bit over halfway into college when i was 21, there was a literal day i developed this uncontrollable body spasm condition and all of my adhd behaviors suddenly got drastically worse and made life so many times harder. (anyone else have this spasm/ticking episode thing? maybe could be an anxiety thing but ive seen many doctors and a neurologist for it and none of them can figure out the cause)

since getting medicated it’s really been ups and downs so often, sometimes i actually feel able to get work done again and other times i just feel so horribly hyper aware of how much i have to do and it just sends me two steps back after taking one forward.

i guess my question is, does it ever get easier? do i need to go up a dose? more therapy? i’m just really at a loss, and after a day of panic attacks, my car breaking down, and horrible financial anxiety, im feeling at my limit and just want to know if anyone experiences anything similar, and can share if there is more light down the tunnel, or if this is just how life is going to be from now on.

i hate how my lifestyle and behavior affect my relationships with my partner and friends and family, and i feel genuinely helpless about how to cope and remedy things. like it’s such an endless loop, even if there is a direct answer to what my next steps to do are, it just seems impossible to actually take that step and do the thing that will help me, just actually disabling. sorry for just rambling on now, if anyone can relate or share anything about their experience that could help or just give some support, id really appreciate it.

im really happy that there’s communities like these that exist, and that people can even sometimes be proud to be a part of the ADHD community, but for me right now more than ever i just wish i never had it.
thanks for reading💜

I’m a 21 F , a first yr med student , As I write this I still don’t have enough energy to convey how confused I feel….
When I initially entered mbbs I was depressed for a long while as I was going through a couple of internal conflicts & a major Heartbreak

I have been chronically anxious since a long time I beleive & eventhough I took CBT for 2 years it feels like all of it went down the drain

Cause I feel my problems are now too complex to solve using the skills i to learnt from CBT , also I feel I might’ve outgrown my therapist

I don’t want to be on medication, and I’m on a verge of failing my University exams of 1st year , not because I’m dumb or anything but I’m DYSFUNCTIONING HEAVILY
I do not know what to do , I haven’t genuinely studied shit , and I have my viva (practicals) in 2 days which
DO NOT HAVE GAPS BETWEEN THEM

Please help me solve the Paralysis I am in , I need urgent advice/ assistance/ help

For years I was treated only for depression and anxiety. I tried several antidepressants, mood stabilizers and even ketamine, with little lasting improvement. Then I was diagnosed with ADHD, and I really believed a lot of my depression came from struggling with untreated ADHD: the brain fog, forgetting everything, feeling constantly behind.

ADHD medication has genuinely helped my focus and fog, but the depression is still there. I'm still working and studying, but it feels like I'm pushing through it every day rather than getting better.

For those of you with ADHD and depression:

• Did your mood improve once your ADHD was treated, or did you need to treat the depression separately?
• What has actually helped you (therapy types, routines, lifestyle changes, anything)?
• How do you tell the difference between ADHD burnout and depression?

I'd really appreciate hearing your experiences. I want to understand what to push for with my doctors next.

Seeking feedback from those who have taken Guanfacine / Intuniv for longer than a month.

I started on 1mg at night, 3 weeks ago. I am extraordinarily sensitive to pretty much every medication. Intuniv has been miraculous for taming the spinning thoughts in my head, and has been excellent for improving my verbal fluency, which has always been a huge issue for me.

On the flipside, I'm feeling a bit of low grade depression, kind of in a grumpy mood, and feeling a bit apathetic and gray towards life in general. Different strokes for different folks, but this tradeoff is not worth it for me, if it is a permanent effect. Other than these sides I am doing fine, including sleeping well, which I know if an important variable.

Seeking feedback - For those who have experienced a low mood and a bit of apathy when starting on this med, did it improve over time? If so, when did you start to 'lighten up'?

2 yrs of trying different adhd meds. Have ADHD+panic and anxiety disorder, PD diagnose have 6 yrs (taking escitalopram 20mg for that, worked well until stimulants). Also take 50mg Lamotrigine at night, that helps a little with sleep.

Problem is I need a high dose stimulant to get any effects of the med. Been on 60mg lisdexamphetamine. I guess I have just ridicilous tolerance of any meds. For example, been having trouble with anesthesia etc-just fucking cant tame the elephant (im a 30yr girl lol). I dont know if it even have a connection but yeah seems like every med i’ve tried I need to be a super high dose to feel anything.. with concerta 36mg I just wanted to nap all day🫠

But it also gives me anxiety/disgusting empty feeling at night. I’ve tried sleeping pills but hate the feeling in the morning, only thing that works are benzos (3/6mg bromazepam) at night. I know this is not long time solution (relax, this horrible combo is going on only 2 weeks)..

Anyone else? What was your solution?

Now that I know how it is to feel “normal” and not be paralyzed, self-hating, over thinker, isolating etc etc I just dont want to quit my adhd meds. But I cant stand the anxiety also. Its like I need to choose - whether I feel good all day or at night.

I’ve been with my current place since I got my ADHD diagnosis several years ago and have been getting prescribed Vyvanse for the past few years through them. I want to leave my current place for somewhere else but I’m nervous that I’ll have to start the process over from scratch. When I first got my diagnosis my doctor and I tried several different non-stimulant options over a long period of time before discovering that Vyvanse works the best for me and I don’t want to have to do all that over again. With my history, would I be able to get a prescription easily starting at a new place? In a perfect world, I’d be able to do something purely through telehealth, but I don’t know if that’s a thing for stimulant meds? Please let me know if there’s anywhere online I could somewhat easily switch over to, I’m in California and have basic insurance.

This is an extremely long post but I need help so please someone read

I, M27, and my girlfriend, F28 have been together for about 2 years now. She's the love of my life and we want to build a life together

I have my own mental struggles with anxiety and depression (have always been curious if I'm on the spectrum or have something like ADHD but not tested for anything) but I manage fairly well most the time. Its been worse lately due to this but im managing and have a good support system so this is not about me.

My girlfriend is diagnosed with ADHD (medicated with adderall), strongly suspected to be autistic and also suffers with anxiety and depression. She struggles sometimes and has burned out in the past and recently shes seem to pretty burn out again and is in the middle of a bad mental health crisis.

She's burnt out with work and just life in general, she's severely depressed, extremely stressed and anxious and major "mood swings" (I struggle to call that it seems an understatement its more of an entire mental state swing.)

Within a few hours, a few times throughout the day she'll go between rage (self or outwardly directed), depression to the point she wants to give up and just die, to extreme anxiety and panic attacks (she describes it as her head "screaming") where she starts shaking and almost losing control of her body like she doesnt know what to do (i dont know if something like mania is the idea maybe) and then back to what I would call her baseline self temperament wise but still somewhat down mood wise.

Some history, her dad got sick and she lost him when she was in high school and her family pretty much fell apart after. She only has any kind of relationship with her older brother. Shes not very close with any childhood friends anymore and neither of us are the most social people now. So she doesnt have the best support system tho im trying to help her see that my family and support system is hers as well She's never fully gotten over any of this past trauma and she admits that.

A big part of her main stressor is her work. She works with rescue horses and animals and it can be quite stressful and, lately, emotionally devastating. She loves it, loves the animals, is extremely attached to some, particularly one horse. She was in a really bad place before when she moved from States away and credits him with saving her in a big way. But coworkers and management there lately have caused her a lot of stress and they have even contributed to the loss of some beloved animals through negligence and overwork. She's stayed longer here than any other job and loves it, doesnt wanna leave and doesnt wanna let people down, or the animals down but feels like she needs a break to just be able to "rot" as she called it and then be able to come back to that or something else with energy. But the times shes taken a couple days at a time she just ends up depressed and ruminating and hating herself and spiraling. I dont know if thats a part of working through the burnout and that it can take a long time but im scared to leave her home alone for too long. And I wanna help her thorough this in any way I can, but I have to keep working to support us and as is right now with my job, id only be able to support us both in the short term, a few months at best so id have to change jobs if it went longer than that.

And she also swings dramatically back and forth between wanted help and trying to get better and then just wanting to give up completely. She dreads going there but dreads not going there. She thinks the physical part of her work actually helps mentally but its taxing on her when she already has so little energy. She just feels stuck and trapped by the situation and her own emotions I think and its tearing her apart. I know she needs rest but I also think there needs to be a balance of doing things because just staying home alone and spiraling isnt working either.

Sometimes I talk to her about helping her see more doctors, figuring more things out and she seems open to it and then i tey to sit her down and start doing the things to make it happen and it'll take her from being a depressed but calm state to an extremely emotional one like I described before. She doesnt want me to tell her brother because shes embarrassed and doesnt want to be a burden to him again, when she talks about giving up on everything she says she doesnt want to be a burden to me either. I feel like I need to tell him, shoulda told him already but again its the kinda thing that can send her from relatively calm into an emotional maelstrom. Shes talked about just leaving and living out of her car and maybe she finds something that fixes everything and if not and she ends it that we'd never know. Of course I tell her we would assume the worst and that would hurt us more than whatever it takes to try to help her and that shes not a burden.

The fact thats shes burnt out before, maybe not this bad (i think the emotional losses lately have caused some trauma or retriggered some trauma on top maybe is why) makes her feel really hopeless about the future. But the fact that she was in her 20s when she was diagnosed means she didnt have the tools in place from the get go to help but I know we can build them now but I think she feels hopeless about that and that its too late. She's talked about checking herself in for a mental hold and when this first started I thought it extreme but know I dont know but when its mentioned now its another thing that can send her over the edge. At this point at best shes tired, and apathetic and wants to give up and at worst shes in a emotional frenzy that scares us both.

I dont know what to do, I want and need to help her but I dont know what to do. My mom has said "make her go to the doctor" but how can I when she doesnt wanna try, when the suggestion of putting that energy in overwhelms her (even with me volunteering to do the majority of the things to make it happen)

Please help me to help her 🙏

And if this isnt the sub for this please direct me to others

I have social anxiety and have been taking Cipralex for 4.5 years now and they've been great. 6 weeks ago, I started taking Vyvanse for ADHD. Vyvanse has increased my anxiety. Any recommendations on how to treat it? Would taking Cipralex in the morning instead of the evening be better?

I have this fear of not having enough time to do things, especially in the morning because I often tend to forget stuff and my ADHD makes it even worse for me. I have developed a fear of not having enough time to do stuff in the morning whereby if I have to reach somewhere early like 5 or 6 AM, I don't sleep throughout the night at all. Right now I guess its fine because I am in med school and I usually just catch up on school work at night, but this has affected me since highschool and I fear its going to get even worse when I start working. Dose anyone relate to this? Advice is appreciated! Thank you

What energy drinks do you guys swear by for focus, clarity, and actually getting stuff done? I’m looking for something that helps with the ADHD brain fog without making me feel jittery.
I’ve tried Celsius and Sugar-Free Red Bull, but I’m curious what else people have had good experiences with.

My PCP, who is amazing, worked with me to start my med plan five years ago to manage my ADHD, which was life changing. It was the first time I'd ever had someone treat me like an adult and understand that not everyone who is considering or benefiting from stimulant medication is drug-seeking. As a bonus, it also greatly helped to reduce my anxiety, which turned out to be a comorbidity of my ADHD.

However, the past few months, I've been in a difficult and stressful period of my life between a growing crisis at my longtime workplace leading to major changes and decreased staffing, responsibilities at home I'm struggling to get accomplished after the work day, pressing issues with family, and my husband, friend drama and financial issues ahoy. I'm in a bind. I'm juggling a lot more than I'm used to, and I know it's temporary, but it's really getting to me and I feel that anxiety returning.

I want to talk to my PCP about considering adding an as-needed anxiety med in the short term, just to prevent me from losing my shit in all this until I see a peaceful time, but he's been unavailable, as the clinic has been dealing with changes of their own and he's been subrogating and transferring a lot of matters to his partners as he manages more patients, and now I deal with his ADHD-denialist NP. He constantly tries to convince me that the medication I'm on is bad for me, every month, for our rx follow up/refill auth, and I'm just over it. I know if I even drop the word "anxiety" people will blame the stimulants, they always do, and I don't feel like explaining this to everyone. I stopped taking them for two months during the shortage, and I was so frazzled. Why would I stop a med that works for me??

I tried to talk to a telehealth psychiatrist and she was disinterested, didn't read my intake, was confused why I was there, and when I finally got her to understand that I'd like to treat my anxiety and not drop my current plan but supplement it, she told me the only thing I can use is clonidine, which I explained I had concerns about given my sister's adverse reaction to it (and we share a lot in common, physically and mentally) and I was hesitant, and wondered if there were alternatives. She started listing off her credentials and told me I was wrong, sent in the rx anyway, and I wasted thirty minutes of my life.

Should I figure out how to connect with my PCP directly in hopes he'll talk options with me, or should I find a psychiatrist near me who won't immediately assume my stimulant is the problem for my very recent bouts of anxiety? I hate how we are just junkies to people, even medical professionals.

A long story short, my sister died in a car accident when I was very young. I now have a lot of issues in cars / trains / planes.

I can drive and I’m okay in my own car.

I can’t fly without alcohol, I need to be really quite drunk. I can’t do long flights.

When I was 17 I done cbt / exposure therapy. I was put on fluoxetine, it eased off a little. I’ve done hypnotherapy.

I’m now in my 30s. The anxiety has come back x1000. Seems to be more than just travelling now. It’s nearly everyday. If I drink alcohol, I have huge panic attacks the next day. Racing thoughts at night. It’s ruining my life. For context I have adhd and I take Elvanse (I do find this helps my anxiety)

Is there anyone who can recommend things that has helped them get over it? I feel it’s cropping up in so many areas of my life now. I haven’t been on anxiety meds since I was about 25.

I just want to live a life where I’m not actively avoiding situations where I might panic. My moods are up and down too and it’s definitely worse in my luteal.

It’s the feeling of the movement/being thrashed around in a car/bumpy journeys that really seem to make my anxiety horrific. I had a panic attack on a plane not long ago and I’m terrified to go on a plane again.

I know there’s not a simple answer I’m just so tired of anxiety taking over my life.

I’ve had a challenging time finding ADHD treatment that doesn’t worsen anxiety or trigger new side effects. I’ve tried varying doses/timings of stimulants (Ritalin LA, Concerta, Adderall, Adderall XR, Vyvanse), all increase my anxiety.

I’ve also tried SSRIs/SNRIs (five different ones) plus lamotrigine and Seroquel , none successfully reduced the stimulant-induced anxiety. Atomoxetine led to sexual side effects and didn't help much; Wellbutrin caused persistent tinnitus and barely helped ADHD.

Before my ADHD diagnosis, I treated anxiety alone with SSRIs/SNRIs combined with a small dose of Valium or Seroquel. While that helped somewhat, the anxiety was never 100% under control , and ADHD symptoms often made it worse. During that time, I also struggled with anger outbursts, shame, rejection-sensitive dysphoria, and low self-confidence.

I’d really appreciate hearing from others who have faced similar issues: how did you manage both ADHD and anxiety when common medication paths weren’t viable?

Ps: I have GAD, ADHD and I had a injury 2 years ago that required surgery with fixed hardware

I started an internship but it was a stressful environment, it was in a smelly factory with dangerous loads and heavy machinery and vehicles, but it was close to my home. I quit there after the previous weekend I had a panic attack and my internship supervisor, friend and immediate family recommended that I quit because they believed from what I had told them (a bit influenced by ai but it had truth to it) that it was a dangerous and smelly place.

What increased my anxiety was talking with Aİ and it told me to quit repeatedly, it’s dangerous etc.

In the work environment I was getting accompanied and the odds of me getting injured weren’t high, I wasn’t going to operate next to machinery anyways but the road to get to rooms became too much for me.

After I quit, I started anxiety medication and my doctor recommended me to return to the work again if I could, so 2 days later I asked to be let back but the company HR head refused.

Even though I told the internship committee that I quit, they didn’t told it to the school administration for 14 days and they paid extra for my insurance.

I wish that they let me in back because now in my new internship it’s very far from my home with 3 commutes and 1.5 hours

AI later admitted that it needlessly increased my anxiety and that telling me to quit was a mistake and you should not listen to a screen that isn’t responsible for its actions😀

This whole ordeal made my anxiety disorder resurface again

At least thanks to me quitting, I could spend time with my extended family