Amphetamine for Anxiety Treatment

[Sunshine]

Im going to take adderal by prescription cause i also have lots of attention deficit symptoms as well as anxiety. only one thing worries is it not going to make everything very bad? i still remember the night i took some speed and abit of mdma and it withdrew all my anxiety problems. after that i did some other drugs but never speed and it wasn't too bad. but im still in doubt if speed was so bad, so it might be bad idea to take it again? i spoke to my doctor about it, but they dont really know much about the anxiety and i can see that they really dont want to give me speed even for any other condition. i just want to try it cause nothing else helped me. you may think im totally stupid, because speed is a stimulant and that what you less need for anxiety, but here is my theory: after many search i found that anxiety has alot to do with attention, and if its not stable you get all kind of weird symptoms, so by stabilizing it you can avoid many of these silly unexplainable anxiety problems.
i just thought i'll write it here before i took it just in case.

 

[stimutant]

i dont think this will work well, at least not for a longer time...

 

[lighterbandit]

i have a similar condition and i find that taking adderall in the morning does releive my anxiety during the day, but at night coming down off the adderall it makes it way worse. benzo worked a while for the crash, but for some reason benzos no longer affect me. so id ask ur doc or whoever u see about others options. ive tried a lot of meds and some work better than others. its worth a try dude, shit if ur feelin bad do what you gotta do son. oh and cut back on ur recreational drug use. that always seems to help

 

[swilow]

^The 'for some reason' is called tolerance. Humans build up tolerance to benzo's very fast. I would not use amphetamines if I had anxiety which I do, and do, so I'm a hypocrite but- they do make me feel worse when crashing. Best avoided.

 

[basix]

Stimulants will most likely make your anxiety condition much much worse like they tend to do for so many people with anxiety problems.

I use to think I suffered from anxiety but I tell you it was nothing compared to what I experienced from stimulant mis use.

 

[dbailey11]

Stimulants will most likely make your anxiety condition much much worse like they tend to do for so many people with anxiety problems.

I use to think I suffered from anxiety but I tell you it was nothing compared to what I experienced from stimulant mis use.

+1 stimulants exaggerate anxiety symptoms ime.

 

[Ximot]

for me, stimulant use will inevitably result in feeling very strung out and scattered - semi-anxious, semi-depressed, tired yet somehow restless. this is true for pretty much any stimulant I have tried, and for this reason I use but rarely. It's true for MDPV, for amphetamine, for 4-FA, crystal meth, cocaine, crack, and even Methylone to some extent. Hell, even MDMA... I think it might be a thing with the adrenals. I get over-excited easily and then cross the line where fun & excitement turn into negative stress & strain, and then everything is crap... and it seems the crap feeling lasts so much longer.

 

[clamjuice]

I would give it a small trial run. The doses they put you on are general much lower than would be considered fun. As well time released amphetamines generally dont hit you, as in you never feel like you are on speed.

I also have ADD when it comes to counting reading small tasks that require focus. If iam counting money, reading a book etc i literally need silence or i cannot work. Its very frustrating for me because i can hardly ever read books as the slightest noise draws my attention and i lose track. I did find when i was on ritalin that this was remedied, but i just did not like the fact that i had to take a pill everyday to feel normal, thus i told my doctor i no longer wanted to continue its use.

That being said it could slide either way. The only way is to try. I know that in regards to my anxiety disorder i found it would help as i was much more able to focus. I tend to get panicked or anxious when i cant keep focus, so ritalin helped in that aspect.

Just dont drink coffee and take amphetamines, that i must say was never fun and just resulted in being too focused and having shaking limbs.

Good luck, i know youll find something

 

[euphoria]

my theory is it will work in the beginning, for maybe a few weeks or so. or even just a week really. then you'll start to get those feelings like Ximot said.... tired but restless, semi-irritated all the time, semi-anxious. . .

i've never heard of anyone taking stimulants for anxiety. it seems strange to me... maybe that's cuz stimulants CAUSED my anxiety. . . everyone's brain's different though i suppose.

 

[clamjuice]

It really depends what the anxiety is rooted from. If you are anxious because of your symptoms of ADD then who knows, it might be a god send. But if you are trying to treat panic attacks from social phobias or something, then i really doubt it would help.

I know it gave me confidence where i never had it in situations where i felt i fell short because of ADD.

 

[SpellmanT7]

I have a personal opinion regarding stimulant use to help with anxiety.

My summation of the conditions I have are as follows:

i. low-self esteem

ii. social anxiety

iii. ADD (inattentive type).


(these are ordered in terms of severity)

I believe that the first two are exacerbated by excessive norepinephrine->adrenaline levels and spontaneous over production of these neurochemicals where my brain perceives a scenario as threatening enough to trgger a flight or fight response.

I have a theory that the ADD is largely due to an adrenaline heavy dopamine:adrenaline ratio. My reasons for feeling like this are due to the fact that my inattentive ADD is worsened when I consume adrenaline increasing medications. The physical symptoms (in my case) of excess adrenaline normally manifest themselves as nausea, tremor, increase in pulse, frequent urination and gastrointestinal discomfort/diarrhea.

Taking a dextro-based stimulant seems to increase my dopamine without a significant adrenaline rise. Of course, given that dopamine ultimately increases norepinephrine production, when the dopamine heavy (marginally tweaked and sharpened) congnitive effects decrease, the adrenaline kicks in like a sting in the tail.

I have undergone Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to mentally rationalise my fears in social situations but my condition isn't a predominantly mental over excitation. I can be in a situation, acknowledge there is no reason to be fearful but BANG - the adrenaline rush kicks in and I simply cant click my fingers and whisk the adrenaline away.


To get back on topic - you may get some relief from stimulant use. Co-morbidity (multiple conditions i.e. ADD + social anxiety + low self esteem) is common - as high as 84% of cases.

Try the stimulants. If they help you but result in unwanted side effects, go down the anti-anxiety route starting with the least potent and unpopular (in docs eyes) meds. Decide whether two meds together is the solution.

I wish you luck - I know social anxiety dilutes personalities and life itself

It is worth taking chances where anxiety is involved - anxiety is crippling and anything that gets 'us' out and more confident can be liberating and life changing.

 

[zombiesarepeaceful]

Oddly enough, I can relate.

I've had what I thought was anxiety all my life. After being treated for anxiety and depression with no luck, my new psych reviewed my symptoms (restlessness, racing thoughts, inability to concentrate/sit still, etc) and said that it could be possible that I'd had ADHD all my life and had my symptoms mistaken for anxiety disorders. We tried stimulants, and she was right. It was ADHD all along. Since starting on stimulant meds, I've had no panic attacks like I use to, and although stimulant meds only relieve my symptoms for a few hours...I've also been less anxious after they wear off.

 

[lighterbandit]

It was ADHD all along.

8) psychiatrists......

 

[zombiesarepeaceful]

^???

 

[protovack]

The thing is, if your attention problems are the main source of your anxiety then sure it will help. But anxiety often goes very deep into your personality and I'm betting the attention deficit is NOT the main source of your anxiety.

I had a similar experience when I started using dexadrine. At first I thought my anxiety was being relieved (for a few months), but then it resurfaced.

I think the mechanism is mainly that amphetamines put your dopaminergic pathways into overdrive, like in your frontal lobes that deal with planning and executing plans. Therefore the amphetamines give you an incredible ability to get things done. Because you are focusing on the external tasks, maybe you aren't paying attention to your self so much and as a result, the anxiety disappears for a while.

However if you don't address the root causes of the anxiety, i.e. self-esteem, past traumatic experiences, childhood fear, then the anxiety will resurface.

One of the absolute best methods for dealing with anxiety is to talk to a counselor and try to address the real issues.

 

[Cone]

The anxiety isn't present when youre using amps in the short term. In fact it has the opposite effect (anxiolytic) INITIALLY, but after you've been taking it for some time your anxiety will get worse more often than not. Just the nature of the beast.

I used to have absolutely no trouble with public speaking, used to actually have fun doing it. Now that I've been taking amps I can't stand up and speak publicly to save my life. I instead overanalyze what I'm gonna say and what comes out while I'm actually talking is always rushed/incoherent and makes me look like a fool.

I find that if i don't take amps for a couple days this effect goes away quickly.

Any anxiolytic effect you get from amps is going to be short-lived, especially if you start taking Adderall on a daily basis.