Fogginess, ANXIETY and ADD Meds??? - Fibromyalgia Message Board

Amosquito · 11-26-2005, 08:12 PM

Fogginess AND Anxiety anyone???

I have fibro and lots of aches and things. I have the fogginess something terrible, and have recently realized that it could actually be Inattentive ADD.

ANyway,

Does anyone have a tendency toward social anxiety AND have such fogginess that fits the Inattentive ADD. I want to try Provigil or some other medicine, due to horrible tiredness I have most of the day, and have for my whole life (yes, I have sleep apnea and my CPAP machine stops the apneas, and I still feel like a achy zombie every morning).

Question: if anyone IS anxiety prone, can you tell me your experience with ADD meds? I don't even drink caffeine or eat chocolate, so I'm NERVOUS to try a med, but am SOOOOOO sick of being tired and disorganized, and having the inability to concentrate!!!!

Thanks in advance!

April414 · 11-27-2005, 02:16 AM

Ok, I'll try to answer and explain a little about ADD'
First I haven't heard of inattentive ADD. There's attention defiecit disorder and attention defiecit hyperactivity disorder.
I started taking meds for ADD in about 1993 but should have been, like most people who have it, since I was a kid. Used to the med for ADD acted like speed to people who don't have ADD, either kind. But it actually kinda slows down the minds of people with ADD enought so we can think, process, get things done, understand things better. I can't remember what it was now, but not long after I started med. for it I read some directions for something and...I figured it out! I was so amazed. I mean I knew I wasn't a dummy but to actually be able to read directions and get it right was...just a miracle to me.
Of course it isn't all like that now with the fibro fog plus I now take a non-stimulent med for ADD I quit the other med for it a year or so ago because when I took it that day I could feel my heart starting to race.
I can drink a whole pot of coffee and stay up for hours or go right back to sleep. ADD can be weird. But of course so can the fibro fog. It's kinda hard sometimes to tell which one is bothering you. I swear sometimes I feel like a complete idiot. The bad memory thing may not be ADD, just keeping on forgeting sounds more like the fog to me. ADD forgeting feels different to me than fibro fog forgeting. Better sleep and eating a little more right seem to help me with the fog some, not a lot but usually enough I can tell it, but then again my sleep doesn't get or stay decent for often or for very long and staying so tired makes it harder to fix healthy meals and easier to just grab junk food. At least for me.
If I were you, I'd talk to a shrink about the possibility of ADD but one may not say you have yet right off the bat, mine didn't even though my Mama also has it. It may have to do to with, like I said earlier, for people who don't have ADD, some of the med for it acts like speed to them but not for those of us who have it.
I hope this helps a little. Let me know how you do.
April

rosebuddy · 11-27-2005, 05:55 PM

Hi Amosquito,

I started taking Concerta 54mg for ADD about a year or so before my initial fibro pain flare. Honestly, I think I was having a combination of both ADD and fibrofog, but didn't know it. I would have fugue states. I couldn't concentrate. I even said the road signs outloud to myself so I could drive safely.

When the fms started, then i couldn't learn new tasks. I had short term memory loss. i couldn't remember the phone number or fax number where i worked and i was a scheduler/operator. I had a whole not***** of cheat sheets. My coworker helped ALOT.

My worst fibrofog experience was about a month later and lasted for a few months. I couldn't finish sentences. I couldn't comprehend a paragraph until i had reread it over and over and then sometimes I still couldn't remember what i read. I couldn't drive even in my own town. I had acute anxiety and confusion. I couldn't even sort bills or balance the check book. I could barely communicate. I couldn't even cook beans on the stove. I was banned from cooking because i just couldn't do it. Sounds crazy I know. I used to get so anxious before doctor appointments that looking back i was about to have a nervous breakdown. It took me hours to get ready to go. I can't even explain how bad it was. I also cried alot because of the confusion and feeling overwhelmed. If i tried to hurry or multi-task it got worse.

After about a month or so, i got to where i could finish some of my sentences. I would get foggy in the mid morning and for the rest of the day for a few days. Then it wouldn't start until afternoon and then evening until it was finally over.

I still have my moments but nothing like that initial flare. I found a great book that goes into detail about fibro fog and it helped me alot because I had no idea what the hell was wrong with me.

Concerta keeps me alert. It doesn't make me nervous. I have taken xanax for anxiety for about 9 years. I also take Wellbutrin and lamictal for bipolar disorder. I think that all of these conditions are related to the fms in that they are all central nervous system disorders.

I am not usually tired unless i am in a flare.

I hope that i helped. Take care and keep the faith,

Donna