I'm sorry it sounds horrible and frustrating. I have not got ADD but I do have a strong mind which won't shut up. I recommend you tube clips or books by Eckhart Tolle, he is great. Quietening the mind takes practice and a lot of it. I have something I tell myself at night. The past is gone, the future doesn't exist, all that is real is this moment. I concentrate on my breath and try to be at peace with the present moment. Sometimes my mind is so busy I don't even finish the sentence but then I start again. I almost think that it's harder for people that aren't so busy. I don't work so I have a lot of time alone with my thoughts. Not such a good thing. They're not bad thoughts usually but they are pointless and take me away from enjoying the present moment. When I go to the park with my dog, I stop and take in my surroundings, you'll find when you're in your mind, your other senses are muted, you don't take in the scenery or here the birds. If you stop and focus on those things you'll get a reprieve from your thoughts, even if it's just for a few minutes. What you also need to do, is not be hard on yourself when you can't do this. You're alive so your thoughts will always be there, just start with the simple things. But certainly give Eckhart a go if you haven't already.

Good luck xo

Hi TammyDiane! I fear that sometimes doctors go to the "mental state" or "emotional state" when it comes to diagnosing women. I'm not saying all of them do this, but it would take a lot of testing for a doctor to come out and tell you that you have ADD just because you have racing thoughts...no matter how distracting they may be.

I have an anxiety disorder. I've had it for 30 years. I take a mild tranquilizer when the anxiety peaks. Those times consist of a general feeling of dread, and my thoughts race, my heart races...it's panic! It's anxiety! It's treatable!!

Calming our minds is so important. We live under horrific stress with this illness. The adrenalin is going all the time. We are exhausted, yet forced to stay awake and function. No one who doesn't have CFS "gets" this. We may look ok, but we are severely struggling to get through the day.

I would get another opinion from another doctor about this ADD diagnosis. My gut feeling is that someone is putting a "mental/emotional" disorder on you because they do not know what else could be causing racing thoughts.

Always get another opinion on stuff like this. I'm glad you posted it. I can recognize this as anxiety, not as ADD. Please get another opinion!! We have to protect ourselves. We have to! xo

Can totally related to the ADD like symptoms. Whenever I over do, I can't sleep because of a racing mind. During the day, I have to constantly make lists or tape notes to my mirror to remember to do things. I don't know how many times I get distracted on the way from one room to another and forget what I had set out to do. Post-it Notes is making good money off of me. LOL I actually was on a medication to that was supposed to help improve my concentration. It didn't work. My mantra is "Slow down, take it one step at a time, and write it down somewhere obvious".

I had this at the beginning of my illness. The first 6 years were the worst. Now after 50 and menopause I'm more peaceful, and generally lean towards my brain being a bit slow. It's like instead of feeling/thinking too much, I've shut down.
When it was racing,
I'd asked several docs and got answers from it being anxiety, too much sugar(self medicating for body energy), adrenal issues, and hormone issues.
I can say that all of them could be right, but as I am convinced that CFIDS has a lot to do with adrenal issues, I mean towards that and too much sugar. Since I've been sick with post prandial hypoglycemia and have dropped all sugar but a bit of fruit and keep my carbs to under 50 a day spread out, my anxiety is gone, along with the racing mind. In fact i need to have some carbs to think sometimes. Sugar also activates the adrenal glands, I am told, and years of eating wrong and stress from life and CFIDS have worn mine out. My ND days it can take years to heal them with peace, protein and a chemical free diet (not an easy thing). She feels this illness comes from our high sensitivity to chemicals and hormones in food. I don't know....

Lean not mean...really we need to be able to edit!

Hi TammyDiane, I have ADD as well. the worst time for me is at night. Since my CFS causes problems sleeping anyways I have to take melatonin often. between that and my nightly allergy medication I'm basically knocked out for 8 hours. That's the only way I sleep at night most of the time. As far as managing it at work, I have many many methods to try to remember everything I need to do. I have post-its, pop up reminders on my computer and lists that I make every morning and I make sure is checked off before I leave for the day.

I have developed the odd habit of watching ID (Information Discovery) all night. Odd because ID is about true life crime so my nights are filled with murder and mayhem. Not exactly the material I would choose.

It works for me though because the voices and soundtracks are very soothing. I have tried downloading those sleep aid programs but I get impatient with them. I guess ID works for me because it gives me storylines to focus on when I can focus and when I can't its just soothing background.

I don't know why this happens, but if the tv goes off while I am asleep I will wake up and the mind will just run in circles for hours. turn the tv back on and I calm down a fall asleep. Go figure.

I guess we each need to find what works.

PS : I find I don't have an issue with racing thoughts during the daytime, just at night. Guess it might be an expression of anxiety, nighttime has always been my time for processing stuff I am too busy to fuss abut during the day.

Hi TammyDianne,

I tend to agree with DarlaC. I have episodes like that and have paid close attention to what preceeds it. Stress and/or anxiety are my culprits. And yes, overstimulation from TV or other sounds can make it harder for your brain to relax in order to get to sleep. You have to remember we experience extremes in everything, it takes longer for our brains to slow down and prepare for sleep. I 've learned I cannot do any talking or conversation within 2 hours of bedtime. The last half hour before going to bed I take my melatonin and turn off the TV or put down my book and just relax with some soothing music. This really helps.

Try to keep a log of your daily activity and diet to see if there's a pattern that coincides with your episodes. I've also discovered that I cannot eat sugar of any kind within 3 hours of bedtime, even a small amount over-activates my brain. I generally don't eat sugary things but on occasion I splurge with a little Haagen Dazs.

So much of managing our symptoms is just trial and error with our activity, diet, and environement. It's worth spending the time to figure out what might ease our symptoms or at least recognize what's causing them so we know what we're dealing with.

Good luck!

I think I can relate to most of the comments. And maybe he is wrong and I don't have ADD. It looks like it could be something else from what you guys are telling me. I never thought about my diet being part of it. I don't eat much sugar, but I should probably log my diest. The anxiety could be a big part. I always think I am handling the stress, but maybe this is how it is showing itself. I know I have a lot of it right now with the illness adjustment and purchasing a new business. Keeping a log is a great idea, I just am having troubles doing it or keeping track of my actual journal. I did it for about 1 month and then kept misplacing it. I'm good at going to sleep with my cpap machine, but once I'm awake the mind will not shut up until I get up and do something about it and it is usually work related. I am going to re-read all the comments and come up with a plan of action. Thanks for your help...

I too have problems with memory and obsessive thoughts , I think it might be quite common among people who suffer with CFS. For a while everything ended up in the garbage bin - car keys, ipods etc so every time I lost something I would look in the bin and there it was adn I have no recall of throwing it in. Yes we do tend to spend long hours on our own house-bound, I have my dog to keep me company thank goodness. It is great to have a site like this where we can connect with each other and voice our concerns to other people who understand what you are going through.

I listen to Ajahn Brahm to calm me down , he is a buddhist monk and his utube talks are wonderful :)

Sorry for being late to this discussion. Ive discovered that magnesium helps my thinking a lot. I dont know how to explain it other than it gives me space between my thoughts.as if a roomful of papers in my mind has been put back into their filing cabinets. So far magnesium citrate has worked best, but Im also going to experiment with magnesium bisglycinate and malate -- I'm that kind of girl. I think some CFS treatments use malate.

Anything that depletes magnesium affects my thinking grains, stress, other supplements that compete with magnesium (calcium, iron). When it's really bad, I'll miss freeway exits, forget what I was doing 10 minutes ago, etc.

I take the Mg with vitamin B6. The two work together. I tried B6 alone for a while just out of curiosity and it definitely helped my memory and thinking processes.

A supplement called Gaba Calm helped my racing thoughts at night. If I took too much, though, Id be a zombie the next day. I took that for a couple of years until I developed a reaction to the sweetener.

Here are the main ingredients, not including the sweeteners. There are a lot of similar Gaba-containing supplements to experiment with if youre like me and cant handle mannitol.
Magnesium (as magnesium chelate) 5 mg...GABA 125 mg.Glycine 50 mg...N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine 25 mg...Taurine 20

Using blue-blocking lights at night also seems to help.

I don't have ADD or have I had a doctor suggest it, but I do have terrible insomnia and at night my mind just won't shut up and let me sleep. I have to take a benzo to sleep, xanax is my choice. I too would question what your doctor told you.

Brain fog can be a separate issue and is also common with this disorder.

Hi, my thought is that you are describing symptoms of CFS, & perhaps your doctor is unaware of the full range of symptoms, & has therefore come up with an additional diagnosis.
One possibly useful trick to get you out of your head is to 'meditate' on the sensations on the soles of your feet - I find breathe meditations too near my head which is where all the thinking is happening. I know it might sound odd, but it's worth a try. If you can't feel much, give them a rub on the floor then try again - explore the sensations, which can be very detailed and changeable.
Another idea is humour - I was stuck in some rigid dark thinking the other day and a friend put a Roadrunner cartoon on the TV. Worked a treat.

Thanks for all the great tips.

I just started taking the magnesium citrate about three weeks ago and I am hoping that will help. I take 500 mg a day.

I agree with you fishwish. It seems to me that this is a symptom of CFS. and I love the way Kiaya described our thoughts as a roomful of papers in my mind that needs filing.

I have also tried to explain to people what it is like when our brain is not working great and it is difficult to concentrate. I was floating in my "salt" water pool looking down to the bottom of the pool and thought it was similar to how I feel when I am trying to focus on something and cant. I can see the bottom, but the water is floating around so much that it is distorting the picture. If I try hard enough I can make out what it is, but it hurts my head and wears me out to do so. Is this similar to what you all experience when you are trying to accomplish something, but you have brain fog?

I take for irritable bowel Elavil 20mg. , which thankfully has helped me with the insomnia, anxiety problem . Also sitting and looking out the window and doing nothing else. I have a hard time sitting still and it's amazing how much more relaxed I have become. Also lying down and listening to soft music. Isabelle1954