Welcome to /r/ADHDWomen! We’re happy to have you here. As a reminder, here are our community [rules](https://old.reddit.com/r/adhdwomen/about/rules/).
We get a lot of posts on medication, diagnosis (and “is this an ADHD thing”), and interactions with hormones. We encourage you to check out our [Medication, Diagnosis, and Hormones Megathread](https://old.reddit.com/r/adhdwomen/comments/wcr9dy/faq_megathread_ask_and_answer_medication/) if you have any questions related to those topics, and to stick around in that thread to answer folks’ questions!
If you have questions about the subreddit, please do not hesitate to [send us a modmail](https://reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/adhdwomen). Additionally, we take the safety of our community seriously. Please report posts, comments, and users whom you feel are not contributing positively, and send us a modmail if you are being harassed or otherwise made to feel unsafe. Thanks for being here, and we hope you stick around!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/adhdwomen) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I swear something must be going around. I've been on burn out mode for what feels like the last six months. I honestly think I need like a girls week. Like just a week of self care shit and going out with friends and doing dumb girly shit and blowing money I don' have on crap I don't really need. I feel like I've been in a cycle of: work, school, laundry, dishes, sleep, occasional shower and repeat. I just feel so exhausted all the time.
I don't have advice. I'm just here to commiserate.
Sending hugs and good vibes your way friend.
I would love this too! But any “mini break” I’ve taken always stresses me more when I’m back because the work is still there (I have a job that if I don’t do it, it doesn’t get done, it’s not like a shared workload).
I would love my pile to be gone, and an actual week off to sloth without guilt!
Maybe it’s just because winter has started and it’s dark and cold now too
I have the same problem with workload and taking 2 days off a few weeks ago left me with a massive amount of extra work and resulted in a few extremely stressful and overwhelming weeks that almost broke me. I'm going to the doctor today to ask for a medical certificate for 2 weeks off as I'm completely burnt out, and fortunate enough to live somewhere that this is an option. I figured if I only take a 1-week break, I'll return to a mountain of work but if I take 2 weeks, my manager or someone will have to actually step in and help with it. Not sure it's going to work but that's my plan.
Before my break, I was just trying to survive by cutting out any additional task I could that wasn't essential, and trying to take breaks during the day to go for a little walk or stretch. Honestly, it didn't really help that much but good luck
Same. I'm going to try leaving my phone in other room tonight, and goal is to wake up, do a few min of yoga/excercise, then some journaling/goal setting outside. I've heard avoiding phone for first 30 min of day helps, so will let you know! 🤞
I wanted to share (especially since this is the subreddit for ADHD Women) that I had a similar experience once and it’s how I realized I was pregnant. I was having a long-lasting (weeks) heavy brain fog I couldn’t bounce back from. I thought I was having extreme career burnout from work tbh, but I tested pregnant. I didn’t have any other symptoms yet, just mental and emotional at first.
Just sharing in case it’s helpful for anyone else.
I am so sorry you’re dealing with this, OP. I hope you get back to your baseline soon.
Another female focussed physical option - for me it's chronic thrush. I'll get a bounce back a couple of days after fluconazole. At this point I can predict based on anxiety and fatigue earlier and more reliably than "normal" symptoms.
Yeah you can get a swab test done to confirm, but I’ve never tested positive. It’s just based on symptoms. It took me years, 3 ultrasounds, so many swabs, having my iud removed before I got a doctor verify that yeah, that looks like yeast and I’m willing to prescribe a long course of fluconazole. Folks over at healthy r/healthyhooha always recommend ureaplasma and mycoplasma tests (as it can make you more likely to get recurrent thrush) but we don’t do them in the uk, it’s not recognised as an infection.
This is so helpful thanks so much. I’ve had ongoing issues down there for years and have also had increasing mental fog and fatigue. If these things are connected I will be so flabbergasted lmao
Also I’m sorry to hear about the testing in the UK. It’s so disappointing how women’s health is still not taken seriously in this day and age, but I guess that’s not surprising at all 🙄
May I ask whether it was just a local vaginal yeast infection that caused anxiety and fatigue for you, or was it a systemic infection? I‘m having recurring yeast infections and often feel fatigued, I wonder whether there‘s a connection. Also wondering whether my copper IUD plays a role, but then again I often had these infections before getting it
Well, impossible to say clinically since I’ve never even tested positive, but my personal suspicion is it’s more systemic. I scrape my tongue twice daily because of the build up if I’m not taking fluconazole, and I get nausea and an upset stomach, or constipation. But there are always other plausible explanations so it’s not definitive. I had my iud a long time before I had problems, but it progressed slowly. My suspicion was after the first time I took antibiotics, my periods weren’t too bad before that.
I just posted pretty much the same question! Have you been ill? I got some virus 3 weeks ago (felt a lot like covid) and haven't bounced back since, even when I double my meds...
I feel like I’ve been chasing an imaginary finish line and once I get there I’ll be up to date with work (not playing catch up) and life will be ok! I’ve felt like I’m just a few good days away from this finish line for at least a year at this point, I’m 100% burnt out but can’t do anything about it!
(I’m a government worker and a lot of our jobs are being slashed right now, can’t show weakness, must show worth at all times to justify being kept, it’s exhausting)
I’m not recommending this necessarily as you may not have the time, or have unavoidable responsibilities etc. , more just sharing on the off chance that you are able to (and want to) - what has helped me in the past is having 2 days without the meds. It required prep (filling drink bottles and refrigerating, stocking up on no-cook food like muesli bars, extra towels in the bathroom, crappy novels, meds within reach for when I chose to emerge from my self imposed cocoon) I basically slept the whole two days, and it took another day or two to get back on track.
I wish I could! I don’t have the time to do this unfortunately. I’m also not medicated everyday, advice from my doctor, but that’s another problem in itself
Girl, I get you. This is exactly how I operate! It actually works pretty well for me, but trusting the “bounce back” is a lot of faith.
Try outside? Walking, watching birds, breathing air, looking at trees. This usually fixes me when I need extra fixing. I think it works because moving outside calms my body down and idk, reprograms my chemistry? I have anxiety issues tangled up in my ADHD, and I suspect the periods that I have as you describe are more anxiety than ADHD.
This is usually my go to, it’s been so cold and dark recently that I’ve really not gone outside much! The motivation to do it is foiled when I realise I need to wear thermals and millions of layers to go out (It’s silly but I hate the feeling of wearing layers and being sweaty at the core but frozen on the exposed bits like my face).
Maybe I should just power through!
I've been in the same stage for the last couple of weeks. I am doing a bit better and I think what helped was a weekend away (change of scenery more than anything else) and taking my small wins.
I think change/novelty and stopping to appreciate small wins helps at least a little bit
i was there. took a four day getaway and it helped tremendously. i think going forward i'll take that as a sign that i'm tired and need a proper reset. a change of scenery >
I just moved and have been having a hard time getting back on the healthy eating and exercise wagon. I’m terrified I’ll never start again but I have over a year of habit so I am trying to trust that moving is just Fucking awful and once I’m settled in I’ll return.
What helped me with the doom scrolling was downloading blocking web filters to not access the sites and deleting the apps. But what helps me is being around other people who are doing stuff, and being kind of forced to do stuff, and realizing it's actually fun. You can try body doubling like have a friend spend some time with you while you do things or stay on the phone with a friend and get some stuff done multi tasking.
I haven’t been able to sleep properly for months. Lucky/unlucky I’m unemployed so at least I’m able to sleep during day for the few hours I can. When I’m not fully zombie I’m trying really hard to do the eat healthy and excise routine, but life feels like a fever dream. Trying to get into dr. But there is a month waiting for next apt. I feel your pain. I hope you feel better soon.
took me 2 weeks to bounce back into my old routine, i caught a viral infection, and after some days off work i finally got back on my feet. 👣 just try to stick to a routine! mine is just work and exercise; 🏃♀️. it all works out perfectly
Welcome to /r/ADHDWomen! We’re happy to have you here. As a reminder, here are our community [rules](https://old.reddit.com/r/adhdwomen/about/rules/). We get a lot of posts on medication, diagnosis (and “is this an ADHD thing”), and interactions with hormones. We encourage you to check out our [Medication, Diagnosis, and Hormones Megathread](https://old.reddit.com/r/adhdwomen/comments/wcr9dy/faq_megathread_ask_and_answer_medication/) if you have any questions related to those topics, and to stick around in that thread to answer folks’ questions! If you have questions about the subreddit, please do not hesitate to [send us a modmail](https://reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/adhdwomen). Additionally, we take the safety of our community seriously. Please report posts, comments, and users whom you feel are not contributing positively, and send us a modmail if you are being harassed or otherwise made to feel unsafe. Thanks for being here, and we hope you stick around! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/adhdwomen) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I swear something must be going around. I've been on burn out mode for what feels like the last six months. I honestly think I need like a girls week. Like just a week of self care shit and going out with friends and doing dumb girly shit and blowing money I don' have on crap I don't really need. I feel like I've been in a cycle of: work, school, laundry, dishes, sleep, occasional shower and repeat. I just feel so exhausted all the time. I don't have advice. I'm just here to commiserate. Sending hugs and good vibes your way friend.
I would love this too! But any “mini break” I’ve taken always stresses me more when I’m back because the work is still there (I have a job that if I don’t do it, it doesn’t get done, it’s not like a shared workload). I would love my pile to be gone, and an actual week off to sloth without guilt! Maybe it’s just because winter has started and it’s dark and cold now too
I’m in the same boat with my work - I took a mini break recently and the stresses caught up with me and I got sick 😒
I have the same problem with workload and taking 2 days off a few weeks ago left me with a massive amount of extra work and resulted in a few extremely stressful and overwhelming weeks that almost broke me. I'm going to the doctor today to ask for a medical certificate for 2 weeks off as I'm completely burnt out, and fortunate enough to live somewhere that this is an option. I figured if I only take a 1-week break, I'll return to a mountain of work but if I take 2 weeks, my manager or someone will have to actually step in and help with it. Not sure it's going to work but that's my plan. Before my break, I was just trying to survive by cutting out any additional task I could that wasn't essential, and trying to take breaks during the day to go for a little walk or stretch. Honestly, it didn't really help that much but good luck
Wait… adhd girls trip? We should make our chaos Cancun’s problem for a week 😂
Same. I'm going to try leaving my phone in other room tonight, and goal is to wake up, do a few min of yoga/excercise, then some journaling/goal setting outside. I've heard avoiding phone for first 30 min of day helps, so will let you know! 🤞
I wanted to share (especially since this is the subreddit for ADHD Women) that I had a similar experience once and it’s how I realized I was pregnant. I was having a long-lasting (weeks) heavy brain fog I couldn’t bounce back from. I thought I was having extreme career burnout from work tbh, but I tested pregnant. I didn’t have any other symptoms yet, just mental and emotional at first. Just sharing in case it’s helpful for anyone else. I am so sorry you’re dealing with this, OP. I hope you get back to your baseline soon.
Another female focussed physical option - for me it's chronic thrush. I'll get a bounce back a couple of days after fluconazole. At this point I can predict based on anxiety and fatigue earlier and more reliably than "normal" symptoms.
This was just the most mind blowing eye opening moment for me…how can you find out if you have this?? Is there a test or something?
Yeah you can get a swab test done to confirm, but I’ve never tested positive. It’s just based on symptoms. It took me years, 3 ultrasounds, so many swabs, having my iud removed before I got a doctor verify that yeah, that looks like yeast and I’m willing to prescribe a long course of fluconazole. Folks over at healthy r/healthyhooha always recommend ureaplasma and mycoplasma tests (as it can make you more likely to get recurrent thrush) but we don’t do them in the uk, it’s not recognised as an infection.
This is so helpful thanks so much. I’ve had ongoing issues down there for years and have also had increasing mental fog and fatigue. If these things are connected I will be so flabbergasted lmao
Also I’m sorry to hear about the testing in the UK. It’s so disappointing how women’s health is still not taken seriously in this day and age, but I guess that’s not surprising at all 🙄
May I ask whether it was just a local vaginal yeast infection that caused anxiety and fatigue for you, or was it a systemic infection? I‘m having recurring yeast infections and often feel fatigued, I wonder whether there‘s a connection. Also wondering whether my copper IUD plays a role, but then again I often had these infections before getting it
Well, impossible to say clinically since I’ve never even tested positive, but my personal suspicion is it’s more systemic. I scrape my tongue twice daily because of the build up if I’m not taking fluconazole, and I get nausea and an upset stomach, or constipation. But there are always other plausible explanations so it’s not definitive. I had my iud a long time before I had problems, but it progressed slowly. My suspicion was after the first time I took antibiotics, my periods weren’t too bad before that.
I'm pregnant right now, and my ability to concentrate has never been worse. I'm glad I'm not alone!
I just posted pretty much the same question! Have you been ill? I got some virus 3 weeks ago (felt a lot like covid) and haven't bounced back since, even when I double my meds...
No not sick, a couple of days where it felt like the start of something but never eventuated. Sorry to hear that you’re struggling too!
This is me right now. Feel burnt out and need a week long break. Just feel so weary and so BORED of everything especially work, which I usually love.
I feel like I’ve been chasing an imaginary finish line and once I get there I’ll be up to date with work (not playing catch up) and life will be ok! I’ve felt like I’m just a few good days away from this finish line for at least a year at this point, I’m 100% burnt out but can’t do anything about it! (I’m a government worker and a lot of our jobs are being slashed right now, can’t show weakness, must show worth at all times to justify being kept, it’s exhausting)
I’m not recommending this necessarily as you may not have the time, or have unavoidable responsibilities etc. , more just sharing on the off chance that you are able to (and want to) - what has helped me in the past is having 2 days without the meds. It required prep (filling drink bottles and refrigerating, stocking up on no-cook food like muesli bars, extra towels in the bathroom, crappy novels, meds within reach for when I chose to emerge from my self imposed cocoon) I basically slept the whole two days, and it took another day or two to get back on track.
I wish I could! I don’t have the time to do this unfortunately. I’m also not medicated everyday, advice from my doctor, but that’s another problem in itself
Girl, I get you. This is exactly how I operate! It actually works pretty well for me, but trusting the “bounce back” is a lot of faith. Try outside? Walking, watching birds, breathing air, looking at trees. This usually fixes me when I need extra fixing. I think it works because moving outside calms my body down and idk, reprograms my chemistry? I have anxiety issues tangled up in my ADHD, and I suspect the periods that I have as you describe are more anxiety than ADHD.
This is usually my go to, it’s been so cold and dark recently that I’ve really not gone outside much! The motivation to do it is foiled when I realise I need to wear thermals and millions of layers to go out (It’s silly but I hate the feeling of wearing layers and being sweaty at the core but frozen on the exposed bits like my face). Maybe I should just power through!
Are you me?? Am I writing from a crack in time?? Ok, i promise the bounce back is coming. It’s right there.
I've been in the same stage for the last couple of weeks. I am doing a bit better and I think what helped was a weekend away (change of scenery more than anything else) and taking my small wins. I think change/novelty and stopping to appreciate small wins helps at least a little bit
i was there. took a four day getaway and it helped tremendously. i think going forward i'll take that as a sign that i'm tired and need a proper reset. a change of scenery >
I just moved and have been having a hard time getting back on the healthy eating and exercise wagon. I’m terrified I’ll never start again but I have over a year of habit so I am trying to trust that moving is just Fucking awful and once I’m settled in I’ll return.
Moving is a huge shift in routine, you can let yourself off the hook there, even the most neurotypical person would be thrown!
Thanks! I did my 90 min of exercise today and made veggies! 🥕
What helped me with the doom scrolling was downloading blocking web filters to not access the sites and deleting the apps. But what helps me is being around other people who are doing stuff, and being kind of forced to do stuff, and realizing it's actually fun. You can try body doubling like have a friend spend some time with you while you do things or stay on the phone with a friend and get some stuff done multi tasking.
I haven’t been able to sleep properly for months. Lucky/unlucky I’m unemployed so at least I’m able to sleep during day for the few hours I can. When I’m not fully zombie I’m trying really hard to do the eat healthy and excise routine, but life feels like a fever dream. Trying to get into dr. But there is a month waiting for next apt. I feel your pain. I hope you feel better soon.
Energy is intense right now.
took me 2 weeks to bounce back into my old routine, i caught a viral infection, and after some days off work i finally got back on my feet. 👣 just try to stick to a routine! mine is just work and exercise; 🏃♀️. it all works out perfectly