Hi! Unfortunately I got sick for Christmas and had to stay home; but as I was trying to rest, it almost felt like I physically could not keep up with my mind. It felt uncomfortable to think idly, and of course there wasn’t much I could do to help that. Not sure if I tried meditating, and if I did, I didn’t say “I’m gonna meditate now,” if you know what I mean.
I’ve tried looking it up and the results mostly talk about “brain fog,” and while that may have been a small part of it, I wouldn’t describe this experience as such.
Has anyone else had this experience? Like normal ADHD brain is exhausting and hurts while sick?
Get out your thoughts in a list or application so you can let yourself get it out and move on mentally
- task
- appointment
- event
- expense/purchase
- question
- idea
- link
- file
Ask yourself if its any of these and then input it where it is tracked and stored with a date to act or delete it upon
Give yourself permission to let it dissolve if you’ve filed it properly. This might take a bit of time when starting but once its established you just do your workflow for filing it and train yourself to let it go once you’ve had a few small wins validating the system
I don’t know if this is at all related, but I have found that I have to think of rest as being two different sorts: passive rest (i.e. sleeping, sunbathing, etc. typically “body” rest), and active rest (stuff that tends to use the mind, or are stimulating in some way). When I have been burnt out, I find it hard because I lack active rest, and it makes me super antsy. Sometimes I desperately need some passive rest (especially as I have some physical disabilities too), but my need for active rest can be so great that it feels torturous to engage in passive rest.
The worst is when I am too mentally burnt out for active rest, such as if I am ill, or if I hadn’t been having to spend all my mental energy on work tasks. I think, for me, brain fog is related but distinct. To use an analogy, brain fog is like the drain of a bath being blocked; lots of people can experience brain fog, it isn’t specifically an ADHD thing. The ADHD component here is like being unable to close the taps that are filling up the blocked bath. This means that ADHD + brain fog = the bath will inevitably overflow. This is what the agony feeling is to me. It’s not the brain fog per se, but the inevitable consequences of the brain fog.
Did you take your ADHD meds while you were ill?
I often get that if I take my ADHD meds when I’m sick; I’m either thinking of loads of different things and then eventually get motivated to attempt something with mixed results, or I don’t take my ADHD med and have a rest/relax day where I go I’m just gonna play a game, cosied up in bed or watch something and fall asleep
I’ve actually been off my meds for a minute. I haven’t had serious issues, but I definitely need to go refill…
