r/adhdwomen•
gtabs111

anyone else so tired all the time?

General Question/Discussion

I (32/f) am so tired. And I struggle to understand why I could be this tired. is it because I had a burnout about a year ago, followed by an ADHD (inattentive type) diagnosis, followed by 3 months of in-patient therapy, followed by a lot of realizations about my former high-masking life, always trying to people-please, trying to function in a neurotypical way, resulting in multiple burnouts in the last 5 years? is it because I stopped performing and finally acknowledged my limits and lost my ability to push through them? is it because I am lazy? is it because I am not busy enough? if I'd let myself, I could just lie on the sofa all day, just following my day dreaming, dozing off, listening to podcasts half awake.
Is this concerning and I need to get examined for a sleep disorder? chronic fatigue? long covid? (I had Covid last September, and I have had a circulation issue since) is it because I get frequent migraines? Is it because I don't do enough and I should just force myself to move more and with time it will get better? I can't really bring myself to exercise more than once a week because I need a lot of rest and exercise makes me tired as well and makes it impossible to do anything active the rest of the day..

When I ask my therapist, she says it could be long covid, it could be from the burn out, it could be from my mind being so busy, from being constantly overstimulated... my doctor wants me to get checked by a chronic fatigue specialist... my psychiatrist wants me to take sleeping pills to improve my sleep quality (I don't want to interfere with my sleep too much, so I opted for something herbal and it helps a bit). I am really unsure and I would love to hear from you if sleepiness is an issue for anyone else with inattentive type ADHD.

I notice that I tend to get nervous about my abilities to do things because I fear I'll get extremely tired and have an energy crash while being far from home. but usually when I am somewhere and have fun, I forget about the tiredness. so is it just a mental thing? when I am done with a thing that made fun, I usually crash after and am super tired. but at least I had fun. but usually I pay for it the next day with some extra tiredness. it's really limiting my ability to make plans and do energy tasking things. and it's hard for me to accept that that's the way I am now? I still see myself as someone with energy and delight for movement and silliness and I just feel dulled and limited. maybe that's also just my age?

but maybe it's just a thing for someone with the inattentive type of ADHD? because our brains to all the hyperactive thinking and I used to be able to mask it away and now I am fully aware and can feel how a normal day just sucks the energy out of me?

Posted Oct 6, 2025, 7:07 PM UTC

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