Is It ADHD Or Is There More Here To Understand?

You lose the thread of conversations. Forget appointments. Struggle to start tasks or finish what you’re doing. Everyday life feels harder to manage.

You recognise yourself in a list of ADHD symptoms. Could this explain what you’ve been experiencing?

Perhaps.

But similar difficulties can have different, and sometimes overlapping, explanations.

Understanding the pattern matters more than recognising yourself in a symptom list.

ADHD is a developmental condition, with symptoms beginning in childhood, even when they are only recognised much later.

Other conditions can bring changes in attention, memory, energy, sleep and mental clarity that can feel remarkably similar.

Perimenopause can bring forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating and changes in mental clarity. Hormonal changes, disrupted sleep and mood symptoms can contribute. For some women with ADHD, this life stage can make existing difficulties harder to manage.

Long COVID can make it difficult to concentrate, retain information or think at your usual pace. Physiotherapist, Dione Knight,* describes becoming forgetful, losing track after interruptions and struggling to complete tasks following COVID, despite previously being highly organised.

POTS, a condition affecting the body’s regulation of circulation when upright, can also cause brain fog and fatigue. If you notice difficulties like a racing heart or dizziness that worsen when standing and ease when lying down, these are clues worth discussing with your doctor.

These conditions can coexist. You can have ADHD and POTS, or long COVID, or perimenopause. Or all of these. Or just one. Or maybe the explanation lies elsewhere.

Similar difficulties can have different, and sometimes overlapping, explanations.

With all of the possible overlap between symptoms, you don’t need to work out the diagnosis yourself.

You might tell your GP, psychologist or physiotherapist:

“I’ve always struggled with organisation and time management, but this exhaustion and difficulty thinking clearly are new,”

or

“I’m wondering about ADHD, but I’ve also noticed changes in my periods and sleep.”

If you already know you have ADHD, you deserve to have new symptoms investigated.

And if you’re exploring whether you have ADHD, your developmental history deserves consideration alongside your current health.

Better understanding the pattern helps us move from recognising a difficulty to understanding what support might help.

Keeping a record, whether in an app like a period tracker or on paper, can be invaluable (and doesn’t need to take a lot of time or energy).

When everyday things become harder, it’s easy to assume you’re failing to cope.

Getting curious about what has changed, and what you might need, can create a more useful and compassionate place to begin.

* Dione Knight is an Australian physiotherapist who helps people living with Long COVID, POTS and related conditions understand their symptoms and find practical ways to manage daily life.