ADHD, Hormones, or Burnout? How Do You Know the Difference?
I was having a chat with one of my ADHD friends recently, and we got to talking about that pre-diagnosis confusion, when you know something’s off but you can’t quite name it.
She said, “I never used to know if it was burnout, hormones, or just… me. I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other started.”
And honestly? Same.
It got me thinking about how hard it is to separate those things, especially when your brain and body seem to run on completely different schedules.
So this week’s question is...
How do you know if it’s ADHD, hormones, or burnout?
The Peak of My Twirly
Friends, have you ever hit that very special sweet spot where you convince yourself you can completely restructure your life in the one-hour gap between calls?
Only to then be completely derailed by it, turn up late, and abandon everything else that day (because pulling yourself away feels like tearing your own arm off).
This may or may not result in either a 2 a.m. finish or, worse, no sleep becuase your decides to get you up at 2 a.m. instead.
Yeah. That’s what I call the peak of my twirly.
In ADHD-speak, it’s hyperfocus, the possibly medicated, possibly caffeine-fuelled rabbit hole you dive into with abandon, where your brain locks onto something and refuses to let go.
You. Must. Get. Everything. Done. …and then the crash hits.
For me, it’s often estrogen-fuelled chaos, that pre-ovulatory surge that magically turns motivation into a monster rollercoaster.
One minute, I’m conquering Notion(ish).
The next, everything goes blank as I’m left wondering who turned off my brain.
This is what ADHD can look like.
One moment, you’re an unstoppable productivity machine.
The next… pyjama-clad puddle on the sofa.
Buuuut when you start to see the patterns in your hormones, brain, and energy, it all begins to make sense.
Before the Diagnosis
Before I knew about my ADHD and autism, this completely blindsided me.
I used to push myself to the brink all the time, thinking it was just me not trying hard enough.
I remember back in my 9–5 days, getting an email with the subject line: Work Review Appointment.
My stomach dropped.
I hadn’t felt like myself for a long time, but not in a way I could explain.
Some days, I was sharp and switched on. Then out of nowhere, I’d crash, emotionally, mentally, and physically.
I could just about hold it together… until I couldn’t.
My manager was kind, but I didn’t have the words to explain what was going on, or why my apparently fluctuating moods had landed me in that sit-down in the first place.
Back then, I only had half the story.
When I discovered cycle mapping, the pattern finally fell into place. PMS was doing its best to sabotage me behind the scenes (although not so quietly, becuase my face talks out loud).
But there was still something missing.
Three years later, I was diagnosed with ADHD and autism, and everything clicked into place.
My brain already struggled with emotional regulation, but PMS turned that struggle into a full-on storm.
Now I know my AuDHD and hormones don’t always play nicely together, and the best part is, I can actually anticipate the spiral before it starts (most of the time).
Looking back, that meeting wasn’t really about my performance at all... it was the moment I realised how much energy I’d spent trying to hold everything together.
Masking, People-Pleasing, and Exhaustion
For a long time, I'd shrunk myself.
Every morning, I put the mask on and overcommitted to everything, using every ounce of energy I had to maintain the relentless effort to keep up.
I pushed, performed, and people-pleased my way to exhaustion.
I made myself palatable so that I could fit in and be pleasing to others, and all it cost me was my sense of self-worth.
Screw that.
Eventually, I reached the point where I couldn’t put the mask on anymore, and more than that, I didn’t want to.
There had to be an alternative.
It’s no coincidence this realisation arrived at the same time I learned that our energy shifts, that how and who we are one week is different to the next, and that’s completely normal.
Add to that the spicy mix of sensory overload and wonky executive function, all playing out in a world that wasn’t built for brains and bodies like ours, and you start to realise...
I just don’t fit the system.
You Are Not the Problem
And actually... you are not the problem.
You’re not lazy.
You’re not failing.
You’re just living in a body that runs on a rhythm no one ever taught you to honour.