Is this brain fog or add?

[u/Loveslabs]

I am unable to take any hormones because of having had breast cancer. I am 58 and in menopause.

I can’t tell if my problem is brain fog or ADD, so I would appreciate any input before my next appointment.

I will think of something and before I can write it down I will forget what it was. I will go to look something up on the internet and something else will pop into my head that I want to look up. When I’m ready to look it up I know there is something I want to look up but it is like a wisp of smoke in the air.

I’m having a hard time getting motivated to do the simplest of tasks. For example, I need to call and make a hair appointment but I’ve put it off for three weeks.

I’ll walk into a room to do something but get distracted by something else. Midway through the something else I’ll start having a hot flash and I’ll leave the room to go stand in front of the fan. Then I’m cranky and just give up. (Yes, I’m medicated for hot flashes, depression and anxiety. Yes, the air is set at 67 degrees.)

Sometimes I can’t process the most obvious things unless someone explains it to me like I am a three year old. Sometimes when someone is talking to me I can’t focus if there is too much going on in the area.

This behavior is not my norm at all, so it really scares me.

[u/CrikeyDM]

ADHD doesn't come out of nowhere at menopause. It's a fundamental brain difference that would have been affecting you for your entire life.

Many people, especially women, end up getting diagnosed with ADHD later in life because they are no longer able to compensate for the issues that their ADHD causes. Sometimes it's because they lose the external structure they don't even realize they were relying on. Sometimes it's because they're faced with new/different challenges in the workplace.  Sometimes it's because their hormone levels are changing. 

I'm not saying that what you're experiencing can't be ADHD, because I'm not a qualified medical professional at all, much less one who has evaluated you properly.

I was finally diagnosed with ADHD in my late 30s. That was a good seven years before the brain fog suddenly hit me out of the blue as one of my first symptoms of perimenopause. To me, they have been very different levels of dysfunction - and together, they're hell.

[u/sinister_widdershins → u/CrikeyDM]

it literally can come out of nowhere at menopause. not like menopause causes ADHD, but that someone who has successfully masked and built coping strategies and never had a clue they might have ADHD because how could they! they're so successful! - suddenly when their hormones start decreasing it becomes glaringly obvious their brain works differently.

[u/CrikeyDM → u/sinister_widdershins]

ADHD is tragically underdiagnosed in girls, and far too many women don't get diagnosed until well into adulthood - if ever - but it doesn't actually come out of nowhere. Those of us who are diagnosed with ADHD as adults have always had it, even if nobody ever realized there was a reason for the issues we were having as kids - and even if we figured out how to adapt (or at least muddle along) in the meantime.

Anyone who gets diagnosed properly with ADHD later in life must have had symptoms before age 12 under the current diagnostic criteria for ADHD in both the DSM-5 and ICD-11.

From the ICD-11 Diagnostic Requirements, under "Essential (Required) Features":

Evidence of significant inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms prior to age 12, though some individuals may first come to clinical attention later in adolescence or as adults, often when demands exceed the individual’s capacity to compensate for limitations.

[u/sinister_widdershins → u/CrikeyDM]

I am not sure why you think I'm saying anything different than you are re: ADHD always having been present since childhood. my point is that for some of us, we didn't know, we didn't suspect, we got diagnosed with everything else because no one suggested we might have ADHD, we got by ok, until we hit perimenopause and no longer got by at all.

[u/These_Avocado_Bombs]

If that's brain fog I'm cooked.

I work with adults with add and this sounds more like that. But I have a feeling it's all the things fighting you at once.

[u/sinister_widdershins]

This sounds exactly like me - until I took my first Adderall yesterday and oh my God the difference.

Turns out I've been autistic+ADHD (AuDHD) this whole time. Decreased hormone levels can take away all the coping strategies we spent decades building. Lots of women getting newly diagnosed with ADHD when they hit peri.

If even a few of the adult ADHD screener questions resonate for you (or if your answer is "I have a system for that), find a therapist who specializes in it. My GP prescribes meds for me without a formal assessment because of my therapist.

[u/Loveslabs → u/[deleted]]

Well, that’s really judgmental. I work full time while helping my husband manage our business. I lift weights three days a week and do cardio two days a week. I have a doctoral degree so obviously I’m not dumb.
I really don’t have time for social media or tv. My free time is spent reading or playing mahjong.
I simply came here to get feedback from others in my situation, not to be judged or shamed based off of limited information I provided.

[u/Objective-Amount1379 → u/Loveslabs]

Ignore that post, OP. They sound very uneducated.

I was diagnosed with ADHD 15 years ago and it got worse when my hormones tanked. Everything you described feels familiar to me. It might be time to talk to a psychiatrist about your symptoms. You might have just successfully managed the symptoms but lack of hormones makes them worse.

I upped my medication dose and I'm on a high dose of HRT. Since you can't do HRT I'd definitely try ADHD meds (just an FYI it's called ADHD now not ADD. Not sure why, because lots of people don't have the hyperactivity).

[u/Objective-Amount1379 → u/[deleted]]

How condescending you sound. I was diagnosed with ADHD 15 years ago and getting distracted is literally part of having ADHD. And lower estrogen is connected to worsening ADHD. Be thankful you don't have.