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.

When you’re sick*, your entire body becomes inflamed, even your nervous system, and that fucks everything up. Further, if you are more sensitive and have sensory needs (almost certainly do), you’re being overwhelmed by unwanted sensations (body aches, heightened sense of smell, headaches, runny nose, coughs) and are unlikely to have the energy to stim to help regulate.

Best course is to try to minimize all the unwanted sensations and check out mentally until your immune system does its thing. AKA, get some rest.

I wouldn’t put much hope in current medical science with this question, they still have no idea what the heck COVID does, mechanically speaking, just that it fucks shit up in a way that may lead to respiratory failure. And that’s with all the money in the world. No one is doing deep dives into how someone that’s neurodivergent feels differently bad when they are sick. Heck, they don’t really deal with anyone’s symptoms while they are sick, it’s just basic painkillers and barely better than placebo cough syrup. The only mental vital they even take is pain, which ND people either answer very low to (resulting in being told to go away), or very high to (resulting in being told you are exaggerating, drug seeking, and to go away). Maybe if they could measure the level of stimulation and figure out a safe baseline, and at what point we start becoming traumatically overstimulated, then medicated for that, I’d have a bit more faith in the system. Since they can’t even measure pain, maybe at least ask us how stimulated we feel instead of our pain levels. Anything over a 7 should be treated with something that helps us cool off. But what the fuck do I know.

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’m going to recommend, in addition to meditation, that you look into IFS Therapy. You can see an actual therapist about it, but you can also just read a book on the subject and do it yourself unless you have really deep trauma or addictions to deal with. The guy who invented it has several books, but I recommend Self Therapy by Jay Earley as it is based around working on your own and is basically like meditation with the purpose of resolving your inner issues. My ADHD brain has improved a ton since I started doing it. Feel free to message me if you have any questions. This is my current Hyperfocus, so I’m already way down the rabbit hole on research. 😁

Did you have a fever? Could be a bit of delirium.

Sounds to me like you’re usually distracted and now have time to be alone with your thoughts for a while with nothing else to do. Might be more impactful for you, but that’s why many people keep busy and dislike downtime.