Photography by Sarah Wisniewska
Tracking the invisible intersection of ADHD and PMDD
She had no Clue. Until she did.
As an adult with ADHD, Faye spent years building systems to help her stay focused, organized, and on top of daily life. Then, after coming off the birth control pill, she noticed these systems suddenly stopped working for her. Each month, in the days before her period, her mood would crash, and her energy would drop.
By tracking her symptoms with Clue, she began to notice a pattern. Over time, she gathered evidence that what she was experiencing wasn't random—and it wasn't all in her head. Having this evidence helped her when talking to healthcare providers and eventually led to a diagnosis of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)—a severe cyclical condition that research suggests is more common among people with ADHD (1).
We spoke to Faye about her journey to getting a PMDD diagnosis, the connection between PMDD and ADHD, and how tracking helped her advocate for the care she needed.
Noticing the pattern
When she first experienced these symptoms, Faye turned to healthcare providers for answers, but was instead met with dismissal. She was told that her body was simply "readjusting" to life off the pill, a process they said could take anywhere from three months to a year and a half.
But things didn’t improve, and after 6–8 months, not only was her mood affected, but so were her endurance, fitness, and appetite.
Rather than relying on memory alone, Faye started tracking her symptoms in the Clue app. This is when she began noticing that they weren't random. They followed a clear pattern.
She could see that her mood changes consistently happened during her luteal phase—the time between ovulation and her period—and always eased once her period started.
"It's thanks to tracking my cycle that I was able to identify this quite quickly," she says.
For Faye, seeing the pattern laid out over time was really validating, as she explains, "When you feel good again, you really just sort of move on because you're happy that you feel better. You kind of forget what the symptoms were, what you went through, and for how long."
But seeing everything clearly in the app gave her a record she could return to, even after the difficult days had passed.
That clarity was important because, before recognizing the pattern, the changes in how she felt each month could be deeply confusing: "At some point, you can actually start to feel like you're losing your mind a little bit when your mood fluctuates quite dramatically from one week to the next."
What is PMDD?
PMDD is a severe premenstrual disorder that affects about 4 in 100 women and people with cycles (2). Symptoms typically occur during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and improve shortly after a period begins.
People with PMDD may experience emotional and cognitive symptoms such as (3):
A very depressed mood
Loss of interest in activities they usually enjoy
Persistent anger or irritability
Marked anxiety or tension
Difficulty sleeping or sleeping more than usual
Significant changes in appetite
Difficulty concentrating
Feeling overwhelmed or out of control
Some people may also experience physical symptoms, including (3):
Muscle or joint pain
Headaches
Weight gain
Getting a PMDD diagnosis
When she found a doctor who listened, the doctor reviewed her symptoms and tracking history and agreed that PMDD was likely.
Looking back, Faye considers herself fortunate. "I was really, really lucky that I got diagnosed very quickly because some people don't," she says. "Many people wait 12-20 years for a PMDD diagnosis (4,5)," she points out, but she was able to identify what was happening relatively early.
She believes tracking played a key role in this: "Clue definitely helped me speed up the entire process of getting my diagnosis."
The link between ADHD and PMDD
Receiving this diagnosis also helped explain why Faye’s ADHD felt so much harder to manage at certain points in her cycle.
"My whole life has been about trying to keep up," she explains. "And this is what women with ADHD often do—they mask for their entire lives. I had my coping mechanisms in place to handle my ADHD, but something like PMDD completely knocks you off."
Hormone changes throughout the menstrual cycle can affect concentration, mood, and energy levels, which may make ADHD symptoms feel more intense at certain times of the month.
"As neurodivergent people, we tend to feel things more deeply. The layering of those two conditions (PMDD and ADHD) is incredibly important because it forces you to look at how your system operates from the brain to your hormones and your gut."
Historically, ADHD has also been under-recognized in women and people assigned female at birth, partly because current diagnostic guidelines were developed largely based on how symptoms present in boys and men (6).
For people living with both ADHD and PMDD, understanding how they interact can be an important step toward getting appropriate support.
Why tracking matters for a PMDD diagnosis
Tracking is especially important when it comes to PMDD because there is currently no blood test, scan, or single medical test that can diagnose the condition. Instead, healthcare providers rely on symptom tracking over time to determine whether symptoms consistently appear during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and improve once menstruation begins.
As Faye experienced firsthand, healthcare workers who suspect PMDD will often ask people to track their symptoms for several months before making a diagnosis.
"There's often been times that I've gone to the doctor, and the first thing they've asked me to do is go away and track for three months and then come back," she says. "But instead, I could open the Clue app and show them that I have been tracking and already had the information they needed."
For Faye, tracking twice a day helps her capture symptoms that can change rapidly throughout the day.
"I track with Clue twice a day because not only do I need multiple reminders to get things done, but I also like to look at how I am in the morning versus in the evening because things can change quite rapidly. I can wake up in the morning and be totally fine. Then something happens throughout the day, and you realise that perhaps other symptoms have appeared."
Having years of tracking history readily available also meant she didn't need to start from scratch each time she spoke with a new healthcare provider. Instead, she could show a clear record of her symptoms and how they changed throughout her cycle.
Learning to be gentler with herself
Tracking hasn't made Faye’s PMDD disappear, but it has helped her understand what is happening.
"Tracking my cycle and seeing that pattern quickly really supported me in understanding what was going on, what to expect, and when to expect it."
That has also changed the way she speaks to herself.
"It has helped me be a little bit more forgiving and a bit more gentle towards myself."
For Faye, the biggest change wasn't simply receiving a diagnosis. It was understanding that the difficult weeks each month weren't a personal failure. They were part of a larger pattern. And once she could see that pattern, she could stop blaming herself for it.
"So you can live with your head in the clouds and ignore these symptoms," she says, "or you can actually understand how your body is working, be prepared for them, and be softer on yourself in those times as well."
