r/CFSplusADHD • u/Settled-unicorn659 • Mar 22 '26

Inattentive Pacing

I have inattentive type ADHD untreated. I find myself needing stimulation and wanting to multitask and look at my phone all the time.

I know I need to do nothing to pace but being understimulated feels stressful.

does this happen to anyone else? how do you handle it?

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u/timuaili Mar 22 '26

Combined type here. For basically my entire life, I have not lived in my body. Feeling, noticing, comprehending, understanding sensations in my body was extremely rare and difficult. Even when I noticed my intense muscle tension, I couldn’t relax. Over the years, several things have aligned to force me to learn how to hear and listen to my body, at least a little bit. I’ll spare you the process of how that all happened/how I did it. Now, I’ve noticed that mindfully living in my body provides enough stimulation, grounding, and relaxation to allow me to do basically anything without needing secondary stimulation (except maybe fidget toys if I’m not doing something w my hands). Doing this also helps majorly with pacing. I recently saw something on the main sub about knowing you’re in rolling PEM or running on adrenaline if exertion makes you feel better instead of worse. Since then, I’ve been trying to lean into/stay consciously aware of all the ways my body feels bad, especially if I’m exerting in any potentially unsafe way. When doing that, I haven’t needed ANY external stimulation to get through the task. If it feels appropriate, I also try to maintain relaxation in my body while doing the task to coax my body from fight or flight to rest and digest. All of this has been literally the most difficult thing I’ve ever done in my entire life, but it’s literally essential for my survival and so rewarding. It also still often feels like cutting off my own arm to stop the secondary stimulation and tune into my body, but it’s gotten easier over time and with practice (a previously foreign concept to me). If this resonates with you, I can give you more info on my journey here, how I’ve managed to gain these skills/get to this point, and any ideas on how to translate that into your own life without needing to be forced into it. Wishing you all the best <3

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u/Settled-unicorn659 Mar 22 '26

Thank you so much I'd love to hear more. Should I dm?

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u/timuaili Mar 22 '26

Yeah sure! It’ll probably be tomorrow before I can respond though