You get diagnosed. You start meds. And for the first time in your life, you can actually hear your own thoughts.
But then what?
In this episode, Jane is joined by Jayde Couldewell from Beyond the Bump to unpack what happens after the initial rush of clarity wears off — when the meds are working, but the life you’ve built around burnout, anxiety, and chaos hasn’t caught up yet.
The ‘Aha’ Moment That Isn’t a Fix
Jayde describes the emotional gut-punch of taking her first ADHD medication — and realising that what most people experience as a normal day is lightyears away from the scattered, noisy mental environment she’s been surviving in her whole life. It’s an incredibly validating moment… and also a confronting one.
Because clarity doesn’t automatically build a life.
And as Jayde found, medication gave her the capacity to start making changes. But the real work was in all the parts that came after.
Meds Are a Door, Not a Destination
The episode explores this critical truth: ADHD medication is one of the most effective tools we have — but it’s just that. A tool.
Jayde’s story doesn’t end with a diagnosis or a script. It’s about what happens when you suddenly can focus… and are left sitting in the reality you’ve been numbing, powering through, or frantically outrunning.
It’s a reminder so many late-diagnosed women need: medication doesn’t build boundaries. It doesn’t resolve trauma. It doesn’t rewire nervous systems stuck in years of bracing.
That part is on us — and it’s slow. And it’s human. And it’s hard.
ADHD, Anxiety, and the Layers Beneath
Both Jane and Jayde reflect on how ADHD often masks — and is masked by — other conditions: trauma, anxiety, social fears, even misdiagnoses like bipolar II.
This episode validates the messy overlap of symptoms, the fear of looking “weak” for needing multiple medications, and the emotional grief of wondering what life could’ve been like with earlier support.
The takeaway? It’s not failure to need both ADHD meds and an antidepressant. It’s not failure to take your time. It’s not failure to hit pause before diving into a 5am lifestyle transformation.
Your nervous system isn’t broken — it’s overworked. And there’s no rush to prove you’re suddenly “better.”
Jayde’s Real-Life Changes (and What Helped)
What made a difference for Jayde wasn’t hustle. It was permission.
Permission to stretch for 10 minutes and call it enough. Permission to stop drinking when it started numbing instead of soothing. Permission to say no, rest, and break her lifelong people-pleasing streak.
She built consistency through things that felt good — not punishing routines. And with the right meds, the brain space finally opened up to let those changes stick.
It’s not a ‘miracle cure’. But it’s a shift. One that’s only possible when you stop trying to fix yourself and start working with yourself.
For the Mums Who Are Still Drowning
If you’re still in the part where everything feels too much — or if you’ve started meds and thought, “Wait, why isn’t this fixing my life?” — this episode is for you.
You’re not lazy. You’re not failing.
You’re just peeling back the layers of survival. And that process is slow and sacred and so worth protecting.
You don’t have to transform overnight. And you don’t have to do it alone.
Related Resources
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Let your community know: it’s okay to not be magically fixed. There’s power in slowing down, being kind to your past self, and building a life that feels safer — one breath, one boundary, one moment at a time.
