Chronic Illness Moms | Feel Better, Stress Relief, Fatigue, Inflammation, Brain Fog, Healthy Habits, Neurodivergent

235. Wondering Why You Can’t Feel Better? The Unnamed Grief Behind Chronic Exhaustion for Special Needs Moms

Hey friend, 
Have you ever felt a wave of sadness or loss about your parenting experience that you couldn't explain — and then immediately felt guilty for feeling it?
Do you love your kid completely and still sometimes grieve the summer, the milestones, or the parenting experience you thought you'd have?
Has scrolling through other families' photos ever left you with a feeling you couldn't quite name?
I'm Ashley — a mom living with chronic illness in a neurodivergent family. If you're dealing with constant fatigue, brain fog, inflammation, and broken sleep while trying to keep up with your kids, you're not alone. Chronic Illness Moms is a podcast for moms with chronic illness or chronic symptoms who want stress relief, better sleep, and simple, realistic habits that actually work inside a full, demanding life.
In this episode, I'm naming the grief that doesn't get a funeral — the loss of the parenting experience you imagined before any diagnosis was part of the picture. This is the heaviest episode of June and one I think a lot of us have been waiting for someone to say out loud. Grief and gratitude can exist at the same time, and this episode gives you permission to feel both.
 
Part 3: Resources and Links Mentioned
1:1 chronic health coaching: https://ashleybraden.com/coaching
Join the free Chronic Health Moms Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronichealthmoms
Hearthwell Naturals magnesium cream (mentioned for bedtime wind-down): https://payhip.com/hearthwellnaturals
 
Related Episodes:
222. Survival Mode Was Never Meant to Be Permanent: The Truth About Chronic Stress and Burnout No One Tells Exhausted Moms
219. Feeling Overwhelmed by Your Child's Emotions? This is Why
 
Connect with Me:
Contact → hello@ashleybraden.com
Facebook Page → https://www.facebook.com/chronicillnessmoms
Facebook Group → https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronichealthmoms
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/chronicillnessmoms
YouTube → https://bit.ly/chronicillnessyoutube

234. What Your Neurodivergent Kid's Nervous System Is Already Learning From Yours (And How to Make It Work For Them)

Hey friend, 
Do you wonder if how you handle stress is affecting your kids — even when you try to hide it from them?
Have you ever tried to help your neurodivergent kid calm down while your own nervous system was completely frazzled?
What if the most powerful thing you could do for your kid's stress this summer cost nothing and didn't require adding anything to your day?
I'm Ashley — a mom living with chronic illness in a neurodivergent family. If you're dealing with constant fatigue, brain fog, inflammation, and broken sleep while trying to keep up with your kids, you're not alone. Chronic Illness Moms is a podcast for moms with chronic illness or chronic symptoms who want stress relief, better sleep, and simple, realistic habits that actually work inside a full, demanding life.
In this episode, I'm sharing why your kids don't need a stress management curriculum — they need to watch you use your tools out loud. Two simple things you can start today that model regulation for your kids without adding anything to your already full plate, and why summer's constant proximity is actually an unexpected advantage for this kind of learning.
Part 3: Resources and Links Mentioned
1:1 chronic health coaching: https://ashleybraden.com/coaching
Join the free Chronic Health Moms Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronichealthmoms
Hearthwell Naturals magnesium cream (mentioned for bedtime wind-down): https://payhip.com/hearthwellnaturals
 
Related Episodes:
224. Why Stress Relief for Exhausted Moms Isn't More Fun — It's This
222. Survival Mode Was Never Meant to Be Permanent: The Truth About Chronic Stress and Burnout No One Tells Exhausted Moms
 
Connect with Me:
Contact → hello@ashleybraden.com
Facebook Page → https://www.facebook.com/chronicillnessmoms
Facebook Group → https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronichealthmoms
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/chronicillnessmoms
YouTube → https://bit.ly/chronicillnessyoutube
 

233. Can't Get Your Neurodivergent Kid to Sleep? Why the Problem Might Start With You (And the Tiny Fix That Helps Both of You)

Hey friend, 
Are you and your kids both sleeping worse in summer, even when nothing big has changed?
Have you tried all the sleep advice and still wake up exhausted — or still spend an hour trying to get your ND kid to wind down?
Does your neurodivergent kid's bedtime routine feel like it takes everything you have left at the end of the day?
I'm Ashley — a mom living with chronic illness in a neurodivergent family. If you're dealing with constant fatigue, brain fog, inflammation, and broken sleep while trying to keep up with your kids, you're not alone. Chronic Illness Moms is a podcast for moms with chronic illness or chronic symptoms who want stress relief, better sleep, and simple, realistic habits that actually work inside a full, demanding life.
In this episode, I'm sharing the 1% sleep fix — one tiny adjustment for you and one for your ND kid — that is actually realistic in summer when a full overhaul isn't possible. We talk about what summer does to your sleep patterns, why your kid's nervous system affects yours at bedtime through co-regulation, and why one small consistent change beats a perfect routine every time.
 
Part 3: Resources and Links Mentioned
1:1 chronic health coaching: https://ashleybraden.com/coaching
Join the free Chronic Health Moms Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronichealthmoms
Hearthwell Naturals magnesium cream (mentioned for bedtime wind-down): https://payhip.com/hearthwellnaturals
 
Related Episodes:
224. Why Stress Relief for Exhausted Moms Isn't More Fun — It's This
222. Survival Mode Was Never Meant to Be Permanent: The Truth About Chronic Stress and Burnout No One Tells Exhausted Moms
 
Connect with Me:
Contact → hello@ashleybraden.com
Facebook Page → https://www.facebook.com/chronicillnessmoms
Facebook Group → https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronichealthmoms
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/chronicillnessmoms
YouTube → https://bit.ly/chronicillnessyoutube
 

232. Stop Trying to Overhaul Your Whole Diet — Try This One Subtraction Instead for Better Energy and Less Inflammation

Hey friend, 
Are you eating what feels like a decent diet but still dealing with joint pain, rashes, brain fog, or anxiety that seems to come out of nowhere?
Have you ever suspected a food might be connected to your symptoms but talked yourself out of actually cutting it out?
Does figuring out what to eat in summer feel like one more decision your brain just doesn't have room for?
I'm Ashley — a mom living with chronic illness in a neurodivergent family. If you're dealing with constant fatigue, brain fog, inflammation, and broken sleep while trying to keep up with your kids, you're not alone. Chronic Illness Moms is a podcast for moms with chronic illness or chronic symptoms who want stress relief, better sleep, and simple, realistic habits that actually work inside a full, demanding life.
In this episode, I'm sharing my own experience cutting gluten — the rash, the joint pain, the anxiety that cleared when I finally committed to removing it — and walking through what inflammatory foods actually do to a body managing chronic illness. Plus the one simple prep move (a protein ready to go and veggies cut up) that takes decision-making out of eating so you can actually follow through.
 
Resources and Links Mentioned
Join the free Chronic Health Moms Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronichealthmoms
1:1 chronic health coaching: https://ashleybraden.com/coaching
 
Related Episodes:
229. Why Chasing Health Trends Is Keeping Exhausted Chronic Illness Moms Stuck — And the Simple Framework That Actually Works
225. Exhausted but Can't Sleep? The Coffee Habit Stealing Your Deep Sleep
 
Connecting with Me
Contact → hello@ashleybraden.com
Podcast → https://bit.ly/chronicillnessmoms
Facebook Page → https://www.facebook.com/chronicillnessmoms
Facebook Group → https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronichealthmoms
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/chronicillnessmoms
YouTube → https://bit.ly/chronicillnessyoutube
 
 

231. Still Inflamed No Matter What You Do? The Two Hidden Inputs Driving Your Flares

Hey friend, 
Do you have flare-ups that seem to come out of nowhere, and you cannot trace them to anything you ate or did?
Has your doctor said "everything looks fine" while your body is clearly not fine?
Have you wondered if the hard week you just had has anything to do with the way your body feels right now?
I'm Ashley — a mom living with chronic illness in a neurodivergent family. If you're dealing with constant fatigue, brain fog, inflammation, and broken sleep while trying to keep up with your kids, you're not alone. Chronic Illness Moms is a podcast for moms with chronic illness or chronic symptoms who want stress relief, better sleep, and simple, realistic habits that actually work inside a full, demanding life.
In this episode, I'm walking through the connection most of us were never taught — the real biological link between unprocessed emotional stress and physical inflammation. I'm explaining how your immune system responds to emotional stress the same way it responds to physical threats, and giving you one small subtractive win: pulling ONE emotional input out of your life for seven days and noticing what your body does.
 
Resources and Links Mentioned
Join the free Chronic Health Moms Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronichealthmoms
1:1 chronic health coaching: https://ashleybraden.com/coaching
 
Related Episodes:
219. Feeling Overwhelmed by Your Child's Emotions? This is Why
211. 6 Simple Lymphatic Support Tips for Brain Fog, Fatigue, and Inflammation
 
Connecting with Me
Contact → hello@ashleybraden.com
Podcast → https://bit.ly/chronicillnessmoms
Facebook Page → https://www.facebook.com/chronicillnessmoms
Facebook Group → https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronichealthmoms
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/chronicillnessmoms
YouTube → https://bit.ly/chronicillnessyoutube
 
 

230. You're Not Failing, You're Overstimulated: The Mental Breathing Room Most Overwhelmed Moms Are Missing

Hey friend,
Do you go from therapy drop-off to tutoring pickup to dinner with no actual breathing room in between?
Does your brain keep running a list of all the things you still have to do, even when you sit down?
Have you been wondering when, exactly, you're supposed to catch your breath in your own day?
I'm Ashley — a mom living with chronic illness in a neurodivergent family. If you're dealing with constant fatigue, brain fog, inflammation, and broken sleep while trying to keep up with your kids, you're not alone. Chronic Illness Moms is a podcast for moms with chronic illness or chronic symptoms who want stress relief, better sleep, and simple, realistic habits that actually work inside a full, demanding life.
In this episode, I'm naming what no mental breathing room actually feels like — that rushed, can't-set-anything-down, replaying-the-list feeling — and walking through what's happening in your nervous system on back-to-back days. I'm giving you one small reset that takes 30 seconds and lives inside a transition you already have in your day. No new routine. No 30 minutes you don't have.
 
Resources and Links Mentioned
Join the free Chronic Health Moms Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronichealthmoms
1:1 chronic health coaching: https://ashleybraden.com/coaching
 
Related Episodes:
218. Tired When You Didn't Do Much? How Emotional Stress Drains You
214. Why You’re Sleeping But Still Exhausted
 
Connecting with Me
Contact → hello@ashleybraden.com
Podcast → https://bit.ly/chronicillnessmoms
Facebook Page → https://www.facebook.com/chronicillnessmoms
Facebook Group → https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronichealthmoms
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/chronicillnessmoms
YouTube → https://bit.ly/chronicillnessyoutube

229. Why Chasing Health Trends Is Keeping Exhausted Chronic Illness Moms Stuck — And the Simple Framework That Actually Works

Hey friend, 
Do you keep starting over with your health and wonder why nothing ever sticks?
Are you exhausted from researching the next protocol, supplement, or eating plan — and still not feeling better?
Have you ever wondered if the problem isn't what you're trying, but how many things you're trying at once?
In this episode, I'm sharing why chasing health trends keeps you stuck in the start-over cycle — and introducing the Feel Better Framework, my nine foundational areas that give your body what it actually needs. If you are a chronic illness mom who is tired of starting over, this is the episode that reframes the whole thing.
Links mentioned:
Coaching → https://ashleybraden.com/coaching
Facebook Community → https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronichealthmoms
Related Episodes:
218. Tired When You Didn't Do Much? How Emotional Stress Drains You
214. Why You’re Sleeping But Still Exhausted
Connect:
Email → hello@ashleybraden.com
YouTube → https://bit.ly/chronicillnessyoutube
Facebook Page → https://www.facebook.com/chronicillnessmoms
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/chronicillnessmoms
Next steps:
1. Join the Facebook group to connect with other moms
2. Follow the podcast so you don't miss the rest of this series
3. Learn more about coaching if you want deeper support

228. Stop Trying to Do It All: Why One Habit Actually Heals More Than Five for Chronic Illness Moms

Hey friend, 
Has self-care started to feel like homework you didn't sign up for?
Have you been listening to this show and feeling behind because you haven't done all the experiments?
What if the answer for this week is doing less, not more?
I'm Ashley — a mom living with chronic illness in a neurodivergent family. If you're dealing with constant fatigue, brain fog, inflammation, and broken sleep while trying to keep up with your kids, you're not alone. Chronic Illness Moms is a podcast for moms with chronic illness or chronic symptoms who want stress relief, better sleep, and simple, realistic habits that actually work inside a full, demanding life.
If you've been with me this last month, I've handed you a lot of experiments — the Doorway Reset, three things to stop doing at night, ten minutes of daylight, permission to enjoy fun, eating before your coffee, a caffeine curfew, stepping outside instead of the second cup. And if you're sitting there feeling behind because you haven't done all of them — this episode is your permission to stop. This one is short. No new framework. No new tactical win. Just a pause and a question: which ONE of these has actually stuck for you? Keep that one. Drop the rest, for now.
Pick the ONE experiment from this month that's actually working — the one you didn't have to try at, the one your brain reaches for now without you having to remember it. Keep it. Drop the rest until further notice.
Links mentioned:
Coaching → https://ashleybraden.com/coaching
Facebook Community → https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronichealthmoms
Related Episodes:
218. Tired When You Didn't Do Much? How Emotional Stress Drains You
213. 4 Mindset Shifts to Break the Push-Crash Cycle with Chronic Illness
Connect:
Email → hello@ashleybraden.com
YouTube → https://bit.ly/chronicillnessyoutube
Facebook Page → https://www.facebook.com/chronicillnessmoms
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/chronicillnessmoms
Next steps:
1. Join the Facebook group to connect with other moms
2. Follow the podcast so you don't miss the rest of this series
3. Learn more about coaching if you want deeper support
 

227. Still Tired After Coffee? The Energy Cycle Behind Your Afternoon Crash

Hey friend, 
Is there a 2:47pm version of you who can't read the same email three times without forgetting what it said?
Have you reached for the second coffee and felt almost nothing — except more tired an hour later?
Have you wondered why caffeine isn't fixing your fatigue the way it used to?
I'm Ashley — a mom living with chronic illness in a neurodivergent family. If you're dealing with constant fatigue, brain fog, inflammation, and broken sleep while trying to keep up with your kids, you're not alone. Chronic Illness Moms is a podcast for moms with chronic illness or chronic symptoms who want stress relief, better sleep, and simple, realistic habits that actually work inside a full, demanding life.
There was a stretch where the afternoons were the hardest part of my day. Mornings were okay — by 2 or 3 my brain was completely offline, and I'd reach for the second cup, not because I wanted coffee but because I wanted my brain back. Sometimes it helped for an hour. Sometimes it didn't help at all. In this final episode of the caffeine mini-series I share the thing I didn't know about caffeine for years (it doesn't actually create energy — it borrows it from later), why the afternoon crash isn't random, and a five-minute experiment to try instead of the second cup.
When the afternoon crash hits this week — before you reach for more coffee, step outside for five minutes. Stand on the back step. Sit on the porch. Walk to the mailbox the long way. Notice what your body does.
Links mentioned:
Coaching → https://ashleybraden.com/coaching
Facebook Community → https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronichealthmoms
Related Episodes:
218. Tired When You Didn't Do Much? How Emotional Stress Drains You
213. 4 Mindset Shifts to Break the Push-Crash Cycle with Chronic Illness
Connect:
Email → hello@ashleybraden.com
YouTube → https://bit.ly/chronicillnessyoutube
Facebook Page → https://www.facebook.com/chronicillnessmoms
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/chronicillnessmoms
Next steps:
1. Join the Facebook group to connect with other moms
2. Follow the podcast so you don't miss the rest of this series
3. Learn more about coaching if you want deeper support

226. Still Tired After Coffee? The Energy Cycle Behind Your Afternoon Crash

Hey friend, 
Is there a 2:47pm version of you who can't read the same email three times without forgetting what it said?
Have you reached for the second coffee and felt almost nothing — except more tired an hour later?
Have you wondered why caffeine isn't fixing your fatigue the way it used to?
I'm Ashley — a mom living with chronic illness in a neurodivergent family. If you're dealing with constant fatigue, brain fog, inflammation, and broken sleep while trying to keep up with your kids, you're not alone. Chronic Illness Moms is a podcast for moms with chronic illness or chronic symptoms who want stress relief, better sleep, and simple, realistic habits that actually work inside a full, demanding life.
There was a stretch where the afternoons were the hardest part of my day. Mornings were okay — by 2 or 3 my brain was completely offline, and I'd reach for the second cup, not because I wanted coffee but because I wanted my brain back. Sometimes it helped for an hour. Sometimes it didn't help at all. In this final episode of the caffeine mini-series I share the thing I didn't know about caffeine for years (it doesn't actually create energy — it borrows it from later), why the afternoon crash isn't random, and a five-minute experiment to try instead of the second cup.
Links mentioned:
Coaching → https://ashleybraden.com/coaching
Facebook Community → https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronichealthmoms
Related Episodes:
215. Why Your Energy Swings Cause Fatigue and Brain Fog
195. Brain Fog and Fatigue? How Simplifying Decisions Helps Boost Energy
Connect:
Email → hello@ashleybraden.com
YouTube → https://bit.ly/chronicillnessyoutube
Facebook Page → https://www.facebook.com/chronicillnessmoms
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/chronicillnessmoms
Next steps:
1. Join the Facebook group to connect with other moms
2. Follow the podcast so you don't miss the rest of this series
3. Learn more about coaching if you want deeper support