Women, Hormones, and ADHD

20 Comments: Women, Hormones, and ADHD

1. I just wrote a massive comment not sure if it’s sent or if it has to get approved before it’s visible?

2. Also, as aareavis commented, I, too, have had relief of symptoms with Progesterone treatment, which seems to contradict the article. That is because hormones are complex and interdependant. HRT is not a one-size-fits-all treatment. It depends on what is imbalanced. Also, getting one hormone can cause others to increase and regulate, etc, etc.

3. Hello, I would like to request a revision of this article to specify that the author is not a medical provider and that this article is not offering medical advice. I’d also like to request that citations and sources be included. There are several paragraphs where the author of this article cites a medical fact without a source and then draws there own conclusion/extrapolation about it in the same sentence, which is misleading to readers about the medical nature of this article. I had a patient read this article and make medical changes without consulting a medical provider based on a statement in this article that is an extrapolation. Overall I appreciate the subject of this article but it needs sources, and a disclaimer, and probably should have been written by a medical provider.

4. I was so hopeful as I read the article, knowing that you would get to my age group of post menopausal women. Ha! Once again I’m reminded that after menopause I cease to matter or even exist. My inattentive ADHD has not gone away. In fact it has gotten worse. But this article has nothing helpful for me.

   There have been a number of comments noting this great lack, yet no one has had the respect or consideration to reply in any way, let alone the author! How disappointing! I’d thought more highly of this resource.

5. Just came across the article. ADDitude did a great disservice to women by promoting the BC pill/HRT as the recommended solution, while ignoring other possible solutions that do far less bodily damage. Even more glaring is the omission of vitamins, minerals and/or natural supplements that can maintain health.

   Why not interview functional medicine doctors who treat women in menopause? Or discuss the real side effects of taking oral contraceptives/HRT/bioidentical hormones? Better yet, why not provide us with some real resources – menopause.org, for starters – so that we don’t have to face this tough time of life uninformed?

6. Haha but not!
   I can have completed a “habit” for months, years even, and can turn around and stop it and then completely forget about it in just one day. Poof, gone, like I had never done it before ever. 33 years ago I quit smoking in 2 days (after it being an 8-yr habit), never went back. For 10 years I had a green nutritional drink every morning for breakfast, then just stopped cold turkey 10 years ago and only have it now for 3 days at a time every 2 months or so.
   This whole C-19 thing has created a life of NO routines for me and I have never been so unproductive simply because I don’t have an outside-enforced schedule keeping me in line. This sucks!
   I’m 54 and have been taking Vitex daily for 3 years to keep my still-going periods (hormones) slightly regular so I’m smack in the middle of pre-menopause. The brain fog is so frustrating and my husband hates everything about me!

7. Disappointed and shocked to see post-menopause completely ignored. Horrified to see it was done so in an article written by a woman. Do we just not exist after being reproductively useful? Society would like us to believe so. I expected better. What a stinking attitude ADDitude

8. Excellent article! This really connects a lot of dots for me!
   That said, this piece of advice, while probably very true, is something I’m pretty sure nobody with ADHD can accomplish: “Keep a log of your ADHD symptoms for three months — charting when they occur and worsen during the menstrual cycle — and try to identify a pattern.”

9. Psh. Decrease, my foot. My estrogen has been high since I hit peri, particularly during PMS. It’s made PMS absolutely unbearable, though it’s mostly physical symptoms. And my actual periods… Remember the elevator scene from The Shining???

   I’m having to supplement to get estrogen down! I cringe at the thought of some doctor putting me on hormone replacement out of sheer ignorance.

10. I always appreciate more information on women and adhd! Thank you for the insights! I often find myself following through on some of the associated links and references, I noticed the link for Patricia Quinn’s National Center for Women with ADHD is no longer functioning. When I googled the center name the website has a message that it’s no longer being updated but refers readers back to Additude. Perhaps updating the link for a CHADD site for women and girls? Just a thought to help others who like to gather as much info as myself. I definitely appreciate the focus and education Additude has given on how women and girls differ. It was extremely instrumental in helping me advocate for a diagnosis in myself and my daughter.

11. I was prescribed progesterone pills to stimulate a period. I found that my ADHD symptoms *improved* with the added progesterone and get worse when it clears my system. But this is opposite to what the article is saying? Why does my body react the opposite way to progesterone? I kinda want to switch to hormonal BC which has both estrogen and progesterone but I’m worried it’ll have the opposite effect on my ADHD symptoms.

12. So many pieces fell into place from reading this article!

    I agree, more attention should be paid to post menopausal women. My ADHD definitely got worse.

    However I have a very big grumble. Please do not assume we can get a gyno and a family doctor to even communicate with US properly, never mind with each other. Also I only have a psych nurse practitioner, I don’t have a psychiatrist! the only one in my area who’s actually taking patients won’t write ANY controlled substances, so no stimulants and I question how well versed they’d be in ADHD if they won’t/can’t prescribe stimulants.

    This isn’t just this article, it’s the whole darn website. I have no idea how many people have to knit help together any way they can. I think it’s most of us who live in rural USA and who depend on high deductible insurance. The closest ADHD expert to me is in NYC, 300 miles away. Even if I wanted to go that distance can you think for a moment about the tangle my RXs would become?

    How about a series that would help us talk to our providers who don’t know much about ADHD, how about going out looking for providers for your database. Don’t wait for them to find you! And PLEASE include Canada. I could and would go to Montreal for help, but you don’t cover Canada. The UK and Australia are just as important too.

13. Hi, I’m so happy I found this article! I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety in my early 20’s. It wasn’t until I was in my early 40’s that I was diagnosed with ADHD by a Psychiatrist. I resisted medication at that time out of being naive and not educated on the subject. It wasn’t until my late 40’s I decided to try Addrell XR and it helped tremendously. To this day I visit my Psychiatrist every
    6-8 weeks to check in. Now in my mid 50’s my depression, anxiety and ADHD symptoms have doubled with some days being worse than others. I’ve read articles educating myself on Menopause and ADHD. Finally this all makes sense to me! It’s true my levels of hormones are constantly changing due to menopause and going crazy some days. When I’ve gone to my Gynecologist and Psychiatrist they know nothing about the subject. They just keep prescribing me the same meds as they have over the years with no answers or solutions. All I get is “Well we can try upping your doses or try a different med, up to you?” . Where can I go to get proper help? Even if I find a specialist in this field, they charge hundreds of dollars because insurance doesn’t cover it. I can’t afford to seek a specialty Dr. WHEN IS THIS GOING TO BE RECOGNIZE AS A LEGIT DISABILITY? I’m so sick and tired of the stigma where no one hears and believes me! Some days I’m paralyzed and do nothing with my day but feel guilt and shame. In fact, I have no clue anymore what works and what doesn’t work for me. My Dr. offers to up my dosage and/or recommend trying different meds ,but it’s all up to me??? There’s no known facts to these Dr’s. Many have ZERO clue on the stages our hormones go through from childhood, teens and aging women. I craze a Dr that has firms answers or at least knowledge and come up with a game plan. So here I am, usually a very outgoing woman to a very isolated woman, no relationship, my 2 adult daughters and family think I’m crazy and even lazy! i haven’t been able to work in 3 years. My analogy is “I’m so sick and tired of feeling like a hamster on the wheel going round and round in a cage. I’m alone and sadly this is where my comfort zone is nowadays. When I explain all my feelings and symptoms to my Dr., all I get is someone looking at me like a deer in headlights!!! Sadly, my Insurance plan doesn’t offer many choices with dr.’s in my area.. Lost in California. Help, suggestions anyone?? I’m desperate !!!

    ANY suggestions feel free to email me at [email protected] or I’ll check back here for comments. Thank you.

    1. There are other alternative treatments to ADHD. Meditation, exercise, connecting and caffeine have been my “go to” treatment. My doctor dodge my questions on ADHD diagnosis because she says it’s the thyroid doing the symptoms and yet my thyroid levels have ALL been normal.

       Now, see a specialist even for just the diagnosis then send your PCP the referral letter and all so they can concur.

       I am an ADHD specialist, prescriber and mother , daughter of ADHD people and it is a daily struggle. But after educating myself attending webinars and finding solutions, it’s been better.

14. WHY WHY WHY does every article and book END at menopause?? We have decades left to live with 65% less estrogen ? WHERE are the studies of ADHD after 50 without estrogen replacement (not recommended when I was 50) and what medications WE need? I ask ADDITUDE this with every article and get no response…

    Sadly I wasn’t diagnosed til 61, 10 long years after the fog of menopause took over, and still have not met a dr that understands hormones (and lack thereof) related to ADHD. My current health insurance is Kaiser and they are on a bent that the prescribing of stimulants over a minimal dose is comparable to the opioid crisis, which is ridiculously different, and after getting off 50mg Vyvanse won’t prescribe more than 25mg Adderall X-RAY when previous drs had me on 60 mg. I am in the DC area, can anyone recommend a dr that GETS IT?

    1. Adderall X-R!

       1. I AM on Adderall XR, 25 mg, when previous drs had me on 60 mg…. As there has been little to no research on the fact that, since estrogen binds dopamine to neurotransmitters, WHAT is needed for a lack of estrogen above and beyond doses for pre-menopause?

15. It would be nice if the fifth stage was given some space. Menopause happens around the age of 50. Post-menopause can be the longest stage in anyone’s life – my mum lived to 92, was never diagnosed and had many many unhappy years and never understood why. Nor did I until I was diagnosed at 64 – after first being told there was “no point at my age”. A Swiss lady I know of has had her medication withdrawn as she has retired from employment and therefore “does not need to be able to concentrate”. Having been invisible as a female, it seems that being past menopause makes me doubly so. Why don’t we matter too?

16. What can be done for women that can’t take hormone replacement therapy? I was not able to take estrogen due to risk of breast cancer and noticed my stimulant medication no longer had effect on my symptoms. I now have estrogen progesterone positive breast cancer and will be on aromatase inhibitors for 5-10 years. How am I supposed to treat my ADHD symptoms and function?

17. Thank you for this! I’m newly diagnosed and have definitely noticed my medication seems less effective in the week before my period. I’m going to see if increasing my dose slightly will help. It’s nice to know I’m not alone in feeling this way.