"Stronger Than You Think: A Guide to Empowering Women with ADHD" [Video Replay & Podcast #201]

2 Comments: "Stronger Than You Think: A Guide to Empowering Women with ADHD" [Video Replay & Podcast #201]

1. Hi @littleladylost
   It IS difficult to look at the pathology of an ADHD diagnosis. It’s couched as all bad news and there’s a good reason: for a medical condition to be insurable there must be something WRONG. So we endure that negative slant on our differently-wired brains in order to be treated with medical interventions, e.g. medication. You’re right, Valium is not an ADHD medication but it does dampen anxiety. Maybe a return to Concerta would be a first step after your appointment?

   Re estrogen and ADHD – yep, you are in the double bind of needing progesterone to stem the progress of endometriosis with your brain crying out for more estrogen. You didn’t mention whether you are on progesterone supplementation or whether you are taking birth control pills, but that will impact your mood. etc. The consensus recommendation today is for ADHD women to adjust their medication immediately before the start of their periods. e.g. when bleeding begins. That’s when both progesterone and estrogen are at their lowest point. A few days later, both begin to pick up again and mood improves.

   Sometimes that medication adjustment can mean a higher dose of ADHD medication or perhaps the temporary addition of a second ADHD medication — e.g. Concerta plus short acting Adderall. Some women do well with a “booster” of antidepressant just before their period begins. Talk to your doctor about what might be appropriate but don’t be surprised if your OB-GYN has no clue about the connection between ADHD and estrogen. That field is still focused on PMS/PMDD. And that’s OK because PMDD (pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder) has a higher incidence among ADHD women.

   Overwhelm is at the heart of so much ADHD frustration. But you have the answer in your question: chipping away at the To Do list. In the words of my former newspaper editor, “Start anywhere! The lead will appear” which means to all the rest of us that if we just do ONE THING…even if it’s not the most important thing (and we don’t take the mental energy to figure out our highest priority) it will likely get you started down the right path. Believe me, the Universe will give you feedback if you get too far off track. Try it and let me know how it works (if it works LOL).

   Courage, my friend, courage! You are not alone!
   Linda

2. Good morning! I have a childhood diagnosis of ADHD, about to be re-assessed as an adult. I’m UK based and it’s been a seven month wait, so as it nears I began to feel very low and defeated, reopening old wounds both related and unrelated to my ADHD. The assessment papers made me feel as though there is something inherently “wrong” with my differently-wired brain instead of the badge of honour I’d grown to love and wear proudly. I also have a menstrual condition (endometriosis) which I believe correlates directly with my ADHD, due to fluctuating hormone changes —I’ve read somewhere that ADHD responds positively to estrogen, while endo responds positively to a progesterone rich environment.. so that gives me a very small window to be the happy, productive, painless and brain-fog-free warrior queen that I am.
   Is there something you could suggest to get me through the next month; and on the back of that, what would you recommend for women who have natural (possibly cyclic or environmental) dips in their productivity, emotions, confidence, relationships, etc. that aren’t necessarily depression but are more likely related to their ADHD and could closely mirror depressive symptoms, and are likely to pass? ie. intellectually I know I will feel better if I sit down and chip away a bit at my to-do’s, but when I stare at the piles I feel overwhelmed and I never quite no where to begin, and am very easily distracted by my environment and the thoughts in my head, so I fall in a heap or do something less taxing and then feel even worse for not “achieving” anything.
   As an aside, I’m also currently unmedicated, having come up with the (not-so) brilliant idea of stopping Concerta a couple of years ago. Until my assessment, I’m relying on Valium PRN occasionally, which doesn’t resolve anything.