Experts believe those ADHD symptoms that appear out of nowhere have their roots in the early stages of menopause and the pressure on women to 'do it all.'
Thank you for this important and excellent essay Kristi. As I was reading the first third of it my mind was screaming PERIMENOPAUSE so I was happy to see that addressed so thoroughly. While I don't have ADHD I certainly suffered from all of the brain fog, anxiety and other mental and emotional distress that made me not feel far from myself. It sucked. I have found significant relief with hormone supplementation but, as you stated, it took some experimenting. I am happy to say that I feel I've got it well sorted out with the lowest dose possible (much lower than a medically recommended dose) and I hope you are able to achieve the same good results over time. xox
Donna, I'm so glad to hear you've had good results with HRT! I spent the first three months of this summer in disbelief that I could have ADHD because I haven't had a history of struggle with executive function. There aren't a ton of articulate explanations for why women are getting diagnosed with ADHD so late in life, but the podcast episode I linked to in the post made so much sense. ADHD symptoms fluctuate based on internal and external stressors, changes in health and lifestyle, and more. As you know firsthand, perimenopause is one of those major times of hormonal upheaval. I'm hopeful that once I get the hormones sorted out, these symptoms will be much less pronounced, and I will start feeling more like myself again!
You nailed it when you said 'feel like yourself again'. That was what I found to be the hardest thing - feeling like a completely different person. It sucks a lot. It is very comforting to be on the other side of it where I am confident I can feel like myself consistently. There is hope my friend!
This is good stuff. I don't have a ton to add on perimenopause or brain fog, but I have learned a lot about both over the last few years. Brain fog in particular is just so pervasive, and post-covid confusion seems to be a lot more common than perhaps folks first assumed... but we can just add that to the ever-growing list of things that might cause our brains to go wonky! Also: I think I probably expressed my own (still undiagnosed) ADHD in ways that are more similar to the way girls express it, but I also did the disrupting class thing to varying degrees.
Thanks for sharing! Brain fog feels so pervasive these days, although that's probably me speaking from personal experience. I haven't heard much about the post-COVID confusion, but it's just one more thing to consider. It’s also wild to think about how many of the products we rely on—the chemicals in pretty much everything we consume or come in contact with—are impacting our health in ways we can't even begin to fathom.
I could see how you might have been a bit of a disrupter, but I feel like that was probably a good thing!
My teachers may have disagreed, but yeah, it certainly made me who I am today! And your inner withdrawal helped you to learn who you are, too- I think you've ended up thinking a great deal about how and why you think the things you do, which isn't really an area most folks get around to.... so our weird childhood brains and activities definitely shaped us in profound ways I'm actually grateful for. Can't imagine not living through the rough stuff since that's a part of me now!
Thank you for this important and excellent essay Kristi. As I was reading the first third of it my mind was screaming PERIMENOPAUSE so I was happy to see that addressed so thoroughly. While I don't have ADHD I certainly suffered from all of the brain fog, anxiety and other mental and emotional distress that made me not feel far from myself. It sucked. I have found significant relief with hormone supplementation but, as you stated, it took some experimenting. I am happy to say that I feel I've got it well sorted out with the lowest dose possible (much lower than a medically recommended dose) and I hope you are able to achieve the same good results over time. xox
Donna, I'm so glad to hear you've had good results with HRT! I spent the first three months of this summer in disbelief that I could have ADHD because I haven't had a history of struggle with executive function. There aren't a ton of articulate explanations for why women are getting diagnosed with ADHD so late in life, but the podcast episode I linked to in the post made so much sense. ADHD symptoms fluctuate based on internal and external stressors, changes in health and lifestyle, and more. As you know firsthand, perimenopause is one of those major times of hormonal upheaval. I'm hopeful that once I get the hormones sorted out, these symptoms will be much less pronounced, and I will start feeling more like myself again!
You nailed it when you said 'feel like yourself again'. That was what I found to be the hardest thing - feeling like a completely different person. It sucks a lot. It is very comforting to be on the other side of it where I am confident I can feel like myself consistently. There is hope my friend!
This is good stuff. I don't have a ton to add on perimenopause or brain fog, but I have learned a lot about both over the last few years. Brain fog in particular is just so pervasive, and post-covid confusion seems to be a lot more common than perhaps folks first assumed... but we can just add that to the ever-growing list of things that might cause our brains to go wonky! Also: I think I probably expressed my own (still undiagnosed) ADHD in ways that are more similar to the way girls express it, but I also did the disrupting class thing to varying degrees.
Thanks for sharing! Brain fog feels so pervasive these days, although that's probably me speaking from personal experience. I haven't heard much about the post-COVID confusion, but it's just one more thing to consider. It’s also wild to think about how many of the products we rely on—the chemicals in pretty much everything we consume or come in contact with—are impacting our health in ways we can't even begin to fathom.
I could see how you might have been a bit of a disrupter, but I feel like that was probably a good thing!
My teachers may have disagreed, but yeah, it certainly made me who I am today! And your inner withdrawal helped you to learn who you are, too- I think you've ended up thinking a great deal about how and why you think the things you do, which isn't really an area most folks get around to.... so our weird childhood brains and activities definitely shaped us in profound ways I'm actually grateful for. Can't imagine not living through the rough stuff since that's a part of me now!