336-SYNCPodcast_ADHD

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Jenny Swisher: Welcome friends to this [00:01:00] episode of The Sink Your Life podcast. Today we’re diving into the topic of A DHD and midlife. Now, this is the topic that I’m seeing more and more about recently on social media amidst hormone health influencers and doctors, and rightfully so. I know when I started digging into the research emerging here, I wanted to raise my hand and say Yep, to everything I was learning about it because it fits me to a t.

I, like many other women in midlife have never been fully diagnosed with A DHD, but I resonate fully with what we’re finding that presents itself in A DHD and women in midlife. So if you think this episode isn’t for you, think again and listen all the way through. So what is A DHD? Well, I feel like we hear it talked about when it comes to our children, and to be honest, I’ve always kind of doubted its validity.

I mean, is it a DHD? Or is a child meant to actually move and not sit still for an entire school day? But the more I dive into this, the more I realize what an issue it’s becoming in our world and in our, I want it now society. A DHD is attention deficit. Hyperactivity disorder. Inattention. Hyperactivity and [00:02:00] impulsivity tend to be the mo.

While psychiatry.org claims that only 9% of children have a DH, D and 3% of adults, I tend to say that this is wildly inaccurate and underdiagnosed. In fact, I’ll link up for you an episode that I did here on Sync Your Life with Dr. Magna Dasani, who’s a functional dentist who often ties A DHD to sleep disorders and even small mouths in children and adults.

It’s pretty fascinating. We know that about 43% of women will be offered an antidepressant in perimenopause. This is alarming, or at least it should be alarming to you. And honestly, it makes me think of how often birth control is offered to women for reasons other than birth control. It’s almost like the medical establishment hasn’t studied women enough to know how to truly help them.

So we just throw oral contraceptives or antidepressants at women when they’re suffering from irregular cycles. Mood swings. Well, the list goes on. So what’s really going on here is that women are being, once again, underserved in our health. And what are the symptoms of A DHD in women? Well, let’s take a look.

According to Dr. Jolene Brighton, there are many symptoms of [00:03:00] A DHD in women. Difficulty making decisions, excessive talking, feeling overwhelmed. Interrupting others, losing things or misplacing things. Impatience, a lack of attention to detail. Low self-esteem, difficulty meeting deadlines, disorganized, heightened stress problems, completing tasks, anxiety, difficulty sitting, still restlessness, forgetfulness, being easily distracted, fidgeting, poor planning, frequent mood swings, and often we dislike busy work.

So, yeah, if you’re raising your hand to at least a few of those, A DHD could be an issue for you. According to Dr. Julian Brighton, quote, many women with a DHD experience unique hormonal influences and societal expectations that contribute to and affect their A DHD symptoms. And A DHD symptoms in women can vary significantly from those typically seen in men and boys.

Now, I know you’ll be shocked to learn that once again, the questionnaires and the medical guidance around A DHD have been designed for men and boys. Not for females. [00:04:00] Woof. So how does this look in a grown woman? How does it differ from what we see in a man or in a child? Well, talking excessively struggling to pay attention, emotional sensitivity, mood swings, hyperactivity, misplacing things.

All of these things can be the A DHD brain. It’s worth mentioning here that also, according to Dr. Brighton, many women with a DHD experience unique hormonal influences and societal expectations that contribute to and affect their symptoms. And as mentioned above, the symptoms in women can vary significantly from those typically seen in men and boys.

So how do we thrive as a DHD women in this world we’re in? Well, as usual, there are things that are within our control. A nutrient dense diet. Of course, prioritizing sleep, cognitive behavioral therapy. In some cases, exercising five days a week for 30 minutes a day.

Reducing our stress through things like meditation, breath work, downregulating, our nervous system. Supporting our adrenals, especially in midlife, being mindful of stimulants such as coffee or pre-workout drinks, and how they [00:05:00] might affect our behavior. And of course we can always ask our practitioners about supplements like Vitamin B six, vitamin C, folate, C, D, G, calcium, D, glucarate, Vitex, and Selenium to see if they may be advantageous to us.

So why then are we hearing more and more about A D, H, D and midlife now? Well, I believe it’s because the diagnostic criteria is changing and women are sick and tired of being gaslit by their doctors. They want to understand why they don’t feel themselves, why they’re struggling.

And now that we have female doctors stepping in to lead the way for understanding neurodivergence in women and the ties to hormones especially, we finally feel like we have answers to the things that we’ve always been feeling. While 60% of A DHD could be traced back to genetics, there are other factors that play a role for women, including hormone.

Estrogen and progesterone fluctuations throughout the menstrual cycle can impact A DHD symptoms. So this explains why there’s a connection between PMDD, which is premenstrual dysphoric disorder, which causes intense symptoms before you start your period. And A DHD research has [00:06:00] found that women with A DHD tend to experience more severe symptoms of hormone related mood disorders than women without A DHD Changes in hormone levels during puberty, pregnancy, and menopause

can also exacerbate A DHD symptoms, particularly affecting executive function, like focus, learning, and memory and emotional regulation. We also know that neurotransmitters are involved here, which explains why so many antidepressants have been handed out as a band-aid pharmaceutical option. Though I know sometimes it is needed.

A DHD largely affects women and their moods and their overall zest for life. As always, I will link up for you some research on this topic and on the topic of the sex hormone tie-in to A DHD. But I know as someone who studies the menstrual cycle phases and energies, this yet again helps me put words to what I experience on a monthly basis.

It explains why heading into my period, I feel unmotivated and unfocused, but as a yield to ovulation and rising hormones, I feel like I can take on the world. Perhaps this is how it’s meant to be. Our physiology is ever changing. After all, maybe a [00:07:00] DHD puts a diagnosis to what many of us are experiencing.

But maybe yet again, we’re meant to move and have ebbs and flows of our energy and our focus, perhaps trying to fix it, is simply just helping us cope with living in a man’s world of circadian flow, when in fact our physiology changes daily. This is just something to ponder. I hope this helps you navigate for yourself or your friends, why you may be experiencing some odd symptoms in midlife that you can’t explain.

Perhaps they’ve been with you all along. Maybe this is something to look into or as usual, just something to be aware of as you continue to reach for maximum energy. I hope this helps my friends. Until next time, we’ll talk soon. Bye-bye.

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