Episode 335: Hormones Are the Missing Piece of the Female ADHD Puzzle

Living Well with ADHD
Written By Kate Moryoussef

Find my popular ADHD Women's Wellbeing workshops and resources on my website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

So many of us were told for years that our painful periods, flooding cycles, monthly mood crashes and hormonal struggles were just something to push through. This compilation episode is about what's actually been going on hormonally all along.

This week's episode is all about the overlap between ADHD, hormones and women's health — a connection Kate has been talking about since the very beginning of the podcast, and one that is still not being taken seriously enough in clinical practice.

We hear from three conversations. Dr Lotta Borg Skoglund, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and specialist in ADHD and hormonal health, on the link between estrogen and heart health, why perimenopause doesn't follow a straight line, and why so many neurodivergent women are still being told they're too young or not symptomatic enough to be taken seriously.

Dr Liz Murray, doctor, activist and author of Not Just Painful Periods, on her own decade-long road to an endometriosis diagnosis, what coming off the pill without the right information can do, and what she's doing through her charity to change the way the next generation of doctors are trained.

And Laura Federico and Morgan Miller, authors of The Cycle Book, on why cycle tracking is so much more than period data, how it can help us understand RSD, mood, energy and focus across the month, and why reconnecting with our bodies might be one of the most compassionate things we can do for ourselves.

In this episode, we cover:

  • The link between estrogen, heart health and menopause, and why this is the number one cause of death in post-menopausal women

  • Why perimenopause doesn't follow a straight line, and why symptoms can start long before periods become irregular

  • Why neurodivergent women are more likely to experience PMDD, endometriosis, PCOS and severe PMS

  • How losing estrogen suddenly can significantly raise cardiovascular risk, and why this is so often dismissed

  • Dr Liz Murray's own endometriosis story, and why being a doctor didn't protect her from a delayed diagnosis

  • What can happen when women come off the pill without understanding what it may have been masking

  • Why the conversation GPs need to have with women about the pill is still not happening

  • What women need to know about the red flag symptoms that warrant further investigation

  • The overlap between ADHD, hypermobility, connective tissue issues and hormonal conditions

  • Why cycle tracking is far more than knowing when your period is due

  • How tracking can help you notice patterns like RSD intensifying in the second half of your cycle

  • Why reconnecting to your body, even briefly each day, is a genuinely life-changing act

Timestamps:

  • 00:00 - Welcome and introduction to this week's compilation

  • 03:00 - Dr Lotta Borg Skoglund: estrogen, heart health and what women need to know

  • 06:00 - Why cardiovascular risk rises after menopause, and what that means for ADHD women

  • 08:00 - The lifestyle factors that compound risk for neurodivergent women

  • 10:00 - Why perimenopause symptoms can appear while periods are still regular

  • 12:00 - The confusion of fluctuating estrogen levels and what it feels like from the inside

  • 16:00 - Dr Liz Murray: a decade to diagnosis and what went wrong

  • 18:00 - How the pill masked endometriosis and what coming off it without guidance cost her

  • 20:00 - What GPs can do, and the conversations that still aren't happening

  • 22:00 - Red flags that warrant further investigation, and why you don't need to wait

  • 24:00 - The overlap between ADHD, neurodivergence and hormonal conditions

  • 28:00 - What Liz's charity is doing to change how future doctors are trained

  • 31:00 - Laura Federico and Morgan Miller: cycle tracking as a tool for self-understanding

  • 35:00 - Tracking through perimenopause, HRT and changing cycles

  • 37:00 - How cycle data helps you understand mood, energy and RSD across the month

  • 39:00 - Coming back into your body as a radical act of self-compassion

  • 42:00 - Tracking when your cycle isn't regular or predictable

Links and Resources:

Kate Moryoussef is a women's ADHD lifestyle and wellbeing coach and EFT practitioner who helps overwhelmed and unfulfilled newly diagnosed women with ADHD find more calm, balance, hope, health, compassion, creativity, and clarity. Discover my popular ADHD Women's Wellbeing workshops and resources on my website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Kate Moryoussef https://www.adhdwomenswellbeing.co.uk
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Episode 336: What is RSD Alongside ADHD?
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Episode 334: From ADHD Diagnosis to Self-Acceptance: Breaking Free from Shame, Self-Doubt & Limiting Beliefs