The crossover between ADHD and Perimenopause

“What did I come in here for?” “What was I about to say?”

These types of thoughts were the first signs. My mind would go blank, I’d find it harder to concentrate. Things that I used to remember to do would just vanish into thin air. I was also a bit more anxious about little things than I remembered.

For a brief moment I wondered if I was a medical mystery who had managed to catch ADHD. All my logic and knowledge told me that that was impossible, but in my new brain-fogged era, logic wasn’t always winning.

Then I remembered a phase where I used to laugh / get frustrated at my mother saying things like “you know yer man, the one who was in the thing with the other fella” or “you know who I mean – with the beard and the accent”.

And then there’s the women who both have ADHD and are peri-menopausal.

It’s come up with clients and friends. How one may exacerbate the other. How one may have caused a delay in diagnosing the other. How the hormones and possible medical and lifestyle options linked with the two interact with each other.

Again, there are plenty of articles around medical and lifestyle options for both ADHD and perimenopause, so I’m simply going to share that for me, the introduction of systems and processes has been key:

• Reminders on my phone and smart watch
• To-do lists, both physical and electronic
• Meal plans so I can have the ingredients available when I need them
• Time at the start and end of my day to prepare and review