🌟 My new book, The ADHD Women's Wellbeing Toolkit, is available to preorder here 🌟

This week, I revisit a conversation with Professor Sandra Kooij, one of the world’s leading researchers in adult ADHD, women's health, and hormones and a pioneer in understanding how ADHD manifests differently in women.

We discuss the powerful and often-overlooked link between hormones and ADHD symptoms, especially the role of oestrogen and dopamine throughout a woman’s life.

Professor Kooij shares her groundbreaking research and clinical experience, highlighting how hormonal fluctuations, such as those around menstruation, postpartum and menopause, can intensify ADHD symptoms and impact daily life, mental health, and emotional regulation.

You’ll also learn about new treatment approaches that combine hormonal and ADHD medication support and why a more collaborative, hormone-informed approach to ADHD care is so urgently needed.

What You’ll Learn:

✨ How hormonal changes such as PMS, postpartum, and menopause can intensify ADHD symptoms in women

✨ The link between oestrogen and dopamine, and its effect on ADHD brain function and focus

✨ Why women with ADHD may be more likely to experience earlier menopause

✨ The associated health risks, including cardiovascular issues, in women with ADHD

✨ How stimulant medications, SSRIs, and hormonal support may need adjusting during the menstrual cycle and menopausal phases

✨ What to ask your doctor about managing ADHD through hormonal transitions

✨ Why lifestyle changes may not be enough, and what comprehensive treatment can involve

✨ The urgent need for more research into the ADHD-hormone connection in women’s health

Timestamps

🕒 01:49 – Oestrogen and dopamine: the ADHD connection

🕒 07:02 – PMDD, ADHD and evolving treatment options

🕒 10:17 – Early menopause and ADHD

🕒 14:50 – The H3 Network: uniting psychiatry, cardiology & gynaecology

This is a must-listen episode for any woman navigating ADHD alongside hormonal shifts. Whether you're dealing with PMS, perimenopause, or postpartum challenges, or simply trying to understand your symptoms better, this episode is packed with science-backed insights and compassionate advice.

You can find out more about all the work that Sandra does here.

Links and Resources:

⭐ Boosting Hormonal and Perimenopausal Wellbeing alongside ADHD Workshop with Adele Wimsett available to buy now on-demand - Click here to purchase.

⭐ Book on the next ADHD Wellbeing Workshop - Click here to book.

⭐ If you love the podcast but want more ADHD support, get a sneak peek of my brand new book, The ADHD Women's Wellbeing Toolkit and pre-order it here!

⭐ Launching September! Tired of ADHD support that doesn’t get you? My new compassionate, community-first membership ditches the overwhelm by providing support aligned with YOU!

IMPORTANT ADHD Hormonal Information from Professor Sandra Kooij

ADHD Women's Wellbeing Podcast