I’m a late diagnosee- and yes to all the above, with the caveat that menopause has a significant impact on women’s ADHD. Hormonal changes -our chemistry-can intensify our ADHD, and now, FINALLY, researchers are actually studying how our ADHD works. So it’s not just a series of “aha moments” as we get older. For many of us the onset of perimenopause then menopause exacerbates our ADHD, making it really hard to mask any longer. And that usually occurs in our 40’s.
Your article is a great help in laying out what female ADHD feels like and how it presents so thank you!
I tick all the boxes here. Two sons diagnosed and I did months of research before agreeing to try meds for the oldest. And I absolutely found my own life in that research. At age 33, in 2003, I talked to the psychiatrist that diagnosed my sons and was brushed off. I talked to another and was told, "You don't have ADHD because you're sitting in a chair and talking to me." It was finally my family doctor that listened and suggested meds, because his son had Inattentive type and he believed me. Stimulant meds changed my life for the better. One thing I try to inform late-diagnosed adults, especially women, is there will very likely be a period of extreme grief after their diagnosis. I don't remember how long it lasted for me but it was at least a year. Grief for the person I could have been had I had the support I desperately needed. I'm tearing up now, remembering that period of my life.
I’m a late diagnosee- and yes to all the above, with the caveat that menopause has a significant impact on women’s ADHD. Hormonal changes -our chemistry-can intensify our ADHD, and now, FINALLY, researchers are actually studying how our ADHD works. So it’s not just a series of “aha moments” as we get older. For many of us the onset of perimenopause then menopause exacerbates our ADHD, making it really hard to mask any longer. And that usually occurs in our 40’s.
Your article is a great help in laying out what female ADHD feels like and how it presents so thank you!
I tick all the boxes here. Two sons diagnosed and I did months of research before agreeing to try meds for the oldest. And I absolutely found my own life in that research. At age 33, in 2003, I talked to the psychiatrist that diagnosed my sons and was brushed off. I talked to another and was told, "You don't have ADHD because you're sitting in a chair and talking to me." It was finally my family doctor that listened and suggested meds, because his son had Inattentive type and he believed me. Stimulant meds changed my life for the better. One thing I try to inform late-diagnosed adults, especially women, is there will very likely be a period of extreme grief after their diagnosis. I don't remember how long it lasted for me but it was at least a year. Grief for the person I could have been had I had the support I desperately needed. I'm tearing up now, remembering that period of my life.