A Compassionate Look at the Overlap No One Talks About (But Should)
Imagine trying to navigate a busy kitchen with timers ringing and ingredients scattered all over the place. Just as you’re starting to get a handle on it, someone turns off the lights and hides half your cutlery. That’s what menopause can feel like when you also have ADHD.
If that image made you nod in recognition—you’re not alone. The interplay of ADHD and menopause is rarely talked about, leaving many to weather the storm in silence.
And often the most challenging part?
Many don’t even know they have ADHD. For others, a diagnosis may be in the rearview mirror, but the intensity of midlife symptoms still blindsides them—due to a widespread lack of awareness and information (MacLean, 2023).
Why Does ADHD Impact Menopause So Much?
Hormones and the ADHD Brain: Estrogen’s Hidden Role
Estrogen is not just about periods or pregnancy—it plays a major role in how the brain functions, particularly with focus, mood, and motivation. One of its key roles is helping regulate dopamine, the brain chemical behind attention, reward, and emotional balance.
If you have ADHD, your brain already struggles with dopamine. Estrogen steps in like a helpful co-pilot, smoothing out the ride.
Here’s how estrogen boosts dopamine:
- It helps your brain produce more dopamine.
- It increases your brain’s sensitivity to dopamine.
- It slows the reabsorption of dopamine, so it sticks around longer. (Hwang, Gwak & Kang, 2020)
But during perimenopause and menopause (which can begin as early as your 30s or 40s), estrogen levels drop. When that happens, it’s like your co-pilot vanishes mid-flight—and brain function takes a hit.
Tasks that were already difficult become overwhelming. You can’t focus like before. Memory fog sets in. Mood swings intensify. ADHD symptoms that were once manageable now feel chaotic.
It’s not that your ADHD is getting worse out of nowhere. Estrogen was acting as invisible support. With its decline, the scaffolding disappears (Antoniou & Kerasidou, 2021).
This is why many ADHDr’s are only diagnosed with ADHD in midlife— because the estrogen has been supporting them in masking their symptoms for years. As hormone levels shift, the once-reliable coping strategies start to become overwhelming to keep up with (Quinn, 2022).
When Symptoms Collide
Hot flashes, night sweats, and insomnia are disruptive on their own. But if you also have ADHD, the combination can feel like a double hit.
ADHD already brings forgetfulness, time blindness, and difficulty planning. Add sleep disruption and hormone chaos? The result is emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion. Many feel like their brains are glitching.
Many ask- Is menopause making ADHD worse? Or is ADHD making menopause more intense? It’s not one or the other. It’s both.
As estrogen drops, the hormonal support your ADHD brain relied on disappears. Symptoms don’t just return—they intensify.
Meanwhile, ADHD makes menopause harder to cope with:
- Struggling with sleep? ADHD makes it challenging to stick to a bedtime routine.
- Mood swings? Emotional regulation is already a challenge which the menopause intensifies.
- Forgetfulness? It’s hard to tell if it’s brain fog or ADHD—or both.
The key is understanding what’s happening. Once you know menopause and ADHD are colliding, you can start finding targeted solutions.
These issues are not your fault or a result of ‘not trying hard enough‘.
Your brain is undergoing real, biological shifts.
The Emotional Toll: A Thermostat Gone Haywire
Hormonal fluctuations affect serotonin and dopamine—key mood regulators. When estrogen drops, it throws your emotional thermostat off (Sherwin, 1996). People with ADHD already feel emotions intensely and can struggle to regulate them.
Many report that once small frustrations become overwhelming. Brief sadness can spiral into despair. The internal thermostat doesn’t just glitch—it swings from freezing to boiling.
This is one of the most painful parts of the ADHD-menopause experience. Not just the emotional rollercoaster, but the self-blame that often follows.
But here’s the truth: your emotions are real, valid, and biologically driven. It’s not a personal failure. It’s chemistry.
Recognising that can help you respond with compassion instead of criticism. You can pause and say, “This is my brain reacting to hormonal shifts. I’m not losing it.”
This Isn’t Just Aging. It’s a Neurological Remix.
Menopause doesn’t cause ADHD, but it can amplify it in ways that are too often dismissed. You deserve more than a shrug. You deserve validation, support, and care that sees the full picture.
How to Support Your Brain & Body Through the Shift
- Understand the Role of Estrogen
Estrogen helps regulate dopamine—your ADHD brain’s favorite neurotransmitter.
When it drops, ADHD symptoms can flare.
✓ Talk to a healthcare provider who understands both ADHD and hormone therapy.
✓ Consider nutrition that supports hormone and brain health:
- Omega-3s (salmon, chia seeds, walnuts)
- Fibre-rich foods (leafy greens, oats, flaxseed)
- Protein + complex carbs to support dopamine
- Reassess ADHD Treatment—Or Get Assessed
Your brain chemistry has changed. That’s not a failure—it’s a signal.
✓ Check in with your prescriber about your ADHD meds.
✓ Work with an ADHD-informed therapist or coach.
Never been assessed? Now might be the time to do so. Diagnosis brings clarity and support tailored to how your brain works now during these changes.
- Support Sleep & Daily Functioning
Sleep issues derail focus and executive function.
✓ Build a calming 2–3 step bedtime routine.
✓ Use ADHD-friendly supports: visual planners, timers, whiteboards, or apps like Tiimo and Structured.
- Care for Emotional Health
Mood swings + ADHD emotional intensity = a wild ride.
✓ See spirals as biological, not personal.
✓ Try therapy, mindfulness, or grounding techniques.
✓ Make space for radical self-compassion.
This stage of life may feel like everything’s unraveling, but it can also be a time to rebuild with awareness and self-kindness. With the right tools and understanding, you can navigate this shift—and come through stronger.
You’re not alone. You’re just living through a very real remix. And your brain deserves the spotlight and support it’s been missing.
References:
- Antoniou, E., & Kerasidou, M. (2021). ADHD symptoms in females during childhood, adolescence, reproductive, and menopause periods. Materia Socio-Medica, 33(2), 136–140.
- MacLean, L. (2023, September 7). Why ADHD is often underdiagnosed in women. Henry Ford Health.
- Hwang, C. S., Gwak, Y. S., & Kang, D. H. (2020). The role of estrogen receptors and their signaling across psychiatric disorders. IJMS, 21(24), 9626.
- Quinn, P. O. (2022). Women with ADHD: Navigating hormonal changes and life transitions. Journal of Attention Disorders, 26(4), 345–352.
- Sherwin, B. B. (1996). Hormones, mood, and cognitive functioning in postmenopausal women. Obstetrics & Gynecology Clinics of North America, 23(2), 501–513.
