Dr. Louise Newson
Appearances
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
We see so many women who are neurodivergent and get worse during perimenopause and menopause. And a lot of people like hyperfixate. They get quite obsessive. They can ruminate. They can worry. They can think a lot more. And the reason I'm so confident that a lot of it's related to hormones is because I see people improve.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
It's huge. I mean, I qualified in 1994, and that was the year that women were first... They recommended that women should be used in clinical studies. So if you think all my undergraduate knowledge is based on studies done on men... And that's a lot of the way that I've been prescribing for many years. And you just think this is absolutely madness.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And then most of the studies on hormones have been done on the reproductive tract. And then you think, actually, this is ludicrous as well, because the hormones are so important. And even now... People are quite scared of hormones because they think, oh, HRT equals breast cancer, which it doesn't. This is older types of hormones. The ones we prescribe are literally just replacing.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And a lot of people don't prescribe them, so they don't see the effects or they don't want to see the effects often as well. But women are really knowing and they're not stupid and they can often see this change throughout their cycle. And it's interesting, isn't it? If you think about ADHD, so many more women in their 40s are being diagnosed.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And it might be that their symptoms are just being uncovered more because of the hormonal chaos that's going on. But it just seems really wrong to me that people are given a label. when you haven't looked at the bigger picture. And it's, I mean, I don't need to tell you, you're an expert in ADHD, but no two people with ADHD are the same.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So it's all very well having a diagnosis, but in my mind as a doctor, the most important thing is getting the right treatment. And treating the underlying cause looking very holistically. And it really worries me when I see these clinics that are just a conveyor belt. They're just sort of a number really in a queue and you're just treated in a certain way. And it's very formulaic.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
I'm not sure that's helpful for people.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
I totally agree. I mean, I did a podcast with one of our doctors, Sumi, who's, she's incredible. I don't know if you've heard it. She's got ADHD and she was self-medicating herself. And when she was actually a doctor in America, she didn't know what was really going on. And she started to take some antidepressants and thought, well, maybe that will help a bit.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And then she took a bit more and just thought this isn't right. But she had no one to talk to, absolutely no one to understand at all. And it was only really when she was... trying to get pregnant and realized that some of it could be related to hormones. And it wasn't actually until she, she started with HRT, then added testosterone. And then she was like, this is transformation.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
I've never been able to think like this before, but you don't know what you're missing until you have it back. And that's, that's the real travesty that the only the minority of women are Globally, who are menopausal are prescribed HRT and even less are prescribed testosterone. And, you know, there is data testosterone in men and women with ADHD can really make a difference.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And you're like, well, in medicine, you can try something. I'm not saying that everybody's going to get better with hormonal treatment, but a lot of them do. And it's just madness that they're not able to access that.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So if you think, you might have done it in biology many years ago, but the sort of average cycle, and not that anyone was average, is 28 days. And in the first half of the cycle, you get an increase of estradiol progesterone. And then in the middle, there's like a peak where women ovulate, produce an egg. And there's a peak of estradiol progesterone and testosterone, actually.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And then the second half of the cycle, progesterone goes very, very high. Estradiol goes a little bit high. And then they both fall off a cliff. And then that triggers a period. So often with the brain, as you know, the brain likes homeostasis, everything the same, everything calm.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So any change, so some women find as they ovulate in the middle of the month, they might find that their symptoms change. But it classically is just before their period when they've got that big decline. Because the hormones work to... Improve the way the cells work in the brain, the energy production, you know, we've got receptors on mitochondria that produce energy in every single cell.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And also just the way that the hormones work in the brain with all the other, you know, like I've said, the other neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, glutamate. melatonin, all of those are really important, obviously, for our mood, our memory, our sleep, our cognition. So this fluctuation can really trigger symptoms.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So often it's before a period, but it can vary so much between women, but they often do notice there's a cyclical variation.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
It's crucially important It's so important and it's so neglected because like I say a lot of people just dismiss hormonal changes when people are young or it's normalized and And then as we age, our ovaries don't work as well because we're only born with a finite number of eggs. So our hormone levels start to really fluctuate in perimenopause.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Ah, well, I'm delighted to be here. It feels great. It feels very comfortable.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So peri just means around the time of menopause and menopause means when periods stop. But that can last for 10 years or so. And I see quite a lot of women who still have regular periods, but they're sadly getting these symptoms, especially affecting their brain.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And unless you've got that knowledge or unless someone sits down and explains to you what's going on or you track and monitor your symptoms, it's very easy to blame other things or think there's something else going on. And, you know, like I said, a lot of people I see have waited often, many years to get a diagnosis and They've got a diagnosis, but it's so obvious it's related to their hormones.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
But it's very hard. You know, I had symptoms eight, nine years ago. And it's a bit embarrassing being a menopause specialist, but they lasted six to seven months until my middle daughter made my diagnosis for me, which is very kind of a... But when you're with yourself 24-7, you just accept any change and you don't always notice any change or you put it down to something else.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And so often with women, it's like, oh, well, it must be really hard for her because she's got three children and she works all the time and she's got parents or whatever. And it's like, hang on, there must be something else that's going on. And if you haven't got that knowledge... then it's very hard to know.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And if you're locked into a medical system that's telling you X, Y, Z, not telling you about how hormones work in the brain, then it's not going to be on your radar at all. And then the other travesty, I think, is that so many women who are younger... are given contraception and then their brain function actually worsens. And I see it a lot with my children.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Their friends are given contraception and then they're given antidepressants and then they're not being able to think properly. And I'm just thinking, oh, my goodness, if I could. And I do see quite a few of them as patients.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
give them natural hormones it can make a massive difference and that's what I think it's all very well me age 54 having hormonal changes but actually if you're in your 20s and 30s that's your whole career could be different your whole pathway could be very different if you had the right understanding knowledge and the right treatment from the right person and you know one in
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
You know, I don't do anything else to them other than rebalance their hormones. And they're like, wow, I feel like my brain's been freed.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
About one in 30 women under the age of 40 have menopause at a young age. So no one's too young to be perimenopausal or menopausal either. So these hormonal shifts are so important for people to recognize. But it's actually really important for women to recognize themselves and then go and seek help rather than expecting a doctor to diagnose because a lot of them won't.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Any type of contraception. So the tablet contraception, so the combined oral contraceptive pill, the progesterone-only pill, the implants, they're all synthetic, so they've been chemically altered, which basically means if something's been chemically altered, it's not going to have the same beneficial effect on the cell because all our cells have receptors. It's a bit like a key and a lock.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So they've got the lock waiting for the key, the hormone to fit in, unlock, and then you've got these lovely biological reactions going on. You can imagine if it's been altered a bit, it might go into the lock. You know, if you've had a dodgy key cut, it fits in and then it doesn't quite unlock. And that's what happens with these synthetic hormones.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
I want them to think differently about hormones and how they affect the brain. Because a lot of people don't even know what hormones are. Or if they do, they think about periods. And I'm not really wanting to talk about periods other than how hormones change with the cycle.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So they block the natural hormones having an effect, but they also don't have the lovely biological reactions going on. And there's some studies, not many, because no one's really done good studies of women, of course, that women who have contraceptive pill will have lower levels of serotonin in their brain because Easterdahl will improve serotonin.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So if you block Easterdahl, you're going to reduce serotonin levels and dopamine and other neurotransmitters as well, which is really important. But a lot of younger people, they're just blamed. Oh, it's because, you know. or it's all because they're young and they've just got immature brains or whatever.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
But again, thinking about what we're doing to the brain, which is such an important organ, is so crucial.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Absolutely. The... effect of changing hormones on the brain is huge and often things just get very overwhelming people often catastrophize people often find that they're very very anxious and they worry about things that they wouldn't have worried about before their short-term memory is not as good their recall is not as good a lot of people worry that they've got dementia and
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
They know that something's not right, but they don't know what to do and they can't fix it. Anybody that's listening who's had brain fog is just the hardest thing ever because you know you should be able to function and you can't. It's really, really disconcerting and it's very, very isolating.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And a lot of people are too scared to talk about their symptoms or they go and get help and they're misdiagnosed with depression and then they're being medicalised with the wrong medication. That can often make things worse as well. So people really scramble.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And, you know, we also know, like, as I said to you, you can have low dopamine with the low hormones and then people aren't having that reward. So then they're thinking about drugs or alcohol or any addictive behavior to try and get that dopamine. And that's not going to necessarily help. but they don't know that it's not helping because they're so desperate to get help.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
We did an addiction survey last year, and it's shocking, actually, the number of people that are turning to alcohol to try and numb their symptoms, but also drugs as well. And, you know, that is really scary, and it just highlights that as a medical profession we're letting these people down because they don't know where else to go and get help.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
But I want to be thinking about how hormones work in the brain and how they can affect our brain function in ways that people probably haven't thought about before.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So the first thing is everyone's different. So like I'm painting a really negative picture. Some people are fine or they think they're fine. Most women do have some sort of symptoms, but not everyone has huge symptoms. But the most important thing is to have that knowledge. So obviously I've created Balance app, which is a free app.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So people can actually record their symptoms and that can be really useful actually, just to have a log of symptoms because sometimes you don't know unless you do it every three months or so and then you can see, is there a change? Is there a pattern? Is something else going on? If people have periods, they can monitor it with their symptoms and periods as well. So that can be really helpful.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
But it's also getting others to know what's going on as well, because it's and it's not just at home because most of us spend more time with work colleagues than we do at home. But just to let people like recognize some of the symptoms that might be occurring as well. And then it's also thinking about, well, if I do have symptoms, what am I going to do and when am I going to get help?
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Because a lot of people think. With menopause, two things. They often think they have to have flushes and sweats, which most of us don't have, so you don't have to. Or they have to wait until they're really experiencing a lot of symptoms that are very badly affecting the quality of their life. And, you know, no one gets a badge of honour for suffering with symptoms.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So we know that the earlier people can have treatment, the better. So it's really about being proactive rather than just reactive. I think it's so important. And if someone's decided that they do want hormones, then making sure that they see someone who understands the right dose and type. Because about 50% of people who come to our clinic are already taking hormones.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
They're not coming because they want to just see us. They're coming because they know they're still having some symptoms. And like I say, the addition of testosterone can make such a difference that often people think testosterone is just for libido for women and if your libido is okay, then you don't need it.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
But actually the way that testosterone works on the brain, but also progesterone is a very calming hormone.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
neuro hormone as well and a lot of people might have had a hysterectomy their womb removed or they might have a marina coil and be told they don't need progesterone you know whereas actually a lot of people when they take natural progesterone they sleep better their way they think is a lot calmer they're a lot less anxious and i'm sure that has a quite positive effect on women with adhd as well
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
They take a really good history, work out what's going on, but treat the underlying cause and then see what's left. So I wouldn't rush and diagnose ADHD. in somebody who was having hormonal changes. And I'm not saying all hormonal changes will cause ADHD, but they'll often cause symptoms suggestive of ADHD or worse than it.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So the hormones really that I'm talking about are estrogen, but a good form of estrogen called estradiol, progesterone and testosterone. And they are made in the female brain and the male brain. So they are actually made in the brain. Whereas if you, most people, even lots of doctors will say, well, they're just made in the ovaries, but they're not. So they're neurosteroids.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And so it's a lot more natural to have the replacement hormones that are fluctuating and causing these changes in the brain rather than giving another drug, if you see what I mean. And it's so many women that just don't join the dots because often if you look at the definition of menopause, it's a year since the last period. Like it's it's a rubbish diagnosis.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Like why does someone decide it has to be a year after someone's last period? It's just stupid, actually. But actually, when we think about what it is, it means the hormone levels are low and they stay low.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
But like I've said, this perimenopause, this time before when hormones are really fluctuating, this chaos in our brain can often trigger a myriad of symptoms that will often be misdiagnosed as ADHD. And that's, I think, so awful because women are suffering and without thinking about what are the hormonal shifts, is there anything I can do to replace those hormones?
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And that's what's so important, I think, for women to get that knowledge so that if they're being made or given a diagnosis or referred to someone, you can say, well, actually... Could I think about having hormones first? Could I consider having those hormones?
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And it's often multi-pronged, like nothing or very little in medicine is just one cause and effect other than, you know, if I cut my hand, I put a plaster on, it's one cut, fine. But when it's the hormones, they have an effect on everything else as well. They have an effect on other hormones in the body, but also the way that we function.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So many people who are perimenopausal are not sleeping well. They're feeling more tired. They've got low energy. They've got muscle and joint pains, so they don't want to exercise. So it's not just the hormones. Their lifestyle's changed as well. So looking at all of those things together... And then seeing what's left is so much more important than rushing to make a diagnosis.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And it's very interesting, actually. I'm on a WhatsApp group with some ADHD specialists across the world. So there's a great specialist in Darwin, Australia. There's a gynecologist, would you believe, who specializes in ADHD in Sweden. And then loads of GPs. And it's so interesting, the chat, because we're all seeing similar patients. We're all seeing similar effects.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Even the gynecologist in Sweden, she's saying the biggest effect is with testosterone when it's added to HRT. But I can't talk about it because the gynecologists don't want to believe it. And the psychiatrist in Darwin is being really converted. It's great. I love converting other doctors. And he's just going, yeah, this all makes sense. Why didn't I think about this before?
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And it's just great in medicine. You learn so much from experience. And then actually in the chat a couple of days ago, people were putting loads of papers in about the role of hormones in the brain, roles of estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, how they work in the brain. And everyone's just going, wow, wow, wow, this is great.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And I think it's so important that as a doctor you're really open-minded. And it's also, I think, the way that we talk to patients because so often people think, well, they've got a disease, they've got a label, therefore that's it, I'm not interested as a doctor because I've done my diagnosing bit.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Whereas actually for that individual, it's not so much what their label does, it's how are you going to treat, how is it going to affect my life, what are the things. I think, well, I'm sure you agree, but ADHD can be a superpower if it's channeled in the right way, if people have the right information.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
They affect the way the brain works. And that's really important because they work with other chemicals in the brain, other hormones in the brain, other neurotransmitters. And once you understand the science of how hormones work, when we don't have them, i.e. we're menopausal, or they're fluctuating, i.e.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And what worries me is that obviously there's this plethora of clinics now, there's a huge number of people waiting, and they almost think that to have the diagnosis is going to transform their lives. And I worry about that, actually, because I worry about medicalising people the wrong way. I worry about medics, doctors, giving people false expectations, actually.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And actually, a lot of so much or so much of it is about knowledge and looking at intrinsic and extrinsic factors that make a difference rather than just waiting, waiting for a label. What do you do with the label? It might be helpful to tell people that you've got a condition like ADHD, but actually two people with ADHD are not the same.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So it's not like just putting people into a slot and making you feel better. It's far more than that. And that's why I think thinking about what's going on in the brain, what are the factors that are changing, what's gone on, what's going on in this person's life and how much is treatable with hormones.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
and and it's not just women actually because men have low testosterone and that's often not addressed or it might be addressed in the wrong way so it's so important that doctors wake up to the fact that hormones have a role in the brain and that women and men do so that they when appropriate can ask for the right treatment yes you get the diagnosis and it's very much like well what now
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Yeah, absolutely. And that really worries me. You know, I was saying to you before we recorded, you know, my daughter the other day said, I'm sure I've got ADHD. I'm sure she has. But having a label or waiting on a really long waiting list To have a drug that she may or may not benefit from, is it going to help her?
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And actually she's more worried thinking about it than actually looking at tools to help how she's going to help when she's, you know, catastrophized because she's got so many things on her to-do list and she can't focus or she hyper-focuses and then forgetting everything else, you know.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Sometimes in medicine, we forget sometimes it's the basic things we need to do rather than reaching for our prescription pads. And I feel like it's a bit weird because I'm talking about prescribing something, but they are just natural hormones. It's very different to giving a synthetic drug.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
we're perimenopausal, or they're dropping very quickly just before periods, then you can easily join the dots and think, ah, that makes sense.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Absolutely. If you think very basically, our hormones all derive from cholesterol. So cholesterol is not all bad. It can form our cell membranes, but it's really important. So cholesterol forms progesterone. Progesterone then forms testosterone, which then forms estradiol. But going further up, progesterone also forms cortisol and cortisol are stress hormones. So it's a bit like a seesaw really.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
If you've got more stress and more stress hormones, you're likely to have less progesterone. And that's why often progesterone having the right balance and dose is quite calming as well. And what worries me sometimes is that A lot of emphasis is put on what's gone on in the past, like previous events, trauma.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And of course these things have an effect on the brain, but they're exemplified and worsened if we don't have the right hormonal balance. If you've got too much adrenaline or adrenaline, cortisol going on, it's going to make that brain more hyper-aware, hyper-vigilant, but also that worry, that reactivation of maybe some negative things that are going on.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And then it's just almost people are, I don't know, not really labelled, but I think so many people will say, oh, well, it's related to previous trauma. We understand why that's happening. But actually lots of people have trauma. Not everyone has symptoms that's going to then cause a problem in the future. But thinking about that balance of hormones is so crucial.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And thinking about how the hormones affect, like I say, cortisol and cortisone. You know, it's just this direct pathway. But also, like I said before, about how they affect different neurotransmitters in the brain. So like noradrenaline, adrenaline. dopamine, serotonin, all of those have a really important, crucial effect.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And I think so often in the brain, people think about one area or one chemical without thinking about how they all interfere with each other. So I think, you know, doing a proper assessment is crucially important. But I do... I feel sometimes that there's a bit too much, not blame, but emphasis maybe put onto previous events that could have triggered something else.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And I don't know sometimes that's helpful because then... People aren't being treated in the right way. It's almost like associated with something that's happened in the past, and of course that's going to affect their brain, that's going to affect their processing. But actually, with the right treatment, it doesn't all have to be related to previous events. Does that make sense?
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Well, mainly because I see so many people. I've got a huge amount of clinical experience and knowledge. And I've sort of dedicated my career really thinking about menopause. But it's extended more actually to thinking more about hormones. But I've got quite an unusual career in that a lot of menopause specialists are gynecologists.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
how does menopause come into yeah how does it difference how is it different in the way that it clashes with the traits of adhd compared to how it might clash it's all there it's all there like hormones get everywhere i mean it's all that we see so many women who are neurodivergent and get worse during perimenopause and menopause and a lot of people like hyperfixate they like say they get quite obsessive they can ruminate they can worry they can think a lot more
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Any ritualistic behaviour can get worse as well. And that can be very difficult if people are neurodivergent. It really can. And the reason I'm so confident that a lot of it's related to hormones is because I see people improve. I don't do anything else to them other than rebalance their hormones. And they're like, wow, I feel like my brain's been freed.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Because it is quite claustrophobic when you have certain symptoms. And a lot of people, as you know, are neurodivergent, which again can be a real great skill, can't it? But if it takes a hold in your life, then it can be catastrophic. And the number of people that are paralysed because their brain's not working properly without people thinking about hormones is so important.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And so I think the big telltale sign is if symptoms are fluctuating. then it's almost like think about hormones first. And if you're confident it's not related to hormones, that's fine, rather than waiting for it to be thought about at the last. Because once you start to see it and understand it, it's just there and it's so obvious. But the problem is it's not always thought about.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And people don't understand the role of hormones and the big effect that they can have on the brain. Or they think, oh, no, I've had hormones and I felt worse, so therefore I won't have them again. But when they talk about the hormones they've had, they're often contraceptive hormones. So a lot of people who are neurodivergent or with ADHD will say, no, do you know what?
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
I had the implant and I felt awful. I had to literally rip it out of my arm. I felt so terrible. But they are having a synthetic hormone. It's basically giving them a chemical menopause. It's very different to having natural hormones. So again, it's really important that people understand that not all hormones are the same.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Some people will be listening to this and go, well, that's rubbish because I tell you what, I felt awful when I was on contraception. Well, yeah, but they're more likely to benefit from natural hormones. And there's some people that are very sensitive to hormones. And And we're seeing increasingly number of women who are more testosterone deficient than estrogen and progesterone deficient.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So they're having regular periods, but they're finding it very difficult to process, very difficult to think, their memory's not great, their energy's not very good, their stamina's not very good, they feel more tired, but their brain just doesn't multitask the same way. And often that's related to testosterone deficiency.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
I have nothing against gynaecologists, but I'm not a gynaecologist. I'm a general physician, but I've also got a pathology degree as well. So I'm very interested in the study of disease. And if you know why the body works, it helps you understand what diseases occur and why they occur. So at a sort of cellular molecular level. And then I've done a lot of hospital medicine and lots of specialties.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
I think the most important thing is thinking about, when we think about menopause, so many people think it's just a transition. It's just something we go through, but it lasts forever because our hormones, once they're low, are low forever. So they'll be low in our brain forever. So having the right dose and type of hormone, once they've got that, they can continue it forever.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And that is a massive beacon of hope because there's nothing worse than being felt great on something and then being told, oh no, actually you can't carry on. Hormones are very safe. They're very effective. They just naturally replace what's missing in our bodies.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And so many people then, once they're on hormones, find that they can think better, they can function better, they can exercise, they can do all the things that they know they should be doing, but they're not doing as well. And the other thing I think is really important, because it sounds like I'm just pushing hormones, but is that, you know, we can try them and see if they work.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
They can be taken very safely with other medication. And if they don't work, we can stop them as well. So people don't have to be on them forever if it's not right for them. But it just seems so ridiculous almost that so many people are either scared away from hormones or they're not being given them when so much is related to the hormonal effects, especially on the brain.
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How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So... It's a diary, but each day has a whole page dedicated to it. And my writing is quite messy, but I will write a list of things that I need to do. So it's not a diary. I used to write as a teenager all the things that happened to me, all my emotions. It's not that at all. It's literally a list of things that I need to do.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And in fact, when you asked me for the item, I was like, oh dear, yes, I do have ADHD. I've never had it diagnosed, but I'm sure I do. And some of it is because I'm so busy, but like, you know, my computer's always got loads of tabs open. I've always got loads of WhatsApps popping up.
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How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
I'm always thinking, oh my goodness, I've got to do X, Y, Z. There's something very therapeutic about writing it down because it's empty. A lot of my... The way I can do so much is just try and empty my brain because once it's empty, I can think and probably fill it up again. But as soon as I've written something down, then I don't think about it because I know it's there.
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How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And it's something very tactile about having paper and a pen. I know I could use notes on my phone, but I've tried it so many times, it's not the same. But the best thing about it is that I can tick off when I've done things as well. And if I haven't done it on the day, I transfer it to the next day and the next day. And so eventually it makes me do things.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So that is, and again, it is a very, it's a really nice, it's like my real treat. It's my Christmas present every year. But I like touching it. I like feeling it. It's a bit of a comfort blanket as well. Sounds a bit silly, doesn't it?
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And then I was a GP for 25 years, but also a medical writer. So I've written a lot of evidence-based medicine. I've written four books on evidence-based medicine. So I'm quite geeky and scientific as well. But I'm also, well, I'd like to think a good doctor in that field. You know, my patients are central to everything that I do. Very different.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
I mean, I have lots of notebooks. And actually, yeah, my daughter has whiteboards up and we often salivate over different, you know, notebooks. But it has to be something that you've got there because otherwise you're just thinking, actually, that note that I wrote, it's not with me now and I'm now traveling or whatever. So I think it's, yeah, it's difficult.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Everyone's got to find what works for them, isn't it? The other thing that I do a lot of is I do a lot of yoga and that definitely helps clear my mind. Now, I do a stanga yoga every Wednesday. So I was doing it this morning with the instructor and I do 10 minutes at the end of Shavasana where you're just literally meditating. And that is just so brilliant to clear my mind.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So I think as well as taking hormones, having something where you can clear your mind and focus on the present. I think is so important, whether you've got ADHD or not. And I think we're such a busy world, aren't we? We're constantly got this to do and that to do and this person to see and that email to respond to and something on social media that's really important to look at, whatever.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So one of the things I've learned more and more with age and experience, I suppose, is focus on the present. And I think that is so crucially important because otherwise things can get overwhelming very, very quickly, can't they? Yeah.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Yeah, absolutely. It is so important. And everyone's different and having the tools is so crucial. And I see that a lot with my oldest daughter. who's got a lot on, but then she's typical. She's always late. She's always leaving. And I'm just like, oh, why? Why don't you become? And some of it, she's young, but some of it is just the way that her brain is working differently.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So I think we all need tools, don't we? We all need ways of trying to just help others.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
This is so funny, and I'm laughing because as I got the train down here, I dropped off at a flat where my daughter's living. And she warned me because she has migraine as well, and she said the flat's a real mess. So I didn't have time to really look. But when I went to the bathroom, I thought, I bet her washing is full.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And I've emptied it, and I've got no idea how long those sheets were in there for. But anyway, I've put another load of washing on for her. Yeah. No, I don't because I like to complete things. And so I'm actually quite obsessed about if I complete it, I'm not thinking about it. So I'm quite good with the washing machine, actually.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
When I qualified in 94, it was very much you gave that green piece of paper, you know, the prescription that they used to give. You'd literally give it to a patient, ask no questions, off they go. They would take the medication or not, I suppose. But it was nothing in context of how does the patient feel? What are they experiencing? Why might they be feeling like this?
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Great question. Having three daughters, the youngest one's still very much a teenager, I sympathise. But this is what I was saying before, we can't be normalising it because it's really difficult for those children. And we've known for...
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Decades, even in 1961, there was an article in the British Medical Journal showing that girls who have PMS or PMDD fluctuations, their hormones achieve worse if they have exams just before their periods. And so we need to be helping girls understand what's going on with their hormones. but also thinking about how we can help them sometimes as well.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
It's harder when they're under 16 or under 18 because of just medically treating them because they've got lots going on in their bodies. But we see a lot of people who are 18, 19 years, and giving just usually just some progesterone, you know, that big graph that I said that drop off, giving a little bit can be transformational for these people.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And it's just so awful that there's so little research in how the hormones can have such an effect. Because adolescence is a bit like a flavor, a bit of a taster for perimenopause, you know, these hormonal shift changes. So talking about it, getting understanding is really important. But actually thinking about how hormones might just smooth out a little bit as well is something to consider.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
The other thing is, I know it sounds really obvious, just thinking about nutrition, because all these inflammatory diets, processed food will have massive effect. The sugar cravings, you know, will have a big effect on our hormones as well. And it sounds really boring, doesn't it, to eat a really healthy diet?
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Even snacking regularly can help with progesterone levels as well, but snacking on healthy things, not on unhealthy things. And it's so easy to eat badly, to drink the wrong things. But looking at nutrition, looking at any exercise as well, which I know is quite hard for teenagers to do, anything that's going to...
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And so now it's so different, thankfully. So I'm very patient-centered in the way that I practice medicine, but with evidence-based as well.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
help that think about that cortisol and that balance anything that's going to be calming going outside going for a walk I know certainly with a lot of people especially with my children as well it's so much better talking to someone that you're driving or you're walking because you're not looking at them
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And it's quite hard getting children to go out for a walk, but in the car it's sometimes easier. Because that actually can be quite isolating and scary for those teenagers as well. I've said how hard it can be for perimenopausal and menopausal women. But young girls, you know, they learn everything from TikTok and social media, don't they? And everyone looks perfect on social media.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
They, of course, all their catastrophes and make it sound awful. So actually... talking about it is really really important but if you think you need to get help then making sure you see someone who understands how hormones can change and what can be done as well so interesting that you mentioned that there was an actual study that showed girls performed lesser in exams
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So that's when that drop of progesterone, that drop of estradiol, the brain is just not working. You haven't got the same connectivity of the brain. You haven't got all those synapses firing in the right way. You've got probably less blood supply to the brain. Memory's not as good. Sleep might not be as good. Yeah, I mean, isn't it madness? That was 1961 that study came out.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Totally does, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so it's just such a shame that women are often... not working to their best ability. And even on personal experience, if I wasn't taking hormones, I would not be working as a doctor. I can't begin to explain how hard it is when your brain doesn't function. And you don't know what's going on. And you don't know what you're missing until you have it back.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
That's the other thing as well.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Thank you for inviting me.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So, right, three rules to live by. One, people are going to judge you no matter what. So you may as well do what you want. It's your life. I like that. Everything is figureoutable. I don't think everything is, but most things may be. The only perfect thing in the world is you because you're the only you that exists. Be nice to yourself.
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How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Working out why some people behave as badly as they do.
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How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Well, no, I think there's probably reasons why criminals. I've done quite a lot of work in prison and you can work out often why. No, I think I get bullied quite a lot for what I do in the media. It's fine. People can read about it. And I can't understand people's motives sometimes. I can't understand why people are mean, actually. I've sort of grown up wanting to be kind.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And I don't think it's a bad thing being kind. It doesn't mean you have to like everyone, but you can still be kind and polite and courteous. And so I can't figure out why people don't want to be kind or why they have this feeling that they can be mean. Because meanness is like such a horrible thing.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Well, there's a lot of meanness when it comes to women's health and hormones. And often it's come from misunderstanding. And I think also it comes from fear, fear of women being in control and women being in control of their bodies. And people don't like change as well. If you're changing a narrative, that can be quite difficult.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Menopause, many people think, is just a few flushes and sweats. Actually, the main symptoms affecting people during menopause, but also perimenopause, when levels are really fluctuating and changing, are symptoms affecting the brain. So a lot of people find they have brain fog, they have
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
No, it's mainly from women, actually. Isn't that interesting? Yeah, yeah. So I think that's hard to figure out, what people's agenda is when they're being nasty. And that's the same, I was bullied at school for being clever. You know, when I see my children, if they've ever been bullied, you think, actually, what are these people? Why are they doing this?
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
You can just ignore it if you don't like something, but don't be mean.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Thank you, it's been great, thank you
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Yeah, hugely, actually. And it's interesting because if I'd had this conversation with you 10 years ago, I probably would have gone, oh, I don't know that it does have an effect. But it definitely does, thinking about how the hormones work. And when our hormones fluctuate or change, it affects so many cell processes.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
But when I see people in the clinic, they maybe have been diagnosed with ADHD or they think they've got ADHD. But often it's got a lot worse. And menopause, many people think it's just a few flushes and sweats, something that people just get through.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Whereas actually the main symptoms affecting people during menopause, but also perimenopause when levels are really fluctuating and changing, are symptoms affecting the brain. So a lot of people find they have brain fog, they have poor memory, reduced concentration, irritability, they might have poor sleep. They often have low mood, anxiety.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So all of those things are indicating that the brain isn't working properly, if you see what I mean. And then a lot of people say that they get these symptoms and then their period comes and they feel fine again. And then the second half of their cycle, they find it harder to concentrate, harder to do things.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And if they've got ADHD, they often find that their symptoms worsen and then they improve and there's a sort of cyclical nature. And during perimenopause, hormones are all over the place, so it can really make an effect. And I prescribe hormones to rebalance the hormones because we know that when people have the right dose and type of hormones, it does two things.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
It improves symptoms, but it improves future health. And increasingly in the clinic, we find that when women have the right dose of hormones, especially testosterone, actually, then a lot of their ADHD symptoms really improve dramatically. They find it a lot easier to process. They're a lot clearer in their mind. They can think better.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And, you know, in medicine, a lot of it is pattern recognition. You know, you see and then you think, actually, wow, why is that working? How is that happening? And then you look at how these hormones work in the brain and you think, well, it's, you know, it all makes sense. But it's just been ignored really because a lot of psychiatrists, as you know, deal with ADHD.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Gynecologists tend to deal with
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
menopause or period problems so there's like no connection and then you know i see so many women who have been given amphetamine type drugs but their symptoms have started in their 40s when they've been getting other symptoms and yeah it's just like i just think why are we not looking at the bigger picture and saying what what's going on what the change is going on in the brain and treat those first really
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
poor memory reduced concentration irritability i have poor sleep they get these symptoms and then their period comes and they feel fine again and then the second half of their cycle they find it harder to concentrate harder to do things and if they've got adhd they often find that their symptoms worsen we find that when women have the right dose of hormones especially testosterone actually then a lot of their adhd symptoms really improve
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Yeah, it's an absolute disaster. I was doing some training of some psychiatrists. I won't mention which clinic, but it's a clinic that the NHS have commissioned because obviously ADHD services are so stretched in the NHS. So I was training, it was about 150 psychiatrists on the call, And I love teaching psychiatrists because they really get it. They understand it.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And at the end, so many of them are saying, yeah, that's like women I see all the time. It's like, yeah, wow, wow, wow. Well, why don't you prescribe some hormones? Oh, no, we're only commissioned to prescribe these drugs. Like, I mean, I'm sure you know more than me, but that is the pathway. That is what NHS are funding them to do. And I'm like, I can't believe that.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
It's just, it really plays with my mind because in my mind,
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
mind I'm a holistic doctor you know if someone comes with a headache it could be loads of different reasons I'm not going to just give them one treatment like that's not how we're trained I was really shocked even to hear that and then they said oh yes but we could say go back to the GP and maybe see the GP for an assessment of their hormones well firstly people can't make an appointment because you know it's really hard and secondly you might not see a GP who understands
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And thirdly, these are medical doctors. They should be trained in how hormones affect the brain as well. So I and we see it a lot. There's a lot of women who, you know, it depends on who you get referred to. But so many are under psychiatrists and they're not being asked about their hormones.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And I just think it's completely wrong because in medicine you want to treat the underlying cause if you can.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Yeah, so often if I think symptoms are related to hormones, then I'll always give the hormones back to physiological response. But looking at nutrition, exercise, everything else as well. But I don't know how many menopausal women you've spoken to, but often if you say to them, just go and do a bit more exercise.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
just go and sleep a bit better just go and eat better they'll probably bite your head off and I would have done eight years ago when I was perimenopausal because you just feel shattered you feel exhausted so often when the hormones are rebalanced then you can look at everything else and you know I'm absolutely not here on the podcast to say just have hormones and you'll be fine because it's not like that but having hormones can absolutely make a big difference so all we do we're very fortunate we have the right hormones now which are exactly the same
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
and physiologically in the body. So some people might be thinking of hormones, thinking about contraception, and those are very, very different because they've been chemically altered. And that's really important to know the difference because when we give hormones, we give... we're just replacing exactly the same, giving like for like.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And that makes a huge difference on the brain, actually, because, as I've said, these hormones are neurotransmitters, so chemicals, as you know, that give a message from one area of the brain to another. But they also work with other neurotransmitters in the brain in a positive way.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Whereas if you have synthetic hormones, as in contraception, then they can block the action of the natural hormones and also negatively affect other neurotransmitters as well. So having the right dose and type is really important. And we're very fortunate because in the NHS as well, we can prescribe the hormones individually. So each person can have... the right dose and type for them.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And sometimes if people have PMS, premenstrual syndrome, or PMDD, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, we might just give hormones for those few days because there's a big drop, especially of progesterone, but also of estrogen before periods.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So sometimes just giving a few days of hormones, natural hormones, to top up and replace that big drop can make a massive difference the way people work and function.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Yeah, absolutely. But I think actually doctors have been kept more in the dark than women. You know, I mean, women have been just denied so much good medicine for such a long time. And the problem is there's lots of other drugs that can do all sorts of things to people, including women. But basic physiology has been there for decades.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
When hormones were discovered in the turn of the 1900s, so 1930s, there was such a move to try and market them and think about bleeding and periods. that any good research was just forgotten. And then women, as you probably know, weren't included in any studies of any drugs because we're too complicated because we've got our hormones. But actually, isn't that so important that we study them?
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Often, if I think symptoms are related to hormones, then I'll always...
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So that's been very frustrating. And then women have known, like for a long time, even when the contraceptive pill came out in the 60s, a lot of women were saying, I don't feel right. I can't think clearly. I feel very low in my mood. I feel more anxious. And doctors would say, no, no, no, you're not going to get pregnant. You must take this.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And then they looked and changed the dose and various things. But it's still happening now that women are being given medication without knowing, not knowing how the hormones work. But also just, I think because... When people talk about oestrogen and progesterone, it's about periods.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
So then you're constantly just thinking about the womb, whereas thinking about these hormones that work in every single cell of our body, they affect the way that our cells function, is really important. And I think women understand more because... 95% of women have PMS, premenstrual syndrome, and it's been normalised for so long where you just, oh, don't go near her, she's hormonal.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
Oh, she'll be a bit irritable. She might be a bit forgetful just before her periods. Well, actually, let's think about what's happening. If those hormones are dropping, why aren't we giving them back? You wouldn't say to a man, oh, once a month for a few days, you're just going to feel a bit bad. Like, it's just unacceptable. But so much has been normalized, I think, and trivialized.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And it doesn't really help that the hormones are sometimes referred to as sex hormones. And they're not about sex. They're not even about gender because men have them too. But it's because there's been this misunderstanding. But the role on the brain is so crucial to understand.
ADHD Chatter
How Hormones and Menopause Impact ADHD Women | Dr. Louise Newson
And, you know, psychiatrists, psychologists, anybody who deals with the brain should be knowing about the role of hormones in the brain.