Why Menopause Is Making Your ADHD Symptoms Worse
Living with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) means you’ve probably built a system of habits, medication, or both to help you manage. But when menopause enters the picture, your once-reliable routine may seem to fail you.
You’re not alone: In a survey of more than 1,500 women with diagnosed or undiagnosed ADHD, 94 percent said their symptoms were at their most severe and impactful during perimenopause and menopause.1
It can be easy to feel overwhelmed or guilty when you’re struggling to manage tasks and habits that were once easily reined in. “That’s one major obstacle for patients—failing to realize that ADHD is not a function of character or willpower. It’s simply the way your brain is wired from genetics,” says psychiatrist David W. Goodman, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
During perimenopause, changing hormone levels can cause ADHD symptoms to flare up. To make matters worse, menopause symptoms like trouble sleeping can impair concentration, memory, and focus. But don’t let this stress you out more. A variety of solutions can help you once again make your ADHD more manageable in perimenopause and menopause.
Understanding ADHD and the Menopause Transition
People with ADHD tend to be easily distracted or forget things, but it’s more than that. They also often interrupt people, blurt things out, feel restless, struggle to stay organized, and have an ever-growing list of tasks that they start but never complete. 2
These changes can intensify during perimenopause—the transition leading up to menopause, when you haven’t had a period for 12 consecutive months—when fluctuating hormones create a perfect storm for cognitive and emotional shifts.
During perimenopause, estrogen and progesterone levels shift from their normal rise and fall during the menstrual cycle to being an unpredictable roller coaster. You may experience this as annoying and uncomfortable physical symptoms like vaginal dryness, hot flashes, and changes in your period.
Other symptoms that arise during perimenopause can resemble those of ADHD, including irritability and other mood symptoms, memory problems, and difficulty focusing.3
For women who have ADHD, perimenopause can be like pouring gasoline on a fire. Symptoms that were manageable can become a hazard. “My everyday forgetfulness went from, ‘You know me, always 10 minutes late!’ to one day completely missing a very important, even life-changing meeting,” says Ann, a former editor in Indianapolis, Indiana, who was diagnosed with ADHD at age 50.
“Before perimenopause, feeling scatterbrained would cause me inconvenience—being a little disorganized, being late sometimes—but then it got to the point when it was a serious problem in daily life,” she says.