#womenwithadhd

[gabby-i-guess]

ADHD PSA #2: The Dinner Formula

Feeding yourself is easily one of the hardest responsibility as an adult. It's even harder if you're neurodivergent - textures are ✨a lot✨, cooking takes so much energy, and actually planning meals can be almost impossible. A lot of us just end up not eating properly, because it just takes too much brain power some days.

So, let's make it simple.

dinner = a carb + a fat + a protein + a vegetable + incentive

"Okay..." You say, "but what does that mean??" Well, it can mean lots of things. I'd suggest making a personal, physical list of things you like/have. But for now, here's mine:

A carb: rice (instant packets are perfect), pasta, noodles (yep, 2 min noodles count), bread, potatoes

A fat: (that's right. A fat. That shit helps you digest all the vegetably goodness, okay? Don't go crazy, but some is necessary) butter, regular old vegetable oil, sesame oil, olive oil, cheese, cream, or whatever is already in the other ingredients (e.g. meat, nuts, avo)

A protein: chicken (pre-cooked works wonderfully), mince, tofu, egg, nuts, mushroom (gross but if you really must), salami, tuna - fuck it, even frozen chicken nuggets count

A vegetable: green is best but anything will do! Broccoli, kale (I love kale chips), spinach, red pepper, peas, beans, carrots, ANY AND ALL frozen veggies. Also - blending or finely shopping your veggies can be a lifesaver if you're not a fan of veggies

And finally, the most important bit - incentive. This is whatever will make your brain want to eat the meal. No judgement, I promise. The goal is to give your body the fuel it needs to keep chugging along - if the fuel has to be topped off with Bacon Bits and aioli, so be it. Mine are...

Incentive: seasoning like Nando's peri peri salt, chicken salt, garlic, onion, curry powder, lao gan ma. Toppings like fried onion, sesame seeds, pine nuts, cheese. Sauces like sweet chilli sauce, soy sauce, Japanese mayo, pesto, aioli. Or maybe, some random factor, like chop sticks, blue food dye (I'm a PJO fan...), a special bowl, preparing it as snack food, cutting things up into fun shapes, or buying alphabet pasta.

Finally, let's round out this post with some examples of dinners I've made recently using this formula:

Pasta + cream + chorizo + blanched and blended spinach + pesto = creamy pesto pasta

Flavoured rice pack + sesame oil + egg + broccoli + soy sauce and onion = simple fried rice

Couscous + salad sauce + Dino chicken nuggets + salad pack + the aforementioned Dino chicken nuggets = an insanely good salad (AND I took the leftovers to work)

I really hope this helped someone. I'm sending you all so much love and good vibes. This humaning shit is insanely hard and complicated, so if you're just getting through each day without adding to or subtracting from the population, you're already doing such a great job.

Be kind to yourself ❤️

[hyperfixation-fix]

Might fuck around and

🤠

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/ ✊__/

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start yet another new save on stardew valley

[brainstreamjournal]

Balancing Hormones and ADHD

In 2020, I made a significant decision: to stop taking the contraceptive pill I had been using since 2012. My curiosity about how my body would react to its natural hormone production led to this choice, and October 2020 seemed like the ideal moment.

The world was in the midst of a pandemic, and the chaos of information and political changes prompted my mother to want me home. Looking back, I am grateful; being at home during the isolation was a blessing. It seemed like the perfect time: if stopping the pill had adverse effects, my mother was nearby to help. Until 2022, I enjoyed my pill-free life without any issues, until the diagnosis of ADHD and medication crossed my path.

The diagnosis brought relief, but it also meant returning to contraception. Not forced by professionals but driven by the needs of my body. Daily quests to find the right dose of ADHD medication pointed to a connection with my menstrual cycle. Before contraception, my Ritalin dose was 25 mg, sometimes sufficient, sometimes too much. Research, including consulting "Dr. Internet," and discussions with my healthcare providers yielded the same answer: hormonal fluctuations influence ADHD symptoms.

Week 1 after menstruation went well, week 2 was great, week 3 (oestrogen decline) brought unrest, and week 4 (menstruation) was challenging. Two good weeks, two searching weeks.

As an example, without contraception, I would take my first dose of the day around 7:45. I had a routine of arriving at school around 8:15 to start working by 8:30. The Ritalin I use works for a total of 4 hours, and I need to take it every 3.5 hours to avoid it completely wearing off, and I have to wait for the new round to kick in. But in week 3 of my cycle, by 11 am, I was already overwhelmed and overstimulated; my medication wasn't working as it should. Weeks 3 and 4 were filled with emotional fluctuations, and I can tell you, it was not pleasant. Not for me, and certainly not for my friends.

There is little research on ADHD and hormonal influences, but my experience convinces me of a connection. Back on contraception, I experience more stability with my medication—a reassuring factor amid uncertainties. My journey shows that balancing hormones and brains is an art. While researchers explore the connection, I share my story in the hope that others find recognition and that there is more understanding of the complexity of ADHD, hormones, and the quest for stability.

As I navigate between hormones and brains, I realize that we all have unique journeys. My hope is that by sharing this, others feel less alone in their experiences. Let's embrace the complexity of ADHD and hormones and strive for a world where understanding and support are the norm.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Do you have similar experiences or questions? I'm curious about your perspectives and stories. Feel free to leave a comment, as your voice is always welcome here. Let's create a space together for openness and understanding. See you soon in the comments!

[heartbroken-ghost]

Having illnesses as a hyperfixation, especially when it comes to your own, is really inconvenient and annoying. 10/10 do not recommend

[gabby-i-guess]

Next time someone says, 'Everyone has ADHD these days!', tell them this.

Hello tumblr friends, how are we all doing?

I just wanted to hop on here and share some (brief) research I did after getting a comment from someone (irl) about how 'everyone seems to have ADHD these days'. Because yes, rates of diagnosis have raised dramatically. But that doesn't tell the full story.

I will preface this by saying that I only read this article, bc I am too busy to do proper research right now. But it confirmed my suspicions, and I will hopefully do more thorough research soon.

For the sake of making sure as many people as possible get my point, let me just say it straight out:

The rise in ADHD diagnoses is coming from people who didn't have access to diagnoses in the past.

My breakdown of the numbers is below the cut. Please do take a look - I've tried to keep it pretty simple, because it's important to me that you understand where this fact came from, and not just take my word for it.

In this study, the percentage of USA minors diagnosed with ADHD went from roughly 6.1% in 1997 to 10.2% in 2015. Big jump, right?

BUT.

Over this time, the percentage of boys diagnosed with ADHD went from 9.0% to 14.0%, while the percentage of girls diagnosed with ADHD went from 3.1% to 6.3%. Girls' diagnoses more than doubled. Boys' diagnoses went up by not even two-thirds.

Along the same lines, diagnoses in white children went from 7.2% to 12.0%, while diagnoses in hispanic children went from 3.6% to 6.1%, and in black children from 4.7% to 12.8%.

And finally, diagnoses in the richest group of children went from 6.2% to 9.4%, while diagnoses in the poorest group of children went from 6.6% to 12.9%.

If that didn't really make sense, let's try a table and a chart:

The chart below shows the change in percentage between 1997 & 2015.

Percentage increase, by the way, doesn't mean the exact number the percentage increased by. It's just a more mathematical way of saying a number 'doubled' (which would be a percentage increase of 100%) or 'trippled' (percentage increase of 200%), or 'went up by half' (percentage increase of 50%). Hopefully that made sense to non-maths people...

Yes, ADHD diagnoses did become a lot more common between 1997 and 2015. But diagnosis rates went up by more in marginalised, disadvantaged, and minority children than in children with privilege.

The rise in ADHD diagnoses is coming from people who didn't have access to diagnoses in the past.

Now, go forth and defend neurodivergent minorities. Because when people say 'ugh, everyone has ADHD these days', they're not talking about rich little white boys. They're talking about women, about black people, and about poor people.

[plottwistadhdpodcast]

What’s your superpower?

Mine? My ADHD, actually. My hyperfixation (aka get a ton of shit done), my effortless creativity and my ability to think outside of the box. I don’t see my ADHD diagnosis as a bad thing. It’s actually really refreshing. I finally have an answer for why my brain is the way it is and why I do what I do. Growing up, I knew I was different but just thought I was crazy. At the age of 34, I was evaluated and I was told it was ADHD. My brain processing speed is at the top 13th percent of my age group. I’m kind of proud of it honestly. So...do you have ADHD? What’s your superpower? 

[ascendwithaviva]

ADHD Coaching for Women: Strategies for Empowerment and Success

Are you looking for ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) coaching for women? Ascend with Aviva provides personalized support to help you manage ADHD effectively. Our coaches offer practical strategies to improve organization, focus, and daily routines. We work with you to build confidence and achieve your goals. With Ascend with Aviva, you’ll get the guidance needed to thrive and succeed in both personal and professional aspects of life.

[icametoeattheuniverse]

ADHD and Intuitive Eating

Is it even possible? Can this combination even work for neurodivergent brains? We already have issues with hunger cues and satiety cues to add in medication that hinders hunger cues even more and impulsiveness that adds to dysfunctional eating. Then add the execution functioning issues and the fact that most females with ADHD have a binge eating disorder or some eating disorder thanks to all of these factors and bam you have me. I am trying to heal my body from dieting and being part of diet culture. It is hard because my brain needs dopamine and right now my dopamine kicks have been with food. Grr. Now I need to figure out dopamine kicks that are non-food based because I am hurting my body by over eating. This is causing acid reflux and being tired throughout the day. We need more research on ADHD and intuitive eating. I know this can work. Fuck I hope it can because diets fucking suck, counting calories sucks, being what society deems as the perfect body sucks. Wish me luck with this process. I got this. I think. 

[gabby-i-guess]

You guys better listen to this, or else! 😠

chronic fatigue from mental illness and neurodivergency isn't something you can just will your way out of. your nervous system is part of your body. your brain is an organ. the fatigue is real. you're not lazy. so be kinder to yourself. be gentler with your bodymind.

[hanorganaas]

2020 has been a hard year but I am absolutely proud of what I accomplished in my professional life. As of December I completed my Data Analytics for Retail Marketing Certificate. In addition I started my new job at my law firm. (It has a long name so lol). The place and its nuturing enviorment allowed me to thrive and work up my potential and within less than a year I went from a file clerk to working the front 2 Days a week. I think what i am the most proudest of is I had major PTSD from my old job to the point where I made a mistake and shut down. About two days ago my boss Betsy (who is awesome btw) kindly told me of an error on my work. I just smiled and nodded and I said I'd be more Careful and continued on with my work. That to me is huge. I am grateful of the kind people of my office who accept my ADHD and understand while I do things slower, I still get the job done. I look forward to enjoying more professional success in 2020 and hopefully boost up my skills a little more. #workingneurodivergent #neurodivergent #neurodiversityatwork #neurodiversityintheworkplace #neurodiversityinclusion #neurodiversityacceptance #success #workingwoman #womenwithadhd #adhdinwomen https://www.instagram.com/p/CJeO7HVjCg1/?igshid=mso1wdhy888r

[zapandilla]

Invite me a Coffee!

🙏

Hola! I drew a radish castle just because. Part of my experiments with gouache . . .

Insta post

[baroqueinthealps]

my psychiatric story and getting diagnosed with adhd

i was not formally diagnoses with adhd until my sophomore year of college. i initially went to my primary care doctor my junior year of high school, because something felt wrong. In class as the course material got harder i found it was not harder for me to understand it but to sustain my attention. I went to the doctors told them everything. the doctor, who was not the primary care doctor i had seen since birth but someone filling in for him, handed me papers to give to teachers so he could diagnose me. 

the idea of that gave me a literal panic attack. i felt so embarrassed to give that to my teachers, because i know they wouldn’t ever truly see that side of me, my masking was so good. i cried in the office and the doctor told me and my mom its that or nothing. So i got nothing.

come senior year i start to work with a therapist. at this point my online therapist had diagnosed me with adhd, based off of dsm criteria and the standard family and personal questionare. I was seeing a new primary care cprn   who gave me zoloft, and tried to prescribe me symboquel (which i knew was a bad idea for me and never filled the rx). what i wouldn’t find out until a few months ago via a genesight test (which i recommend everyone who is taking psych meds gets!!!) i found out i am genetically incompatible with zoloft. It eventually sent me to the ER because of suicidal thoughts which was the closest thing i could do to cry out for help. I wasn’t going to kill myself even though it was the only thing in the world i wanted, and i have dealt  with these thoughts and urges before. but this time i was so done and i decided that i needed and deserved help even though it felt like the world told me i didn’t. i went there for help and i went there to see a god damn psych because my nurse told me to see one, she said she didn’t know enough about psych meds. 

At the time I had called to several local places to get on their waitlist but it was months away. i knew if i was admitted overnight in a day or two i could see a psychiatrist there, but i was too fussy and begged to be let go and for some reason they let me. 

A month or two later I was able to schedule a new patient intake that was only with a therapist. it was frustrating enough to hear i had to wait another month or two before getting in with a medical provider. the first visit i showed up just to find out the doctor was out sick and i had to schedule another month away. i was so dumbfounded and shocked because i was hurting so badly, i already had so much in my head and felt like it was my job to get her to believe me, and it was like a slap in the face when she said I would need to wait another MONTH to see her. I was able to quietly cry on my way out but when i got to the bathroom i balled my eyes out and screamed. i have never broken down like that in public up to this point and it was scary. i was alone, i was sad, i felt abandoned. I almost, maybe was 85% sure i was going to text my plug asking for molly. (this was before covid came and i really became a pothead, but i smoked a good amount of weed in high school). i was scared and MAD and i did everything right and i was still abandoned so i will go to something that i know will make me feel good. (In hindsight this screamed bpd and is a trauma response to my emotional and physical neglect as a child, if you feel this way or have felt this way IT IS NORMAL. it is our minds way of protecting us:)). 

anyways i didn’t get molly and i don’t remember if i even bought weed that day. thats all i can remember until the actual appointment. i left feeling so defeated and even more depressed and hopeless. She told me she could sign me up for adhd treatment, but she told me like she already knew what the answer would be and that these were likely just signs of depression and anxiety manifesting as adhd but still signed me up to get on the list for testing. 

this was right before covid hit, and my adhd diagnosis from this company came back in the middle of summer as negative. this was the test: a self and friend questionare that my therapist gave me, and interview with a social worker (who was the least compassionate and most burnout women i have ever met), and play games on an app in my phone that i did in the car from a road trip from Florida with my friends. seems silly they have all this in place, my primary care doctor only wanted notes from my teacher and only my teacher, and my most recent provider gave it to me after meeting with me and me providing extensive documentation which i will talk about later. 

(i really think i noticed the symptoms junior year because that was when i got more liberated from a toxic home, so my deep depression and masking getting better made the problems become more apparent). and i think gave me prozac and hydroxyzine rx. i even mentioned to her that i have zoloft as an allergy in my chart because of what happened and associated it with the blackbox warning.I also told her I tried cymbalta that didn’t help and i took lexapro in middle school. i even questioned why she was giving me another SSRI when i have taken two and it didn’t work. she blew me off, and told me the black box warning is so rare its practically there for liability sake, and made me feel like what i experienced at the hospital wasn’t real. months and months went on where i was suffering and getting worse and all she would do is increase the prozac until it maxed out, and then give me effexor until it maxed out and then  buspar because i was so fucking miserable. for MONTHS i asked her to prescribe me wellbutrin, because i have a lot of working knowledge on pharmacokinetics and neuroscience, and noted it could be helpful with the reuptake of dopamine and to help my focus. I also knew it functioned similarly to aderall, and because i still believed i had adhd i thought it would help. she was against it for months because of my eating disorder history, so i had to lie about my eating habits for her to eventually give it to me. and what do you know it was the first psych med that i could see and feel positive improvements even thought it still wasn’t enough. 

i was maxed out at the wellbutrin and went to see an online psychaitrist because 1) i wanted to leave that practice because of how they made me feel and how they weren’t helpful and 2)my provider went on maternity leave, and knowing that my provider got mad at me when my primary care doctor increased my dosage of wellbutrin without her knowledge, i didn’t think the temp would do anything but see me as a visit so she could charge me. that had been my experience here before often. 

i was seeing my online psych and went off to school and felt fine, but i was still zooted all the time to self medicate and again school went down hill because i had undiagnosed adhd, and in my state telehealth providers cannot provide controlled substances. it was so bad i would stay in bed for days and i don’t remember the last time i went to an inperson class. so, finally after so much frantic searching i was able to see a new psychiatrist in my college town to get a diagnosis and a ritalin rx, which was not at all easy to get. I had to type many pages of notes of my experiences with psychiatric medicine, and broke down the dsm criteria for adhd and wrote paragraphs of how those effected me. She luckily did not make me schedule an adhd test and gave me the prescription. I also was now able to receive accomadations from my school, which i should have had since elementary school and my parents and teachers could have done it for me. 

i am obviously quite resentful of how i was treated, and how long i was in pain for. but more than that i am thankful i found someone who did listen to me, and to see so many areas in my life improve so quickly with the prescription. there is so much to say about women in adhd, especially highly intelligent women like myself who were traumatized into perfect behavior. my own sister is on the autism spectrum, and my entire life was being the perfect child no one had to worry about while it seems all i do is wait on meetings for my sister and go to her doctor appointments and therapy and have her get the help i also needed right in front of my eyes.

Of course, as a child, i didn’t know that then. That and other types of gaslighting and bullying made me have no basis for what is a healthy reality and what is just in my head. i wish i had the courage to reach out and get help when i was much younger, even though i know i still deserved to be cared for and supported by my family like my sister was. 

this was very long, so if you read this thank you so much. this is extremely personal and its something i’m still trying to heal from. just getting it out there is one of the ways i am doing that. i also know how it feels to do everything right, ask people for help and listen to them, and still be suffering and blame themselves for it. i did that for a long time, but it doesn’t have to be that way. on tiktok i was surprised by all the female creators with adhd and bpd sharing their stories, and shocked how relatable it was and i realized i really am not alone. i hope i can be there for those people. i’m still fighting with you. 

[gabby-i-guess]

Definitely communication differences. They've gotta be okay with me randomly disappearing for a month or two and then coming back like nothing happened (because in my brain nothing did happen)... People don't really get that in new adult friendships 🥲🥲 I've also lost longterm friendships because they needed frequent messages and meetups and I just couldn't fulfil that need after we graduated highschool.

explain in the notes/tags if you'd like!

[bad-and-brujii]

Repost via @adhdfemaleentrepreneurs: "The word “H” now represents both physically hyper and inwardly hyper. When I found out about the name change I was frustrated. Maybe because I didn’t want to be labeled with the typical hyper boy stereotype. (Because I’m far from that) But then I learned the reason behind it and it actually made sense and validated/gave words to my struggles. I may be sitting still in my chair. But my mind is going a million miles a minute. 💨 So whether your Body is Hyper or your Mind is Hyper, you my friend have ADHD🙃 👉🏻Were you confused about the name change too? Which are you?" • • • • • • #adhdawareness #adhdexplained #adhdwomen #addwomen #womenwithadhd #adhdentrepreneur #adhdmama #adhdadult #adultadhd #adhdinattentive #adhdquotes #adhdexplained https://www.instagram.com/p/CJmf5YwHKhq0A2EYeEnkumi7jz2uAwvDysEfzc0/?igshid=1vxpifxgrhd1d

[jannafidgets]

Happy ADHD Awareness Month (and LGBT History Month,) my lovelies! As a fairly new member of both communities, I am still kind of absorbing things I want/need to know about both neurodivercity and queer folx. I'm noticing lately that they are more likely to go hand in hand, especially in Autistic people (which can often be comorbid with ADHD as well) since us ND folx tend to not adhere to social constructs quite as tightly as NT's do. So, I'm going to attempt to take this month to post facts and personal stories honoring both topics, and maybe I will learn some things along the way too! In the meantime, I want to hear from you! How old were you when you got your ADD/ADHD diagnosis? If you also belong to the LGBTQIA+ community, how old were you when you came out to yourself? How do you feel like these identities have affected you in adapting to society? I'm looking forward to hearing your stories. 🤗 #adhdawarenessmonth #neurodiversesquad #neurodiverse #neurodivercity #adhd #womenwithadhd #womxnwithadhd #lgbthistorymonth https://www.instagram.com/p/B3Gkp6KgEhD/?igshid=il2bs7oi5ehy

[bawarementally]

No it's not, you can be diagnosed as an adult too. Perhaps you've been misdiagnosed and been treated with medication for the wrong condition 🤷🏻‍♀️ 🖤 My hopes are in gaining new insight with my new medication next month. I've heard the good, the bad and the ugly but I'm willing to take that chance if it's going to improve my lifestyle #womenwithadhd https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz65xKfACCa/?igshid=1cc2eqocnmhpz