ADHD, Progesterone and Hormones: Life-Changing Information Every Woman Needs to Know with Dr Jolene Brighten

This ADHD Awareness Month 2026, ADHD Women's Wellbeing is putting this community, lived experiences, and practical support front and center. There are live conversations, Instagram Lives, podcast events and ways for you to share what actually helps in your own life. ⁠⁠ Visit the Events page⁠⁠ to see what’s happening and get involved. We talk a lot about hormones and ADHD. But this conversation goes much deeper. What if the fatigue, anxiety, gut issues, difficult periods and the way your ADHD seems to shift throughout your cycle aren’t separate problems? What if they’re all giving you information about what’s happening in your body? This week on The ADHD Women’s Wellbeing Podcast, I’m joined by Dr Jolene Brighten for a fascinating and powerful deep dive into the biology behind ADHD in women, and some of the connections we just aren’t talking about enough. Jolene is a board-certified naturopathic endocrinologist, nutritionist, certified menopause specialist and bestselling author of Beyond the Pill and Is This Normal? Her new book, ADHD and Women: A Guide to Understanding Your Hormones and Thriving with ADHD, is out now. And she does not hold back in this conversation. We get into progesterone, histamine, endometriosis, PMDD and perimenopause, and what they can mean for women with ADHD. We explore why symptoms that appear unrelated may be more connected than we realise, why so many women have spent years being passed between specialists and why understanding ADHD as something that affects the whole body can completely change the conversation. Jolene also shares her own story, from her son’s ADHD diagnosis to being diagnosed with endometriosis after 29 years of periods and later discovering she is autistic. This is one of those episodes that may have you joining dots you didn’t even realise were connected. If you’ve ever felt as though your hormones, brain and body are all speaking different languages, this conversation could help you understand the bigger picture. Advertisement⏐Try AG1 now at ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://drinkag1.com/adhdwomen ⁠and get £20 off your first order + 5 AG1 Travel Packs for on the go, a bottle of Vitamin D3+K2, and the Welcome Kit for FREE. No risk with the 30-day money-back guarantee. Find all details about the health benefits in the link. Study results are on file with AG1, 2023. _____________________ In this episode, we cover: Jolene's late diagnoses of ADHD, endometriosis and autism, and why accommodations are so often mistaken for success Why fatigue and anxiety are among the most common symptoms of endometriosis, and how it can be present without any pain The links between ADHD, endometriosis, PMDD and fibroids, and why medicine so often treats them as coincidences How histamine and mast cells may be connected to 2am to 4am waking, irritability and emotional dysregulation What happens to dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine and GABA when oestrogen and progesterone drop Why hysterectomy and hormone suppression don't cure PMDD or endometriosis, and what this means for ADHD women Body identical progesterone versus synthetic progestins, progesterone intolerance and why starting low and going slow can help What research tells us about hormonal contraception and depression in ADHD women Why movement is so powerful for the ADHD brain, and an honest look at why it can feel so hard to do Alcohol, GABA and the luteal phase, and why we were never designed to be productive all the time Timestamps: 00:00 - Welcome and introducing Dr Jolene Brighten 02:30 - Jolene's journey to ADHD, endometriosis and autism diagnoses 05:30 - Entrepreneurship, accommodations and the support nobody sees 08:00 - What endometriosis can look like, including when there's no pain 10:00 - Jolene's endometriosis story, from childhood gut issues to secondary infertility 15:00 - Mast cells, histamine and the brain, immune and hormone connection 17:00 - Kate's experience with endometriosis, adenomyosis and continuous progesterone 21:00 - Access to care in the UK, US and Canada 23:00 - Why ADHD is the operating system you were born with 25:00 - What happens to the brain when oestrogen and progesterone drop 27:00 - PMDD: why it may be more than one condition 29:00 - NAC, mitochondria and the ADHD brain in perimenopause 32:00 - Progesterone, progestins and the research on contraception and depression 35:00 - ADHD as a full-body condition and the gut microbiome 37:00 - Progesterone intolerance, dosing and different ways of taking it 42:00 - Serotonin, dopamine and how the ADHD brain adapts 43:00 - Exercise, BDNF and giving your brain more energy 46:00 - Hysterectomies, unsupported women and the generations before us 48:00 - Alcohol, GABA and the luteal phase 49:00 - Rejecting productivity culture and honouring the need to rest 53:00 - Superpowers, kryptonite and asking what it's costing you 56:00 - Where to find Jolene's book and resources Links and Resources: Find my