How PMS Affects ADHD and How to Better Manage

For many years, ADHD has been a difficult condition to diagnose, manage, and treat. One of the reasons for this is we’re only just beginning to understand how different people are affected by the condition. This means one individual might experience certain symptoms while someone else might experience something completely different. 

ADHD and its symptoms can be affected by a number of things, and one of these is the hormones present in your body at certain times. If you have a menstrual cycle, you’re also likely to see changes in the way your body experiences ADHD during PMS. 

Here at Black Onyx, we want to take every aspect of our patients’ situations into account to provide them with the best care possible for their individual needs. Our providers — Peter Pham, PMHNP-BC, and Diana Bush, PMHNP-BC — understand ADHD can be affected by other influences, such as your menstruation cycle, and we want to help you manage this. 

How PMS affects ADHD 

PMS (or premenstrual syndrome) is the time between the ovulation cycle and your period. Most people experience symptoms like bloating, irritability, cramps, fatigue, and more. PMS is often treated as a joke in the media, but most people know it can be debilitating at times. There’s also a more severe version called PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder). 

During PMS or PMDD symptoms, many patients find themselves dealing with heightened ADHD symptoms. They might also feel that their medications aren’t working as well during this time to manage their symptoms, an issue that can be very frustrating, since their medications seem to work other times. 

Medically, we believe the reason for this is because the female sex hormones — estrogen and progesterone — decrease in your body right before your period. These hormones affect the body in a number of ways, but one is that they increase levels of dopamine when they’re present and dopamine decreases when they do. 

Stimulant medications (which are used to treat ADHD) increase the amount of dopamine in your brain. But if you’re not getting the regular levels of dopamine during your PMS symptoms, you may notice your medication simply doesn’t seem to be working as well during this time. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough research on this issue currently to give us the full picture. 

Dealing with worsened ADHD symptoms during PMS 

PMS and PMDD are hard enough to deal with. But if you’re also experiencing worsening ADHD symptoms during this time, you might begin to feel overwhelmed and even depressed. We understand the seriousness of this problem, and we’re here to help. Below are some tips that can help you manage these symptoms during your experience of PMS and ADHD. 

• Consider tracking your period on a calendar so you know when you’re more likely to experience these symptoms, and avoid planning certain activities during this time.
• Eat healthier, lighter foods instead of processed foods and sugary treats, which will only exacerbate symptoms. 
• Get enough rest, shooting for at least eight hours of sleep a day to ensure your body isn’t also fighting exhaustion. 
• Avoid stressful situations whenever possible, and try to fold an anti-stress practice into your daily life, such as meditation, gratitude journaling, or mindfulness. 
• Don’t force yourself to sit with cramps or other types of pain. Take over-the-counter medication if you can, or discuss the best pain relieving option with your doctor. 
• Especially if you suffer from PMDD, it might be time to consider additional medications, which can be recommended and prescribed by your provider. 
• Start seeing a therapist. They can provide you with additional management tips, but even having someone to talk to during this time will do you a world of good. 

PMS and ADHD are no joke 

As you probably know, this combination can really affect your day-to-day life and make it so much harder to manage tasks and feel good about yourself. However, it’s possible to manage these heightened symptoms and breathe easier with a little bit of help. 

Call to schedule an appointment at our office in Orange, San Diego, South San Francisco, or Los Angeles today, or you can make an appointment online at your convenience.