Women's Health Series

ADHD and the hormone connection

So by now you may be noticing a theme. Cortiol is always a big player and so are the thoughts that create the stress related to the cortisol levels. What does any of that have to do with ADHD symptoms? Glad you asked 😉😊

We’ve all heard of the adrenal glands, little but mighty, but did you know that they actually have 2 parts to them?

Why is this important? Well as we know the adrenal glands make cortisol and that takes place in the adrenal cortex. The other part, the adrenal medulla, produces norepinephrine which converts to epinephrine. It also makes other important hormones that relate to blood pressure but we are not going to get into that right now. A bit more anatomy before I get into the way this connects to your thoughts (again). Dopamine and serotonin ( two other neurotransmitters) are produced in the gut by breaking certain amino acids. Your gut microbiome plays a significant part in the creation of these. Dopamine then breaks down into the aforementioned norepinephrine then subsequently epinephrine. So to give a quick diagram

Now for serotonin which breaks down into melatonin (ya know that one cuz it’s your sleepy time 😴💤pill, lol)

And now for the moment of truth. What does any of this have to do with ADHD. These are the neurotransmitters that get out of balance. Dopamine and it’s fellow biproducts can create impulsivity when out of balance. If too much norepinephrine is the case then it results in anxiety, if not enough then depression. Serotonin also plays a part in depression and of course if not enough then a lack of sleep. All of these tie back to the adrenal gland and the gut function. So we know that if we are creating stressful thoughts then we are overtaxing the adrenal glands. This also includes thoughts of self-criticism. Negative self-talk increases cortisol levels.

Now let’s look at the gut and the hormones. The gut microbiome is the dispatcher of information, think of them as the foreman or the guy on the walkie-talkie. They are sending messages to other bacteria via thoughts in the form of electrical impulses (aka sound and light) and using the hormones as the chemicals to carry them.

So are those gut bacteria happy? What are you feeding them both with food and thoughts?

And here’s a crazy idea, what if instead of believing those stressful thoughts, we just didn’t? They don’t have any power that way! It would be the same as if I walked up to you and said you were a rhinoceros. It would be totally meaningless or let’s use an example that is even more innocuous. I walk up to you and say, flappey flappey. It’s jibberish.

There’s a fun story from a book by Elizabeth Gilbert. She’s talking about how she’s at the ashram and she has a vision of a guru telling her to stop the ocean. She frantically starts building a dam out of sand, the whole while he is looking on and laughing. She eventually realizes it’s completely futile and gives up. He then tells her, this is like thoughts. You can not make them stop coming. You can only choose to not cling to them and let them roll on by. Every story we cling to is like this.

(Image by https://pixabay.com/users/manuelamilani)

How I can help? I can help you rewrite your story both with the thoughts you are choosing for yourself as well as the food that supports those hardworking bacteria who are the hidden masterminds running the show (aside from your free will to choose to send them crap.) When your focus or lack thereof is misaligned, it can be quite challenging to create the life of your dreams. I love helping people create their dream life. Reach out if you are intrigued about my Dream Life Alignment Coaching Program.