Show Notes
What if the problem isn’t burnout, age, or motivation - but estrogen?
In this episode of Running in Heels, we unpack the cognitive chaos that hits high-functioning ADHD women during perimenopause and menopause. The conversation moves beyond hot flashes and mood swings into the neurochemical fault line where estrogen and dopamine collide.
You’ll hear what the data actually shows - 94% of ADHD women report worsening symptoms, 70% call the brain fog life-altering, and nearly half don’t discover their diagnosis until their forties.
You’ll meet Elaine, a senior executive whose sharpness starts to slip as her chemistry rewrites itself, and you’ll learn why this isn’t personal failure - it’s biology misread by systems built for hormonal stability.
This episode explains how fluctuating estrogen disrupts executive function, why medication suddenly feels unpredictable, and how workplaces mislabel neurological volatility as burnout.
You’ll also learn what scaffolds actually work - cycle mapping, medication synchronization, load redesign, and language that turns shame into data.
This episode isn’t about fixing women’s brains. It’s about redesigning systems that still expect linear performance from cyclical bodies.
Key Topics:
The dopamine–estrogen link and its role in executive function
How perimenopause unmasks long-compensated ADHD patterns
The difference between burnout and biochemical fluctuation
Scaffolds that stabilize function during hormonal transition
Why leadership and medicine must evolve beyond the male baseline
Ready to get more specific about your particular flavour of ADHD?
Check out the Executive Function Inventory. - Where are you right now on each of the 12 executive functions. An inventory that identifies which EFs are challenges (that need to be bolstered), adaptive (you've built accommodations for yourself), and strengths (to leverage to support your challenges. If you know, you can be intentional. https://www.mineelachand.com/adhd-adults-efi
The website: https://www.mineelachand.com/ Want to get in touch with me, contribute to the conversation, or ask a question you would like some answers for? Here's the form you can fill out - I read all of them: https://forms.office.com/r/NFvguHn7s3
Sign up for the newsletter which drops every Monday. https://www.mineelachand.com/about
More from ADHD Running in Heels
Disorganization isn’t about mess - it’s about inability to find what you need to accomplish a task. This episode breaks down the executive function of organization through a practical, neurological lens: what it is, how it works, and the ten principles that make order sustainable across every domain of life.
Why do so many high-performing women with ADHD feel like frauds—even when they’re crushing it? In this episode, we unpack the deep connection between ADHD and imposter syndrome, and why this experience is so often missed or misunderstood in women.
What if the real problem isn’t your attention - but your awareness?
What Happens When the Assessment Says "Normal"?
Executive Function Deep Dive: Goal-Directed Persistence