AuDHD Coaching for women in perimenopause

5 things I wish people understood about socialising when you’re AuDHD I always thought there was something wrong with me because socialising felt so hard, even with people I actually liked. Once I hit perimenopause, even the energy I did have disappeared and I started to isolate myself. It took a long time to understand that this can be because of AuDHD. ➡️ Socialising takes energy. Even when I had a good time. Especially when I had a good time. ➡️ Going quiet after seeing you isn’t a bad sign. It means I’m recovering. ➡️ The mask is convincing. That’s the whole problem. ➡️ Wanting to see you and being able to see you are two completely different things. ➡️ Sometimes cancelling is the right call. It’s not personal 🤍 If you recognise this, your nervous system’s just wired differently. You might not be able to do everything you want, but knowing why can help. If you’re AuDHD, send this to someone who needs to read it. #audhd #neurodivergentperimenopause #audhdwomen #perimenopause #audhdcoach

I got my AuDHD diagnosis at 45. These are the things I wish I’d known about before. - The exhaustion I couldn’t explain. - The performing I didn’t realise I was doing. - The socialising I wanted but kept running out of energy for. Perimenopause made all of it significantly worse, and that’s when I finally started looking for answers. The diagnosis didn’t fix anything. But it explained everything. If this reflects where you are right now and you’re looking for support that actually understands this intersection, DM me or find the link to book a free discovery call in my bio. #autisticwomen #perimenopause #neurodivergentperimenopause #AuDHDwomen

A few days ago I told someone I was autistic. They said that I hide it so well. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but today, on Autism Awareness Day, it’s made me think. For 45 years I didn’t know I had anything to hide. Two years on from my diagnosis, I’m still figuring out who I am with that information. But maybe I don’t hide it at all. Maybe the awareness of how autism actually presents in women and girls is still just lacking. Autism in women often looks like fitting in, working harder, getting it right. Showing up in public but struggling at home. Presenting a different version of ourselves just to get by.  When you’re AuDHD, it can get more complicated still. ADHD and autism can mask each other. The traits overlap, cancel each other out. You don’t fit neatly into either box, so you don’t get seen in either. There are so many of us only just finding out. Not because we hid it well. Because no one knew what to look for. #AutismAwarenessDay #AuDHD #NeurodivergentWomen

If your focus, energy, or motivation seem to change from week to week, you don’t need to try harder, it’s biology. During perimenopause, hormones like estrogen start to rise and fall in unpredictable ways. Estrogen helps regulate dopamine, which supports focus, mood and drive. So when estrogen dips, dopamine does too, and that can bring brain fog, low motivation or emotional overwhelm. For neurodivergent women, these shifts can feel more intense because dopamine levels are already more sensitive. You’re not inconsistent or doing anything wrong. You’re responding to real changes in your brain and body 🤍 What changes have you noticed? #audhd #neurodivergentmenopause #perimenopause #autisticmenopause #audhdmenopausecoaching​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Last week was Neurodiversity Celebration Week. A lot of the conversation this time of year is about awareness, challenges, and what still needs to change. That’s important. But over the weekend I’ve been reflecting on the parts of being AuDHD that I genuinely wouldn’t want to change. Pattern recognition is one of them. My brain looks for connections and structure automatically. I’m already pulling a problem apart before I’ve consciously decided to. I keep testing possibilities, looking for what’s been missed and noticing what doesn’t quite fit. Feeling everything deeply is another. The good, the not so good, the things other people seem to move past quickly. That intensity has a cost. But it also means I care about my work and the people in it. Then there’s intuition. After years of closely observing people and environments, I pick up on shifts in tone and emotion quickly. I notice what’s sitting underneath what someone’s saying. That sensitivity is exhausting at times, but it’s also one of the most useful things I bring to my work. Women’s health and neurodivergence is a special interest for me. I’m constantly taking courses and reading new evidence because I find it genuinely interesting. That’s not something I take for granted. What do you love about your neurodivergent brain? #AuDHD #AuDHDWomen #NeurodivergentWomen #WomensHealth #Perimenopause

Maybe things will get better if I just try harder? For many AuDHD women, that belief has been running quietly in the background for years. ➡️ If I try harder to fit in, I’ll belong. ➡️ If I try harder to mask, people will understand me. ➡️ If I try harder at work, they’ll accommodate my needs. ➡️ If I push through a bit more, I’ll succeed. So you try harder. You override your body. You ignore exhaustion. You suppress sensory overload. You keep performing. Eventually something has to give. Burnout. Shutdown. Chronic health problems. Not because you didn’t try hard enough, but because you tried too hard for too long. The problem was never effort. Most neurodivergent women I work with have spent their entire lives trying harder than anyone around them realises. The problem is where that effort’s been directed. ➡️ Trying to fit systems that were never designed for your brain. ➡️ Trying to function in environments that overload your nervous system. ➡️ Trying to meet expectations that ignore your physical limits. At some point the question has to change. Not “How can I try harder?” But “What actually works for me?” Later this week I’m sharing something I’ve been working on that explores a pattern I’ve noticed in many AuDHD women (including myself) when hormones, nervous system load, and years of coping strategies start interacting. #neurodivergentperimenopause #audhd #autisticwomen #neurodivergentwomen

On International Women’s Day, I’ve been thinking about where we sit between two generations. The women before us, who had no language for what they were experiencing. And the women coming after us, who will hopefully have more clarity. Right now, many of us are the ones connecting the dots in real time. Trying to make sense of perimenopause. Reinterpreting late diagnoses. Looking back at our lives and seeing things differently. And trying to hold the bigger picture together when the systems around us still treat everything separately. Two generations who deserved better. My hope is that the women coming after us won’t have to figure this out alone. That the conversations keep growing. And that understanding keeps improving from here. #InternationalWomensDay #AuDHD #Perimenopause #NeurodivergentWoman #latediagnosis