Episode Summary: The Power of Progesterone for ADHD Hormonal Balance: Insights from a New Study

ADHD Women's Wellbeing Podcast with Kate Moryoussef | Guest: Adele Wimsett
Release Date: March 6, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the intersections between ADHD in women, perimenopause, and hormonal balance, focusing on new qualitative research around progesterone and its overlooked importance. Host Kate Moryoussef welcomes women’s health practitioner and ADHD advocate Adele Wimsett to unpack new findings about how progesterone and estrogen fluctuations contribute to the “perfect storm” of ADHD symptoms during perimenopause, and to empower listeners with up-to-date, accessible information and practical tips.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Study: Exploring Progesterone, Estrogen, and ADHD in Perimenopausal Women

[05:08–07:49]

• Study Design: Adele conducted a qualitative study with a small group of ADHD, perimenopausal women. Daily at-home hormone tracking (using the Mira device) measured urine-based estrogen and progesterone, paired with daily symptom/trait tracking over three menstrual cycles.
• Goals: Understand how real-time hormonal fluctuations relate to ADHD traits, especially in perimenopause.
• Main Finding: Many women’s ADHD traits—both inattentive and hyperactive—didn’t follow traditional cyclical patterns but were “all over the place” due to consistently insufficient progesterone and resulting estrogen dominance.

Adele: “Estrogen is a hormone that gets all the spotlight and progesterone gets forgotten. I truly believe that progesterone is where we need to focus our attention in women.” [07:49]

2. Understanding Estrogen Dominance and Progesterone’s Role

[11:45–16:32]

• Estrogen Dominance: Often misunderstood; doesn’t necessarily mean “too much estrogen,” but rather "not enough progesterone" to counterbalance estrogen.
• Symptoms: Can manifest as mood swings, fatigue, sleep disturbances, heightened allergies (histamine reactions), and worsened ADHD traits.
• Progesterone as a Mood Stabilizer: "Progesterone acts like Valium on the nervous system," helping to regulate sleep, mood, cognitive function, and nervous system stability.

Adele: “Progesterone is like the mum who comes home after the party and says, ‘Calm down, time to go to sleep now.’ They’re very different energies … and when we’re going into this season of our life [perimenopause], estrogen is dominating because of this lack of progesterone.” [10:09]

3. The “Perfect Storm”—Progesterone, Estrogen, Histamine, and Methylation

[12:30–14:30]

• Histamine Issues: Progesterone is a natural antihistamine; estrogen feeds histamine, so low progesterone can increase allergy-like symptoms, mood swings, digestive issues, and inflammation.
• Methylation & Neurotransmitters: Processing of hormones and neurotransmitters in the liver can be impaired ("methylation issues"), common in ADHD. This can further prolong and intensify the effects of estrogen and histamine.

Adele: “Low progesterone, estrogen dominance and potential histamine issues ... No wonder we're seeing this massive flare up in perimenopause.” [14:30]

4. Real-Life Experiences: Personalizing Hormonal Treatment

[16:32–21:02]

• Kate’s Story: Early perimenopause, prior negative reactions to synthetic progestins (Mirena coil), unrecognized need for body-identical progesterone.
• Progesterone Dosing: Finding the right dose (sometimes higher than standard NHS prescriptions) and the right delivery method (oral, vaginal, creams) can make a huge difference to mood, anxiety, sleep, and overall wellbeing.
• Individual Response: Each woman may require a unique approach; stress, lifestyle, and genetics all play significant roles.

Kate: “I can happily say that ... I feel much more level-headed, calmer, sleeping better and rational. I would say I’m not dominated by anxiety.” [20:25]

5. The Medical System’s Shortcomings and Barriers

[25:47–34:09]

• Misinformation: Synthetic progestins (like in contraceptives) are not the same as body-identical progesterone.
• Medical Inertia: The “war against progesterone”—lack of research, training, and economic incentives in mainstream medicine.
• Advocacy Required: Women often need to self-advocate for body-identical hormone treatments and to challenge outdated protocols in healthcare.

Adele: “Progesterone can change women's life. When you are dealing with someone who understands how to prescribe it ... There’s no money to be made in body identical progesterone ... If women suddenly started taking this ... there would be no need potentially for the majority of these medications.” [27:13]

6. Practical Guidance for Women

[34:09–42:40]

• Accessing Progesterone: Over-the-counter creams (e.g., from U.S., Wellsprings in the UK) can help, especially with mood regulation, but prescription support is best.
• Tracking and Awareness: Tools like the Mira device can empower women to track their own hormonal cycles and symptoms, leading to validation and better self-management.
• Empowerment: Encourage women to demand alternative treatments, seek further education, and to support each other by sharing resources and stories.
• Self-advocacy Tools: Free GP letter templates and downloadable research to take to appointments are available on Kate’s and Adele’s websites.

Adele: “You can ... use [progesterone cream] every 15 minutes till your mood regulates … that is so empowering, to have a cream that you can sit and do that until you’re like, oh, I feel like me again.” [35:07]

7. Creating Change: Community and Self-Compassion

[42:47–47:37]

• Be the Change: Small steps—tracking cycles, self-care, supporting others, advocating within personal and professional circles—can ripple out and drive broad change.
• Reject Suffering as Normal: Suffering through periods, PMDD, perimenopause, or postpartum issues is not “normal”—solutions and support exist.
• Holistic Health: Check and support adrenals, thyroid, gut health, and blood sugar, not just estrogen and progesterone.

Adele: “We have to be the change we want to see… when one woman does it, we ripple out ... Every single woman I know really deep down wants to talk about our hormones and periods.” [42:47]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the need for new research and advocacy:

  “What can we do to feel a sense of validation and explain what’s happening? …People are connecting dots, but we don’t have enough science and enough research backing up what so many of us are going through.”
  — Kate [06:12]

• On misinformation about hormones:

  “Calling synthetic progestins progesterone—it’s factually incorrect...they’re absolutely not [the same].”
  — Adele [21:02]

• On empowerment through community:

  “Create that circle of support … as neurodivergent women, we need to be sharing information, helping each other, passing on professionals and experts.”
  — Kate [50:16]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [05:08] - Adele introduces the qualitative study and its approach
• [11:45] - Discussion of estrogen dominance and why low progesterone matters
• [14:30] - The “perfect storm”: Histamine, methylation, and compounding factors
• [20:25] - Kate’s personal journey with progesterone
• [25:47] - Differences between synthetic progestins and true progesterone
• [27:13] - Barriers in the medical system and advocacy
• [35:07] - Over-the-counter progesterone cream as an empowerment tool
• [37:42] - Using the Mira device for cycle and symptom tracking
• [42:47] - The importance of community, advocacy, and ripple effects
• [47:37] - Rejecting suffering and embracing holistic health
• [50:16] - Practical resources and building a support network

Resources & Next Steps

• GP Advocacy Letter: Free to download on Adele’s and Kate’s websites; take to appointments to support access to HRT/body-identical progesterone.
• Progesterone Educational Webinar: Free, available on both the hosts’ websites.
• Mira Hormone Tracking Device: For in-depth at-home hormonal tracking.
• Join the Community: Find resources, workshops, and connect with other women at adhdwomenswellbeing.co.uk; follow Adele on Instagram or her website for further info.
• Track Your Cycle: Use free trackers available online to start recognizing your hormonal patterns and symptoms.

Final Takeaways

• Progesterone is an underappreciated key to hormonal—and therefore mental—wellbeing for neurodivergent women.
• Women with ADHD are especially vulnerable to hormonal imbalances in perimenopause, often experiencing increased symptoms due to low progesterone.
• Accurate information, tracking, and advocacy are essential; personalized, body-identical hormone treatment can be life-changing.
• Community, compassion, and a ripple effect of self-advocacy can drive lasting change.