In the past few months, we’ve seen ADHD medication prescriptions rise sharply in the UK and Australia – especially among women.
As someone who supports hundreds of neurodivergent women and AFAB individuals, I’ve felt both relief and worry reading this.
More diagnoses can mean more access. But not all access equals understanding. And not all tools are right for every brain. Especially when hormones, trauma, and other unspoken variables are involved. I am talking about understanding complexity.
I want to give a very candid account of how I feel about ADHD medication as an AuDHD woman who began taking stimulants when I was diagnosed at 40, shortly after giving birth to my son.
Humanising the data
If I have the chance to go back in time, I would look for support for my hormones first. And if I knew what I know now, I would ask for progesterone first (for reasons that are unique to me).
In my late 30s, I was already beginning to feel more anxious while at work, and I chalked it up to working with a micromanager in a contract role. But looking back, something deeper was happening: my hormones were beginning to shift, and there was the trauma of returning to a stressful full-time role after spending over two years with my daughter and freelancing occasionally. I just wasn’t as resilient as I used to be.
And when I was diagnosed at 40 after giving birth to my son, I’d felt the symptoms that I now know are related to my sex hormones making a nosedive. Postnatal anxiety, OCD, and fatigue, oh the fatigue…
Cue late diagnosis, navigating a new label, attempting to be more authentic, unmasking, and the overwhelm of naming a lifelong experience.
When I began ADHD medication, it was like something switched on – I could “feel” the circuits in my brain connect the different rooms that were previously separated. I could access dormant rooms, and the higher the dosage, the more powerful it felt.
But the effects weren’t linear. Some weeks, I didn’t need it at all (especially around ovulation). That gave me the pass to take a week-long medication holiday each month. Other times, I couldn’t function without it.
This was after a coach once said, “You built ADHD Girls without medication.” It stuck with me. It wasn’t because I had a superior ADHD brain; I wasn’t just ADHD either. I am AuDHD.
It turns out there are major differences between ADHD and AuDHD that are often missed – especially when it comes to how our brains process, respond to, and metabolise medication.
Knowing this has reshaped how I understand my body, my needs, and why certain things never quite worked the way they were “supposed to.”
Want to know how I found out? 👇
THE HEALTH CRASH: The cost of “high functioning”
Two years after beginning ADHD medication, I hit a wall – physically and emotionally. I’d already given keynotes across the country, helped others understand their ADHD… all while my nervous system was unravelling under chronic stress.
I realised the meds had helped me cope – but also pushed my stress tolerance past safe levels. I wasn’t just surviving my days. I was overriding them. On stimulants, I was pushing through stress signals, ignoring rest cues, and performing at a high level of functioning… because I was unable to stop. 🧠
Eventually, my body collapsed. That began my climb back to health through personalised medicine.
REFLECTION: What this taught me about AuDHD and meds
Many AuDHDers react differently to ADHD medication. What energises one person may destabilise another – especially when trauma, hormonal shifts, or relationship challenges are quietly in play.
I got to know my body intimately, down to the cellular level. I used my empathy to decode the complexity of our collective experiences, as revealed in our AuDHD women’s survey.
In my case, I saw how my body mirrored my relationships. Loving someone is one thing. But if they’re dysregulating your nervous system? It’s not worth it.
I had to learn, painfully, that being “empathic” didn’t mean tolerating everything. Recovery taught me how to co-create boundaries – in life, love, and health.
MY ROLE: What I do – and don’t do – as an educator
Through my work as an integrative, science- and intersectional-informed educator, I turned our lived-experience research into accessible education on ADHD and AuDHD.
But here’s the boundary: I don’t diagnose. I don’t replace practitioners. And when I sense a case goes beyond my remit, I refer every time. Because no education programme should replace individual clinical care.
More women are reaching out, with more nuanced and complex cases than ever. Complex trauma, nervous system burnout, chronic illness and perimenopause – all tangled with AuDHD. It requires a village. And a discerning one at that. This is why I created the Intersectional Care Network.
Reframing ADHD medication as a tool, not a full strategy
Here’s what I think: ADHD meds can be a brilliant tool. But they’re not a full strategy. And they’re not one-size-fits-all – especially for neurodivergent women navigating identity trauma, connection wounds, and hormonal flux at once.
If you’re going through this, it’s not your fault. You’re systemically under-resourced.
That’s why I created the AuDHD Women’s Advanced Practitioner Training for working with AuDHD women – so we can build a truly integrative, informed path together, and stop missing what’s in plain sight.
If you’re looking to bring this deep knowledge into the neurodivergent women’s experience to your workplace, get in touch.
P/S: I’d love to hear – if you’re ND and have tried medication, what did you notice with your body and cycle? What helped you adapt your support systems?
#AuDHD #ADHDMedication #AuDHDWellbeing #Neurodiversity #IWD2026
About Your Author
Dr. Samantha Hiew is a keynote speaker, lived experience researcher, and founder of ADHD Girls, a social impact platform transforming how society sees and supports neurodivergent women and underrepresented communities.
Diagnosed with ADHD at 40 after years of feeling unseen, Sam created the space she longed for, where science meets lived experience, and personal truth becomes a catalyst for cultural change.
Sam has spoken to over 100,000 people, trained 100+ FTSE companies, mental health professionals on AuDHD in women, and led the UK’s first large-scale event spotlighting the lives of AuDHD women and the diagnostic gaps we face.
Named a Difference Maker by PBS America and Positive Role Model for Gender by the National Diversity Awards, Sam brings heart and academic credibility to every stage and page. Sam’s debut book, Tip of the ADHD Iceberg, is a compassionate guide for late-diagnosed neurodivergents to navigate life after diagnosis and find their voice.
With a PhD in medical science and a background in communications, Sam translates research into real-world relevance – helping neurodivergent people feel seen, supported, and empowered.
