ADHD Treatment for Women in Nashville  

My name is William Conway, MD.  I am a general internist with a subspecialty in addiction medicine. I have practiced addiction medicine since 2012. My current addiction treatment practice is Suboxone+ Primary Care™, in Nashville. My current practice of general internal medicine is Nashville Concierge Medicines, including being a concierge doctor for women in Nashville.

 I have many patients in Nashville  with ADHD who are women. In this blog, I am bringing to your contemporary concepts from thought leaders about ADHD in women.  ADHD is a disease which often has a different course in women than in men.  The variation in a woman’s life with ADHD is a unique as each individual woman. However, there are shared challenges and common experiences in the American experience of women with often undiagnosed, poorly understood ADHD. 

 To make complicated ideas more easily understood, I am telling the story of Susan, an imaginary woman, who has the typical American experience of ADHD. 

Executive Summary 

Susan begins by Masking Her ADHD as a child and Adolescent. 

The doctors and the teachers think of ADHD as boys misbehaving in the classroom. The quiet girl daydreaming throughout the day is not recognized. However, the girl knows she is daydreaming. It takes great energy to remain focused. She has stress from the perfectionism she must impose upon her daydreaming mind. 

 

Susan is diagnosed as Depressed, with her inactivity being ignored. 

 In high School, Susan’s school failures gain the attention of the teachers. Her withdrawn nature and quiet way  lead to the diagnosis of depression. Her pediatrician begins her with an antidepressant. Because ADHD was never recognized, Susan never received appropriate treatment such as the stimulant Adderall. 

Her peers are vaping. Susan begins vaping for relief from stress. Finding new pleasure, her vaping becomes more persistent. Within two years, Susan is vaping all day every day. While the pleasure from vaping is no longer as strong, the pain of nicotine withdrawal drives her to constantly vaping.  

Susan Marries, Has Two children with ADHD, and is always overwhelmed. 

 In her twenties, Susan marries at the end of college to man in MBA program at Belmont University in Nashville.  Susan’s family is delighted at her success in the marriage. Secretly, Susan is quietly overwhelmed. Her disorganization is a constant embarrassment to her highly organized husband.  Her disorganization leads to constant eating, with a steady gain of weight over the next twenty years. Her constant vaping is a social embarrassment to her husband. Susan struggles with meal preparation. They have two children, bright, charming and both hyperactive. Susan experiences even more stress on her inability to organize. Her children are eventually offered ADHD evaluations. Her husband wonders if Susan should be on treatment with Adderall.  

 

In Menopausal, Susan’s disorganization Increases. She is finally diagnosed with ADHD, beginning treatment 

In menopause, Susan’s being overwhelmed worsens with hormonal changes. Susan seeks elite medical care, where her menopause is treated, and her ADHD is finally diagnosed. She begins treatment for her ADHD with Adderall. Susan saw a dramatic improvement in focus. 

After twenty years of compulsive eating, Susan is now obese. She receives treatment for weight because she has comorbid diabetes. 

Susan dies prematurely at age 67. Lifespan for women with ADHD is 9 years less than average. 

ADHD shortens lifespan for women by nine years. A multitude of factors can explain that. Susan is a lifetime nicotine user, she has diabetes and obesity, and a lifetime of stress from her late treated ADHD. Her ADHD and its comorbidities do matter. Even though she eventually received treatment with Adderall, the late diagnosis left her with decades of health complications that shorten her life. 

 Conclusion 

ADHD is serious. In women, it is often diagnosed late. It is associated with multiple comorbidities. The best treatment is early diagnosis and treatment, of both ADHD, and its comorbidities. 

 

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