Empowering Advice from an ADHD Psychiatrist: Medication, RSD and Getting a Diagnosis

This week's ADHD Women's Wellbeing Wisdom comes from Dr Helen Read, who offers empowering guidance on medication, menstrual cycles, getting a diagnosis, and RSD.

Or perhaps you've been nervous about taking ADHD medication? Has it felt scary to start a medication regime due to the stigma behind stimulant meds?

Or perhaps medication hasn't worked for you in the past and you're now worried about how to manage medication that works for you at different times of the month?

If so, we hope to answer some of these questions and empower you with some personalised tools that work for you.

Dr Helen Read on The ADHD Women's Wellbeing Podcast is an experienced Consultant Psychiatrist with 30 years of experience in NHS. She has many years of experience with neurodiversity, both in ADHD / ADD and ASD, and their many comorbidities.

Dr Read has a special interest in rejection sensitivity dysphoria (RSD) and other emotional issues that are often part of these conditions.

Dr Read also has ADHD herself, as do her children. Her advice, support and experience with parents are first-hand, reflecting the often difficult family journey she has taken, with many difficulties and many successes along the way. Dr Read's lived experience with ADHD means her treatment plans are incredibly personalised.

Dr Read's private practice, ADHD Consultancy, specialises in neurodiversity.

Dr Helen and Kate spoke about

• Removing medication stigma
• How ADHD medication can help
• How to use and tweak medication to work for you
• The ADHD diagnosis process
• Helen's journey to work in ADHD
• The power of being seen by an ADHD specialist
• ADHD and RSD
• Building new structures and scaffolding to help our new ADHD diagnosis
• Feeling autonomous in our ADHD outcomes
• The change that is needed in the diagnostic process
• The harm the BBC Panorama Documentary did
• How medication could make your life easier

To connect with Dr Read you can go to her website, www.adhdconsultancy.co.uk or connect with her on Twitter @DoctorHelenRead.

Look at some of Kate's ADHD workshops and free resources here.

Kate Moryoussef is a women’s ADHD Lifestyle & Wellbeing coach and EFT practitioner who helps overwhelmed and unfulfilled newly diagnosed ADHD women find more calm, balance, hope, health, compassion, creativity, and clarity. 

Follow the podcast on Instagram here.

Follow Kate on Instagram here.

Find Kate's resources on ADDitude magazine here.

Mentioned in this episode:

Gratitude link