A woman who was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 43 said she only realised she had the condition after going through early menopause due to her breast cancer treatment.
Gill Charlton, now 46, believes her ADHD symptoms were heightened while she was undergoing treatment for the disease along with dealing with her own mental health struggles.
“I’d had a really successful career and suddenly the wheels started falling off,” said Gill, from Chorley in Lancashire, who served in the British Army for more than two decades.
She made the comments as Dr Helen Wall, a GP from Bolton, has called for more awareness and training to help women who are diagnosed with ADHD when they begin menopause.
She said menopause could be challenging for many women, but for those with ADHD, the experience can often feel like life was completely unravelling.
Menopause happens when a woman’s period changes and eventually stops due to lower hormone levels., external
ADHD is a condition where the brain works differently to most people including difficulties with things like concentrating and sitting still, external, according to the NHS.
Gill, who now works as a celebrant, said: “I was late diagnosed with ADHD and my diagnosis came after a cancer diagnosis.
“I had breast cancer that was oestrogen positive.
“So the medication that I had to take after that put me into a clinical menopause quite early, and that’s when my ADHD symptoms came to the fore.”
Gill now runs a support group in Manchester called ADHDAF+.
The charity runs 13 groups across the country with four in the north-west of England.
“I cannot explain the power of community,” she said.
“We’ve had somebody that came to group who had run her own really successful business and then one day she just couldn’t understand what had happened.
“She couldn’t function anymore. Her business ceased to trade.
“She went in and out of psychiatric help and then one day she was diagnosed with ADHD.
“She then realised that she was in perimenopause. She just needed those support systems.”