Highly Sensitive ADHD Mom

Earlier this week, the perfect storm hit: digestive issues followed by a miserable stomach bug, PMS, and an unexpected ADHD medication gap—right when my sister emailed me back after seven months of absolute silence. I’m talking about what happened when my ADHD "brakes" were temporarily gone. I open up about sliding into emotional flooding, grieving a distant sibling relationship, and why it is so much harder to stay regulated with family than with friends. I've been thinking about how text, email, and AI are changing how we communicate. If you’ve ever had an impulsive, unmedicated moment or are quietly grieving a relationship that will never give you an apology, this one is for you—because you are not alone.

Earlier this week, the perfect storm hit: digestive issues followed by a miserable stomach bug, PMS, and an unexpected ADHD medication gap—right when my sister emailed me back after seven months of silence. I’m talking about what happened to me when my neurobiological brakes were temporarily gone without ADHD medication. I open up about sliding into emotional flooding, grieving a distant sibling relationship, and why it is so much harder to stay regulated with family than with friends. And I've been thinking about how text, email and AI are changing how we communicate. And a lot of it is not good for ADHD brains! If you’ve ever had an impulsive, unmedicated moment or are quietly grieving a relationship that will never give you an apology, this one is for you.

This week, I had to step away from my ADHD medication, and my brain's rumination loop ran completely raw. An unexpected email triggered a massive emotional spiral, and it clarified something huge for me: ADHD isn’t an attention problem, it’s a brakes problem. In this episode, I’m opening up about my own struggle with compulsively replaying hurts, why high sensitivity makes these loops feel so loud, and how I'm learning to stop demanding that my brain do something it currently cannot do. If you've ever felt completely exhausted by your own thoughts, this episode is for you.

I’m back! After an unintended two-month summer hiatus, I’m discussing what I've been processing, and the massive shifts happening in my life. In this episode, I’m sharing my journey of tapering off Lexapro after realizing my anxiety was actually just unmanaged ADHD. I also dive deep into the emotional weight of my recent family trip to Connecticut—reflecting on the rigid routines of neurodivergent parents, navigating a distant sibling relationship, and grieving the lack of an extended family village. Finally, I talk about how this emotional clarity triggered a massive wake-up call for me to eliminate decision fatigue by simplifying, organizing, and creating a truly frictionless home. 

Have you ever had anxiety about anxiety? In this episode, I’m opening up about a major milestone: working with my psychiatrist to very slowly taper off my antidepressant, Lexapro. After surviving an incredibly heavy year of stacked stress—including deep grief, financial uncertainty, and a major family rift—things have finally settled. But as I take this first step down, I’ve noticed a quiet internal "background scanner" running in my mind, constantly checking to see if my old anxious baseline is making a comeback.

I’m also sharing a real-time breakthrough I had last week during a marathon, seven-hour pool day with a group of local moms. As highly sensitive ADHDers, we are often told to keep social events short to avoid sensory overload, but we can't build deep, meaningful friendships in a rushed, one-hour coffee date. I’ll explain why supporting my ADHD brain with low-dose stimulants feels like a cognitive pair of glasses, and why it is entirely normal to re-evaluate your medication baseline as your life circumstances change. Grab your favorite straw water bottle, take a deep breath, and remember that you are not alone.

Have you ever felt like your anxiety was the only engine keeping your life from falling apart? In today’s episode, I’m opening up about my conflicting relationship with medication as an HSP/ADHD mom, and why I’ve decided to slowly taper off my antidepressant, Lexapro, to transition solely to ADHD stimulant medication. I'm diving into the heavy reality of late-diagnosed ADHD, how the pressure to be a "perfect" gentle parent can cause us to implode physically, and the chaotic middle school years where many of us first learned to mask our executive dysfunction with pure panic.

This is a real-time, unfiltered update—I’m only one week into this taper, and I’m sharing the exact approach I’m taking with my psychiatrist. From the physical realities of SSRI side effects to the looming question of how I will navigate the wild card of my luteal phase and PMDD without Lexapro, I'm laying it all out there. Whether you are navigating your own medication puzzle or just trying to survive your kids' summer schedule, I hope this episode reminds you to trust your body, listen to your intuition, and know that you are absolutely not alone.

Have you ever looked at your sensitive child and realized that the very things you struggle with are actually beautiful gifts? In this episode, I’m sharing the raw truth about our first family trip to Greece. As an HSP managing ADHD, travel anxiety and perimenopause used to derail me. I’m opening up about the reality of "medication jetlag" across an eight-hour time difference, the humor of rushing to early tours, and why I’m finally letting go of the mom guilt of outsourcing to protect my nervous system.

I’m also diving into a mind-blowing, 2,400-year-old ADHD insight from Hippocrates that completely changed how I view my brain. Plus, I'm giving an honest update on tapering my antidepressant Lexapro under my doctor's care, and how this trip helped me embrace who I am. If you are tired of the exhausting American rush and ready for a little more slow grace, grab your coffee and join me. You are not alone!

Have you ever felt a strange, quiet sense of loneliness as a mom, even when you're almost never physically alone?

In this episode, I’m getting incredibly honest about why finding deep, soul-level friendships in our 40s feels so hard, especially for highly sensitive ADHD moms. I share the five realizations helping me build a beautiful tapestry of local connections without draining my battery, why I’m fiercely picky about my peace, and how a random four-hour pool day completely proved me wrong about adult friendships. Plus, I open up about my upcoming family trip to Greece, the real-time tools I'm using to manage travel anxiety, and the pre-vacation chaos of tackling my DOOM piles.

In this episode, I’m opening up about what it’s really like to navigate daily sensory overload as a highly sensitive person (HSP) and ADHD mom. I’m sharing my exhausting habit of absorbing everyone else’s stress just to make the frantic energy in the room stop. By untangling my own childhood history alongside the science of Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) and ADHD emotional dysregulation, I look back at why my neurodivergent nervous system treats a loved one's bad mood like a code-red survival emergency—and how I'm actively working to break that old cycle.

I’m walking you through four personal ADHD coping strategies I’m using right now to stop giving my peace away, inspired by Dr. Judith Orloff’s The Empath’s Survival Guide, a recent breakthrough in my parent support group, and a tough question from my therapist about the stories I create in my own head. From learning the vital distinction between co-regulating with my kids versus physically absorbing their big feelings, to fighting the urge to be a literal "mind-reader," I'm learning how to quiet the loud internal noise. Join me as I share my messy, real-life journey toward managing overwhelm, setting boundaries, and keeping myself grounded.

Connect with Me:

• Facebook Page: Highly Sensitive ADHD Mom https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572056403306

• Review the Show: If this episode resonated with you, please take a moment to leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your reviews help other neurodivergent moms find our community!

Resources mentioned:

• Book: The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People by Dr. Judith Orloff

• ADHD Clinical Research: Learn more about Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) and emotional dysregulation from the pioneering work of psychiatrist Dr. William Dodson.

• Parent Support: Sending a huge thank you to ADHD parent coach Barbara Pestien, RN, MSN, for emphasizing the deep importance of allowing our children to borrow our calm nervous system to co-regulate. https://www.wildfloweradhd.com/

• Movie: Follow That Bird (The 1985 Sesame Street Movie).

Have you ever looked at an old childhood photo of yourself and felt a sudden wave of sadness instead of a smile? In this milestone 10th episode, I’m sitting right here in my closet, diving into a heavy but completely necessary topic: the grief we feel for our younger selves as late-diagnosed moms.

It is a strange, heartbreaking thing to stand between two generations of ADHD—watching my 7-year-old daughter grow up validated and supported, while mourning the anxious, daydreamy little girl I used to be, who had to white-knuckle her way through a chaotic childhood.

But as I unpack everything from generational trauma to pop culture moments like Firefly Lane, I’m learning that while we can't rewrite our pasts, we can heal our presents. I’m peeling back the layers of parenting perfectionism, embracing the concept of the "good enough mom," and learning how to protect my sensitive nervous system.

This episode is a raw, honest look at how we can honor our grief, give ourselves the grace we never received, and recognize that our high sensitivity is a gift worth fiercely protecting.

Connect & Support:

• Community: Join my Facebook Page Highly Sensitive ADHD Mom 

• Review: Leave a quick review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to help other moms find us

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• TV Show: Firefly Lane (The series finale on Netflix)

• Movie: Follow That Bird (The 1985 Sesame Street movie)

• Movie: As Good as it Gets 

• Book: Nowhere Girl: Life as a Member of ADHD's Lost Generation by Carla Ciccone

• Book: Master the Mundane: How to Manage Life, Home, and Family as a Mom by Amy Marie Hann

• Psychological Concept: The "Good Enough Mother" theory (1953) by Dr. Donald Winnicott. 

• Podcast: Neurodiversity Podcast with host Emily Kircher-Morris 

• ADHD Parent Coaching: Barbara Pestien (Wildflower ADHD) https://www.wildfloweradhd.com/