Neuro, but Make it Spicy. Women and Late ADHD Diagnosis

Does the Plumbing Still Work? Women’s Health, Being Ignored, and a Late ADHD Glow-UpClaire hosts a solo Salty Hoes episode while Mel is still on vacation, apologizes for prior audio issues, and tees up a return to the duo format next week. Sparked by a Love Island comment doubting whether a 52-year-old woman’s plumbing still "works that way," and a scene from The Pitt about misdiagnosing a woman’s heart attack due to misplaced EKG leads, she discusses how women’s symptoms are minimized or misattributed to hormones, periods, pregnancy, or postpartum. She shares late-life diagnoses discovered around age 49–50... an extra rib, scoliosis, a connective tissue disorder, adenomyosis, and ADHD, and a postpartum blood clot that wasn’t taken seriously. She describes how ADHD is often missed in women due to a lack of research centered on women, inattentive presentation, masking, and diagnostic overshadowing. Claire shares her testing, symptoms, shame spirals, and the immediate benefits and side effects of stimulant medication, along with coping tools like lists, alarms, and planning outfits.00:00 Solo Episode Setup01:21 Love Island Spark03:36 TV Misdiagnosis Moment06:44 Not Listening to Women08:30 Late Health Discoveries14:57 Hopeful OBGYN Story18:15 ADHD in Women Explained21:04 Testing and Diagnosis22:38 Childhood Signs29:07 Adult Struggles and Shame40:46 Meds and Mind Quiet47:57 Strengths and Coping Tools57:58 Wrap Up and Goodbye