Show notes
GUEST BIO
Bailey Pilant is a New York and Florida-licensed therapist, ADHD-CCSP certified, and the founder of The Wave Counseling, a practice specializing in neurodivergent affirming therapy for women navigating ADHD, anxiety, burnout, and life transitions. She brings both clinical expertise and lived experience to her work, helping women understand themselves more deeply and advocate for the support they actually need. Find her:
Website: https://thewavecounseling.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewavecounseling
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thewavecounseling
SHOW NOTES
Have you ever felt like your ADHD symptoms get dramatically worse at certain times of the month, and wondered if it was all in your head?
On this episode of Organizing an ADHD Brain, ADHD coach Megs welcomes back therapist Bailey Pilant to break down the connection between ADHD, hormones, and women's health, including cycle tracking, perimenopause, and PMOS. Whether you're looking for ADHD coaching, a supportive ADHD community, or practical ways to get organized, this episode meets you where you are.
By the end, you'll understand why women's ADHD is so often missed, how your hormones are directly affecting your symptoms, and what you can start doing right now to track, plan, and advocate for yourself.
Bailey explains how estrogen affects dopamine and why that means ADHD symptoms can shift dramatically across the menstrual cycle, worsen with age, and intensify during perimenopause. She walks through why women's ADHD is so frequently dismissed as personality traits rather than a neurological difference, the knowledge gaps that exist around diagnostic criteria and co-occurring conditions, and why girls often mask in ways that hide their symptoms entirely. They also dig into emotional overwhelm, what borderline hormone test results can mean, and why "normal" results don't always tell the full story.
Bailey shares her own experience with PMOS (formerly PCOS), the value of at-home hormone tracking, and how using real data can help you plan supports, communicate your needs, reduce reactivity, and extend yourself genuine self-compassion, through what she calls "experiments" rather than expectations.
The good news? Once you understand what your hormones are doing and when, you stop wondering if something is wrong with you and start working with your body instead of against it.
Previously on Organizing an ADHD Brain — Bailey's earlier episodes:
Cravings & Cognitive Chaos: Decoding the ADHD-Eating Disorder Connection for Women
Cognitive Chaos: Interview with Bailey (Part 2)
This episode is for any woman with ADHD who has ever felt like her symptoms were a moving target — and is ready to understand why.
3:31 — Why women's ADHD is so often missed and dismissed as personality traits
8:18 — How ADHD presents differently in girls versus boys due to socialization and masking
14:18 — How estrogen affects dopamine and what that means for ADHD symptoms across your cycle
17:49 — When to test your hormones and what to look for
20:39 — When test results look "normal" but something still feels off
26:26 — Cycle tracking as a self-support tool, using data to plan and regulate
36:03 — Perfectionism, self-compassion, and reframing progress as experiments
44:03 — What PMOS means and Bailey's personal experience with her diagnosis
50:55 — How to work with Bailey and closing thoughts
Share your thoughts with Megs!
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