Unmasking Our Health: GLP-1s & ADHD - Women & ADHD | Lyssna här

Episode 213 with Katy Weber & Kalin Johnson

In this first episode of our new series “Unmasking Our Health,” host Katy Weber teams up with cohost Kalin Johnson, PharmD, to explore a side of ADHD in women that isn’t talked about enough: What it’s like to live in a neurodivergent body.

After years of interviewing late‑diagnosed women and seeing the same patterns — chronic pain, fatigue, autoimmune issues, hormonal chaos, gut problems, “mystery” symptoms — Katy created the Unmasking Our Health series to explore the bigger questions behind neurodivergence: What if ADHD isn’t just about our brains, but about our whole bodies — and how and why is the medical system missing the full picture?

Our first topic for discussion: the explosion of GLP-1 medications (think Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro) and what their surprising, wide-reaching effects are revealing about the deeply intertwined relationship between metabolic health, inflammation, hormones, and ADHD.

In this episode, we cover:

What is metabolic psychiatry? And why it's expanding how we understand ADHD beyond just dopamine and norepinephrine
GLP-1 medications and ADHD — what patients are actually reporting (quieter brain, less emotional reactivity, reduced compulsive behaviors, improved executive functioning)
The inflammation connection — how chronic neuroinflammation creates "cognitive drag" and why reducing it may give the ADHD brain more bandwidth
The vagus nerve and GLP-1 receptors — a fascinating look at how the gut communicates with the brain (and why 80% of vagal fibers run from the body to the brain, not the other way around!)
Estrogen, perimenopause, and metabolic decline — why women over 50 are going on GLP-1s faster than any other population
Drug interactions (and physiologic interactions) — what to watch for if you're on stimulants, SSRIs, or HRT while starting a GLP-1
Food noise, reward-seeking, and binge eating — what GLP-1s are actually doing in the brain's dopamine reward circuits, and what that means for neurodivergent women with disordered eating histories
Where is all of this going? Kalin shares her genuinely optimistic vision for how GLP-1 research is opening the door to a more holistic, systemic understanding of neurodivergent women's health

Note: Nothing in this episode constitutes medical advice. Always consult with your physician and pharmacist before starting, stopping, or changing any medication.

Kalin’s website: kalinjohnson.com

Instagram: @kalinpharmd

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