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Welcome to another episode

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of ADHD Women's Wellbeing

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Wisdom. Little short bite-sized

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pieces of wisdom that

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I've curated from all the many, many

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episodes that have been recorded over this

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time. And I really hope that this

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short insight will help you on the

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week ahead. So I'm delighted

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to share this short snippet from my

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conversation with Kelly Rompel from quite

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a few months ago now. But what I

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absolutely loved about it is that we are

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delving and understanding about how our genes, how

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epigenetics play such a huge role in

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our health, but also understanding it through

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the ADHD lens as well. So we

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can understand more of our

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root causes, understand where our exhaustion,

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our anxiety, our cognitive challenges come

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from, and also being able

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to understand our genes so we can

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not only help ourselves, but help our

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children and be able to

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access different ways that perhaps we've not

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thought of. So it's a really enlightening

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conversation this, and I hope that you

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find it helpful. As always, I'd

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love to hear from you. And yeah,

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here's today's episode with Kelly Rompel. But

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I think we just have to do our best

1:11

and choose one meal a day

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where these kids are going to get a lot

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of nutrition, get them on some good supplements and

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let the rest go. I was giggling when you were talking

1:20

about the noodles because my kids begged me for

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ramen noodles. Yes, the ramen

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ones. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They love ramen noodles.

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And I'm always like, gosh, you guys just don't

1:29

understand how terrible they are. You know

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what? You've had your smoothie today. You ate

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all your supplements. You've had a good lunch.

1:35

You know what? Have the ramen noodles. Yeah,

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that's exactly the same. We do our

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best. And this is what is going to

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lead me into because this anxiety that it definitely

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gives me because the more I do this

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work, the more I speak to people like you,

1:48

the more I help other people. I'm

1:51

building the awareness and the knowledge and

1:53

the expertise. But sometimes I think in

1:55

my head, I just wish ignorance was

1:57

bliss because we know a lot. now

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and then when our kids want the ramen noodles

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and they want the biscuits and the

2:05

crisps and the chocolate and I

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know the impact it's going to have on at least

2:09

one of my children's behaviour because she like flips like

2:12

a switch and I know

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and I can see it because the impact

2:16

that food has on her behaviour. So when

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she's eaten really clean, she's eaten really well,

2:21

she's had the protein, the vitamins, all of that, I

2:23

can see it's been a good day and when

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we've not had a good day with

2:28

food, it really impacts the behaviour

2:30

but sometimes it really does induce my

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anxiety a little bit because it's like

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I turn into a bit of a

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control freak and

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that again is not good for me and I

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know that there's a lot of women out there

2:43

who can really resonate

2:45

with that. Very often

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they're getting the ADHD diagnosis after

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they've had their kids diagnosed and

2:52

the kids are being diagnosed and then they're

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doing all the research so realising that this

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is indeed them. And

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so they're trying to work on themselves

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but also working on their kids and

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it's very overwhelming, it's all consuming and

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I do think it can induce more

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anxiety. So can you tell me

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a little bit about the work that you do

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with anxiety and maybe why from a,

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I don't know, from a clinical perspective why

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we are more prone to anxiety? Yeah,

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it is so rare that

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I work with an ADHD

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client that doesn't also have anxiety. It's just, it's

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so rare, I always see the combination of the

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two and when you think of it, at least

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from my standpoint, like a biological level, it makes

3:33

sense because it's a lot of the same root

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causes but also there are

3:38

some genetics involved with anxiety too and so

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with anxiety we of course want to make

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sure that we're correcting vitamin mineral deficiencies as

3:45

well. Getting rid of any

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Candida or parasites is very important but

3:49

then also genetics are involved, like there's

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certain genes, one in particular, well

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there's two, I have a couple of

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favourites but one is called CONT. This

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gene, its job to metabolize out

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your brain neurotransmitters. And so for those

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of us, I'm one of them that

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has a very slow COMT gene. This

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is dubbed like the worrier gene. It gives

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us anxiety because we are more prone to

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being like the overall abundance of

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neurotransmitters. We're ants. We're anxious.

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And so this blanket

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diagnosis of adulcimine deficiency

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for ADHD doesn't always

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show on the test. We're

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more prone to an overabundance of neurotransmitters,

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which can make us very anxious. And

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that then in turn can make us out

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of focus. And so with ADHD, I want

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to make sure people are aware it doesn't

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look the same for any person ever. And

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I think that's one of the reasons why it's a

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spectrum disorder, right? And I say that with quotes that

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it doesn't look

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the same for anybody. And so what

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I see on genetics shows that there's

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many different underlying root causes and the

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labs of course confirm that as well. So

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as far as anxiety, we want to get

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to the root cause and that

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is the combination of doing the labs and

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genetics. But then we also want to ask

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ourselves some questions too, because at the end

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of the time if we sit with it and

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we ask why we're feeling

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the way we're feeling, our body will tell us

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in a lot of times. And if you have one

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of those people that's like, you have no idea, you're

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like, I'm not stressed. I don't know why

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having that age just comes from nowhere. Those are the

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people are like, we need labs and we need genetics.

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But some other people are like, well, I'm a

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really toxic relationship. I hate my job.

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My kids are really young. I'm a

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single mother. I'm a single mom. I'm

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like, okay. Well, that gives me

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anxiety just listening to it, whether it's

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emotional or whether it's biochemical. We have

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to look at all of it. Yeah.

5:46

It's so interesting, isn't it, that you were

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looking at the full picture because

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like you say with the

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epigenetics, that if we've got the gene

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and our life is super stressful, then

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it's going to really exacerbate things. But

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then I've noticed myself and

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other people who have a prone

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to anxiety when we change our

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lifestyle, when we tweak our habits,

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when we really switch things up

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from a holistic perspective, that

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anxiety is not all-encompassing. It's not

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as debilitating. It's there and

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we can see it and we can notice where the

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triggers are, but it's not

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like this big cloud that just

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kind of encapsulates everything, which I've

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had. But also,

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I wonder, there's different

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chapters of our life, like when we've got super

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young kids, I found that a

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very anxious part of my life because you're

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in control of lots of small kids. You're

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in control of having to keep them

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alive, safe as well. Yeah,

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and that hypervigilance that we feel as

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ADHD is, I think, is much more

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profound. Do you notice that? Is

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there a gene for hypervigilance? Has

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that ever been noticed before? Yeah,

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there are definitely some genes that play a

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role in that as well. There's

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other ones, besides the CUNT that I

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talked about, MTHFR gene plays a role

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with this too. Also, there's

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a gene called the GAD gene,

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G-A-D, GAD gene, and they cause

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this to be more prone

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to anxiety with certain glutamic

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acid containing foods. So

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some protein powders, like

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soy, protein powders,

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even like the MSG. So

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when you have certain genetic makeup, and that's

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why it's so nice to know this stuff,

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is because if you're eating certain foods and

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you notice you're green-fogged or you're anxious or

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you can't sleep that evening, it could be

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that you have a variant of this GAD

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gene that's not allowing you to break down

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these glutamic acid containing foods into

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GABA, which is our natural relaxant.

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And this is what, like Xanax and Ativan

7:57

and all these meds, the benzoyl giassa. the

7:59

pains that work on your, those work on

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GABA to increase GABA and keep it around

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longer. And so if you're not able

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to make your own GABA and

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break it down from these foods, you're going

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to be more prone to a lot of

8:13

anxiety. And so just another reason why knowing

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genetics can be very helpful, because it is

8:17

about altering your diet in order to go

8:20

along with your genetic makeup. Yeah,

8:22

I mean, I hear a lot

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about GABA and ADHD. And

8:27

I, again, if I'm not an expert

8:29

in this area, do you recommend people take

8:31

a GABA supplement? Like what food would you

8:33

recommend? Or do you have to go and

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get all the testing done to know where

8:38

the deficiency is? Or can we kind of

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take a bit of a guess and boost the GABA? Yeah,

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so you can, I've had lots of

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people in the past before even offered testing, I've

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been doing health consulting for a long time. And

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I wouldn't even offer testing when I first started.

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And I would have people try things like GABA.

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And it is effective for, for a lot of

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people, if that's the cause of the anxiety. And

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so that's where the, where the labs are nice

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to kind of know where some of these deficiencies

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and things are. But if you were to get

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the, I mean, GABA is a great supplement. I

9:09

mean, of course, I'm not telling anybody to go

9:11

take it, you know, because I can't give you

9:13

advice on your situation. But yes, it's

9:16

not there, you can take it over

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the counter and see if that helps

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you. Other ways to increase GABA naturally

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is by doing yoga is actually proven

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to improve your GABA levels as well.

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But then there's other supplements over the

9:29

counter, like that work on your serotonin.

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So by improving serotonin, like 5-HTP is

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one of those, you don't want to

9:36

take that if you're taking antidepressants or anything

9:38

else that increases serotonin, because there is a

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chance of having too much serotonin, that's,

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that's a risk. And so if you're

9:44

taking any of those, any of

9:47

those medications, 5-HTP can boost serotonin.

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And when you boost serotonin, you

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boost melatonin too for more, better

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sleep. So there are, those are

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just two examples, but there's a

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lot of different supplements we can

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try. over the corner.

10:01

During PMS I hear this

10:03

a lot of suffering. Sufferings

10:06

a really good supplement

10:09

as well and actually

10:11

did anti-depressants and studies.

10:13

So that's also another

10:15

great one that you might want to try

10:17

especially for the pre-menstrual time where

10:20

we feel like everyone is annoying

10:22

and we're very irritable and depressed

10:24

and maybe we want to try. So I

10:27

just want to come out there. Also

10:29

for paramedopausal symptoms as well? Yes. Okay

10:32

perfect. What do you think of L-C? L-C I

10:35

mean I absolutely love.

10:37

I take L-C every single day.

10:39

I also drink green tea which

10:41

has L-C in it as well

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that is a fantastic supplement for

10:45

calm focus and so when I

10:47

have a lot of like I

10:49

said ADHD and anxiety combined clients

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and that is one of the

10:53

best supplements for them because that

10:55

calm focus is so beneficial. Fantastic.

10:58

I take it as well and I love

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it. I mean if someone's listening right now

11:03

and they are on a budget and they

11:05

really want to help themselves with some supplements, do

11:07

you have like a top five supplements if they

11:09

need to go into their local health food store

11:11

and say I'm going to try this? They're

11:15

experiencing anxiety, they're experiencing

11:17

sleep issues, focus issues,

11:19

the typical ADHD symptoms.

11:22

They don't want to take medication or

11:24

they've tried medication and they are wanting

11:26

to boost it more holistically. What would

11:28

you say sort of supplement wise is a

11:31

good place to start? Yeah absolutely

11:33

great question. So always

11:36

a great multivitamin and with

11:39

Selenium in it is a great change. We see

11:43

a lot of deficiencies in the B vitamins

11:45

and that directly affects

11:49

mood focus and energy and metabolism.

11:51

So B vitamins, Omega 3s.

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I like Omega 3s with

11:55

DHA and EPA. I can see what genetics

11:57

that a lot of people require. APA,

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DHA, they don't break down plant-based omegas as

12:02

well. So omega-3,

12:05

magnesium, this one's huge. So many

12:07

deficiencies in the area of magnesium.

12:09

And I specifically like magnesium glycinate.

12:12

That one crops with the blood-brain

12:14

barrier. That's the formulation

12:16

of magnesium that I prefer. And

12:19

vitamin D, those are

12:21

kind of the baseline ones that pretty much every,

12:23

I'm not, I shouldn't say every one, but those are

12:25

the baseline ones that I recommend if they want to

12:27

just get started on some good supplements. That's

12:30

so helpful, thank you. And with

12:32

the vitamin D or the vitamin D, if

12:34

you live in a sunny climate, you still need

12:36

it, or would you say everybody needs vitamin D?

12:40

Yeah, so you'd be surprised. With genetic testing,

12:42

I can see some people do not convert

12:44

vitamin D very well from sunlight. So

12:48

I can't say everybody, but man, most

12:51

people could use some additional vitamin D.

12:53

I myself take 5,000 international

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units every single day. Okay,

12:59

wow. I mean, it's so empowering

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to know that we have got options. And

13:04

I know, we were just talking before

13:06

we started, and you are obviously a

13:08

pharmacist, so you know medication like the

13:10

back of your hand, and you understand

13:12

the benefits, and you really do kind

13:14

of see how life-changing medication could be,

13:17

especially if it's depression, anxiety, ADHD. I

13:20

know that there's a lot of people who

13:22

really find their medication very beneficial, but

13:25

there's some people, again, when we've got

13:27

very sensitive makeups, we try

13:29

the medication, it does help to

13:31

a degree, but the

13:35

cons outweigh the benefits, how

13:37

we feel whether it's the headaches, whether it's the

13:40

lack of appetite, how we feel

13:42

when we have that dip, and some people just

13:44

go, you know what, it's just not worth it. What

13:47

kind of work do you do? And actually,

13:49

just before your

13:51

answer, can you see on

13:53

the genetics what medication can

13:56

help people, like non-stimulant stimulants,

13:58

because that for me would be... groundbreaking.

14:01

Yeah. So there is a section

14:03

in the genetics that I look at in

14:06

particular for my ADHD clients that

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come to me, they say like, you know, I

14:11

tried stimulants, but they make me very aggressive and

14:13

they make me irritable. A lot

14:15

of times they will have that C-O-M-T gene

14:17

that I was talking about. A lot of

14:19

times they will have this low C-O-M-T where,

14:22

I mean, they already have an overabundance potentially

14:24

of neurotransmitters. And then you throw a stimulant

14:26

on top of that and bam, they're even

14:28

more aggressive than more irritable, they're more anxious.

14:31

And so yes, I can see with genetics,

14:33

like you might be better off getting more

14:36

of a central nervous system sedating

14:38

medication, a calming medication versus

14:41

a stimulant. Some people do

14:43

better on calming meds. Like

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what? What would you recommend? What's

14:47

a calming med compared to a stimulant? Well,

14:50

there's over, I mean, I was talking

14:52

kind of prescription. Like guanficine is a

14:55

very common calming medication that

14:57

people will try that if they've tried stimulants

14:59

and it doesn't work for them, they'll go

15:01

the other route and try, I'll call me

15:03

med like guanficine. Okay,

15:07

fantastic. So

15:09

I hope you enjoyed listening to this

15:11

shorter episode of the ADHD

15:13

Women's Wellbeing Podcast. I called it the

15:16

ADHD Women's Wellbeing Wisdom because I believe

15:18

there's so much wisdom in the

15:21

guests that I have on and their insights.

15:23

So sometimes we just need that little bit of a

15:25

reminder and I hope that has helped you today. I

15:28

look forward to seeing you back on the brand

15:30

new episode on Thursday. Have a good rest of

15:33

your week.