YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → 9. Pregnancy, Breastfeeding and ADHD medication with Rodney Whyte

9. Pregnancy, Breastfeeding and ADHD medication with Rodney Whyte — Transcript

by ADHD Mums · 6,518 words · 937 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:00welcome to the ADHD moms podcast a safe
0:02place for everyday Australian moms to
0:04discuss their struggles with ADHD
0:06motherhood and life today we have by far
0:09the most anticipated guest I've ever had
0:12which is Rodney White how are you Rodney
0:15I'm very well thanks Jan I have never
0:17had a guest that I've announced in the
0:19group and had so many questions and so
0:22many comments and so much excitement and
0:25look a few of the people that are a bit
0:26efficient were like that will save us
0:28all ringing roding individually
0:30because obviously not because it's all
0:32individualized which we'll get to but
0:34I'm just going to do a quick overview of
0:36Rodney just in case you don't know who
0:37he is so Rodney White has been a
0:40pharmacist at monar health for over 30
0:42years for the last 20 years he has
0:45worked as a senior pharmacist in the
0:47monar medicines information and he's
0:50worked in various teams in Department
0:51that we won't go through but he's got
0:53extensive expertise in medicine
0:56particularly in pregnancy breastfeeding
0:58Pediatrics and Women's Health
1:00Rodney was recently awarded the 2017
1:03Victorian pharmacist medal for his work
1:06aside from that he would be one of the
1:07most named names in any ADHD group I've
1:11ever been in which is hilarious because
1:13he doesn't have social media and you're
1:16not actually predominantly out in the
1:18community so that must be a testament to
1:20the hard work that you do on the phone
1:22behind the scenes so welcome to you
1:23Rodney thank you very much Jane and
1:26while I am you're right I'm in a
1:28hospital setting much of my work is
1:32within the community in fact I'd say
1:33it's a broad mix of people that I get to
1:36speak to in the community so I enjoy
1:38that aspect it ranges from the super
1:41experts right through to poor Ms who are
1:43struggling with their breastfeeding
1:45issues and particularly involving
1:47medicines but we cover a very broad
1:50range of topics in here but it's nice to
1:52have a chat to you this
1:54evening so quickly before we start we
1:57just need to be really clear that Rodney
1:59is talking really G this is a podcast
2:01episode for general information only
2:03this is not individual advice this is
2:05not medical advice this does not mean
2:07that you should go get a script for
2:09anything or start doing anything
2:11different or not go see a medical
2:12practitioner that needs to be really
2:14clear going forward is there anything
2:16you'd like to add to that Rodney no I'm
2:18happy with that Jan thanks we'll see how
2:20we go as we move through we'll see how
2:22we go okay firstly how did you get into
2:25this area well the demand it's exploded
2:29I'm speaking to you more than anyone the
2:32demand for particularly medicines
2:34information in an ADHD setting is just
2:38exploded many topics in medicine have
2:41exploded over recent years because
2:43there've been so many advancements in
2:46this space and many directly affect
2:49breastfeeding women pregnant women
2:52because they are often ones that where
2:55the problems been exacerbated by the
2:57pregnancy or giving birth that creat
2:59creates its own set of mental health
3:01challenges at a whole range of levels of
3:03course and I've always been working in
3:06through those aspects but it's the very
3:10recent implementation of ADHD medicines
3:13for adult populations and that's really
3:15only been the last 5 to 10 years before
3:17that I would have had no questions at
3:20all must I've been here for 30 years now
3:23in this role and the first 20 would have
3:26had none it was all about kids children
3:29with ADHD getting medicines now it's
3:32moved into incredibly huge and we find
3:36this a lot things moved very quickly in
3:38today's world if there's a new medicine
3:41or there's a new breakthrough it's
3:43incredibly quickly taken up and there's
3:46the power of social media and the media
3:48in general it's taken up very rapidly
3:50before you necessarily might have a
3:52really good handle on what are the
3:54implications yeah absolutely and I think
3:57even in the last five years my youngest
3:59child is just turned five and I feel
4:02like now things have changed again where
4:05the belief around the mom gets diagnosed
4:07with ADHD when a child does has almost
4:10changed already because it feels like
4:12there's more women even in the last 6
4:14months 12 months talking about
4:17breastfeeding pregnancy IVF and ADHD
4:19medication whereas before there wasn't
4:22even anyone talking about that because
4:24your child was at school and the
4:25teachers run you for a problem now it's
4:28happening earlier again which I think is
4:30great but we haven't really necessarily
4:33caught up on the information known
4:35around meds and and we don't necessarily
4:37have the expertise in prescribers out
4:40there because they were predominantly
4:42pediatricians now it's moved into an
4:45adult field Psychiatry hasn't really
4:48necessarily caught up with that
4:50incredible demand like a lot of other
4:52areas again where the demand exceeds the
4:55supply and I know a lot of Ms are really
4:58frustrated by the fact they they've been
5:00trying to get some help they're
5:01desperate to get a little bit of relief
5:04and it's very challenging oh yeah and
5:07plus from the psychiatrist point of view
5:09I would imagine with that many people on
5:10your weight list when do you do
5:12professional development that would
5:13wouldn't be something that I would be
5:15doing a lot and it's Cutting Edge stuff
5:18it's not something you can necessarily
5:21be taught a lot of it is experience and
5:24just general principles working with
5:27people and seeing what works and what
5:28doesn't yeah absolutely so let's Dive
5:32Right In I've got a number of questions
5:33that the women have written in which I
5:35love firstly first this just so many are
5:39women able to take or continue taking
5:41ADHD medication whilst pregnant that's
5:44possibly one of the really tough ones
5:46and I've had a number of discussions
5:48with a variety of people this question
5:50hasn't been fully answered and pregnancy
5:53is always a challenge because we just
5:54don't do the studies in pregnancy the
5:57studies are almost impossible to get
5:58through and no nobody's interested in
6:00those studies because manufacturers of
6:03all descriptions want to steer away from
6:06medicine used in pregnancy they are not
6:09interested in advocating that and so
6:12there's Kickback from manufacturers
6:14about doing any studies in pregnancy in
6:16the first place and secondly it's just
6:20not various people I speak to or
6:23involved with the therapeutic Goods
6:26Administration and the categorization of
6:28medicines in pregnancy
6:30and these things are extremely difficult
6:32these are usually very old medicines and
6:36yet we still don't have a handle on
6:38exactly how they fit into a pregnancy
6:41environment having said all of that
6:44let's go through a few Basics they don't
6:47tend to cause Mal formations so your
6:51risk if you're on something and I talk
6:54about traditional agents rather than
6:56newer things at this point so your
6:58traditional stim an don't are aren't
7:01associated with any increased risk of
7:03malformation so it makes little
7:05difference if you're on them when you
7:06get pregnant they don't tend to increase
7:09risk of miscarriage although again you
7:12have to remember that the condition
7:14itself has an incidence of problems
7:18associated with pregnancy let's just
7:20leave it at that for now the concerns
7:22with ADHD medicine stimulants
7:24particularly in pregnancy is that they
7:27can or it seems that they can reduce
7:30what we call interuterine growth so a
7:32little bit of what we call iugr
7:35interuterine growth retardation and a
7:37little bit of increased risk of
7:39prematurity now for some people that
7:42won't be relevant for example you go in
7:45with a lot more confidence for example
7:47if you had a term baby already and they
7:49were well and otherwise healthy you're
7:52more comfortable in that environment
7:54whereas if you're perhaps a diabetic or
7:56you had other medical conditions
7:58associated with
8:00your potentially your pregnancy
8:01gestation or diabetes as I said or hyp
8:03cholesterolemia or all sorts of unusual
8:07or usual but Associated medical
8:09conditions that might be more
8:12problematic prematurity and small birth
8:14weights may be more challenging in an
8:17environment where a woman was had a less
8:21robust state of health going into the
8:23pregnancy so that's always important in
8:25pregnancy being well and being having a
8:28great mental Health Wellness in going
8:31into pregnancy is critical under any
8:33circumstance it's really helpful so it's
8:35more challenging if you've got poorly
8:38controlled ADHD or you've got a medical
8:41condition which might in some way
8:43interfere with those increased parameter
8:46risks does that make sense I'm I'm sorry
8:49put it in simple terms no it does I
8:51actually think that does make sense it
8:53does lead into one other question that I
8:55had at the end which was is it okay to
8:57take I know traditional imul an during
9:00IVF and because you said in the
9:02beginning it didn't impact when you get
9:05pregnant is IVF in the same bucket is
9:07that pretty much so for most IVF it
9:11depends what sort of IVF and okay we get
9:15a lot of people ask me about egg
9:16collection for example and it's
9:19irrelevant when you have those eggs
9:22collected if you are going to have eggs
9:24collected at any time in your life those
9:25eggs are right there right pretty much
9:28from birth and so if you're exposed to
9:31ad HD medicine stimulants particularly
9:35it doesn't matter whether that's during
9:37the process of collection or beforehand
9:39or at any point in your life it's always
9:41that exposure but because it doesn't
9:43cause birth defect it's not what we call
9:46teratogenic that's the key word here
9:49meaning that it can cause birth defects
9:51theyve never been known to do that for
9:54let's say let be more specific
9:56methylphenidate and dexamphetamine and
9:59list ex an phetamine which is Vian you
10:01know they have not been associated with
10:03increased risk of malformation so if you
10:05go into pregnancy on those your risk is
10:10what we call Standard population risk
10:12which means the same as pretty much
10:14everybody else who's doesn't have a
10:17predisposing condition to problem shall
10:19we say okay okay and then would that
10:22same stance extend out onto
10:25breastfeeding with what you just talk
10:27about your viewers need to understand
10:28that bre feeding is a completely
10:30different topic from pregnancy
10:32completely different setting and they're
10:35always interchanged but they're
10:37extremely different like many medicines
10:39are very safe in pregnancy that are
10:41problematic in breastfeeding okay for
10:44example stem proor perazine widely used
10:47for first trimester hyperemesis but
10:49problematic in breastfeeding because
10:52exposure to babies via breast milk is
10:54not good and conversely many things may
10:57be safe in breastfeeding that AR safe in
11:00pregnancy so you can't cross them over
11:03now in this particular case when we talk
11:06about breastfeeding the gold standard
11:08reference that and I probably sent to
11:11you and many other moms thousands of
11:14moms I'm sure I've sent out to is the
11:16professor Thomas Hal infant risk website
11:20that group infant risk in the us
11:23renouned as one of the very few groups
11:26with expertise and doing studies and
11:29doing followup in breastfeeding purely
11:32breastfeeding no pregnancy information
11:35and development and their group has
11:38written a very good profile on ADHD
11:42medicines in breastfeeding which I
11:44strongly encourage you to have a look at
11:46if you haven't already seen that and
11:47you're thinking along these lines and I
11:50strongly encourage you to take it to
11:51your prescriber many of whom will feel
11:54very uncomfortable about prescribing
11:57these agents in a breastfeeding settings
11:59it's it's terrific from both a patient
12:00perspective and from a prescriber
12:03perspective to have that as I say their
12:05Bonafide is their
12:07authoritative University of Texas and
12:10they're a big highly established group
12:13that provide really valuable advice to
12:15breastfeeding Ms on a whole range of
12:17topics including things like botox and
12:19other sort of things that Ms might want
12:21to know so infant risk do it is a do com
12:25site but that's because they publish big
12:27textbooks that I have sitting next to
12:29most of my time and that's well covered
12:32and even with the very young babies and
12:34again the differential is a bit like
12:36pregnancy there's very early pregnancy
12:38and then very late pregnancy they're
12:40very different focuses and the same with
12:42breastfeeding there's very early
12:44breastfeeders premy babies or newborns
12:47versus 6 12 18month old babies so
12:51breastfeeding and they're in extremely
12:54po ends of the scale of risk if that
12:57makes sense so there's a big
12:59consideration across the whole Spectrum
13:01both for pregnancy and breastfeeding
13:03changes as you move through the time
13:06scales okay okay that makes sense
13:08actually if anyone missed the website I
13:11can put it in episode notes that's
13:13actually really helpful that's great
13:15important whenever you're asking those
13:16questions and I really appreciate Mom's
13:19letting me know how old their baby is
13:21because you feel enormous Comfort Zone
13:24in dealing with babies let's say 6 to 12
13:28months plus
13:29whereas younger babies may have
13:32undisclosed problems or unpresented
13:34concerns that may be more vulnerable and
13:37they certainly may be for things like
13:39arhythmia which may not have been
13:41disclosed yet so please whenever you're
13:43asking questions about breastfeeding or
13:45pregnancy for that matter the this the
13:47time scale of your pregnancy or the time
13:50scale of where you're at with your
13:51breastfeeding Journey yeah I can see
13:53what you're saying because you wouldn't
13:54want to come out of hospital with a weak
13:56old baby and go Google can I take ADHD
14:00meds whilst breastfeeding find an answer
14:02that's not relevant to you with the how
14:04old your baby is and Just Go With It
14:06blindly I hear what you're saying that's
14:08a great point and the other thing too
14:10with that is it's a bit different if
14:12you've already had the medicine and you
14:14know what it does for you and you know
14:16what adverse effects it might have for
14:18you versus someone who's never had it
14:21before going into a breastfeeding
14:23Journey that been waiting to get
14:24pregnant and now they're through that
14:26they really want to get started if you
14:28don't know impact on you then it's hard
14:31to estimate what might be the impact on
14:33baby as well these have pros and cons
14:35some things work really well some things
14:37don't work well for any individual and
14:40it's really helpful if you've had prior
14:44experience and that applies across the
14:46medicines board if you've used it before
14:48with good effect and you know what to
14:49expect and you can anticipate this and
14:51this it makes a big difference compared
14:53to someone who's never had it before and
14:57that poses a different set of challenges
14:59again not just for baby but for for mom
15:02as well of course oh yeah absolutely
15:04it's funny because I was diagnosed when
15:06I was 36 and so I was like in a massive
15:10rush to get the meds even though I'd
15:12been so many years without it it was
15:14like hope that everything could be
15:16better but I would be trying to imagine
15:18if I had that feeling cuz I had a
15:19psychologist diagnos me and then he's
15:21maybe you should go Tred men so I was
15:22like in a hurry as only ADHD is are
15:25because you just found only ADH weight
15:28loss whole range of topics yeah weight
15:30loss there would be too yeah but then if
15:32I was breastfeeding a baby I'd be so
15:34tempted to try and want to start the
15:36medication Journey but from a
15:38non-emotional place is probably not the
15:40right time but you'd be tempted I can
15:42see why people would want to do it it's
15:44a sleep deprivation and other things
15:46that can cause that's true you're not
15:48sleeping and that's usually the case and
15:51particularly if you've got a fractious
15:53baby who's not sleeping either oh boy
15:56you're in a world of pain on top of your
15:58odhd
15:59yeah and then you don't even know
16:00because sometimes you have dairy and
16:01then you think he the baby lactose
16:03intolerant it's like the whole thing
16:04goes around stop me don't stop me so
16:07yeah I can imagine if you tried a new
16:08Med in the midst of that it would be
16:10like was it the med was it me was it the
16:12air conditioning who knows the baby's
16:14not sleeping like how would you know I
16:15like to blame air conditioning I think
16:17that's worth it me too it's never the
16:19mom that's for sure anyway we will
16:21continue on okay interestingly that
16:23point partners are a very important part
16:25of that Journey too of course support at
16:28that level makes a massive difference
16:30and people discount that sometimes yeah
16:32that's a great Point actually a few
16:35people have written in and said is there
16:37a more friendly pregnancy or
16:39breastfeeding ADHD met than others is a
16:43non are
16:45clearly preferred options as I said
16:48dexamphetamine list dexamphetamine and
16:52methyl phenate ralin are the three that
16:55I would almost universally stick to and
16:58then can tweak it with other little bits
17:01and pieces like sometimes again as you
17:04know ADHD often needs more than just
17:07ADHD medicines too it sometimes pulls in
17:10a variety of other depressing options or
17:13mood stabilizing options or other things
17:16that get thrown into that mix I rarely
17:18see people on just one treatment option
17:22it's usually a few things that as the
17:25journey evolves they tend to find that
17:27adding a little bit of a touch of this
17:29or it's a bit like being a a master
17:32cheef isn't it you you tweak the recipe
17:34a little
17:35bit you do okay so you said more
17:38traditional ones what about trying to
17:40conceive is there any differences there
17:44generally speaking no and here's another
17:48great challenge for women getting advice
17:50in this regard often prescribers will be
17:53very reluctant to validate that it's
17:55safe to stay on your ADHD medicine and
17:59you need to reinforce to them the
18:01massive difference that it's made if it
18:02has made a massive difference if you
18:04feel uncomfortable with it or you don't
18:06feel it's made a huge benefit to your
18:08life then by all means it's probably
18:10wise to really wind it back or even stop
18:12it but if you know it's made a huge
18:15difference people tend to focus only on
18:18the medicine rather than on the huge
18:20Improvement in your mental health State
18:22and your ability to function and that's
18:25so important in pregnancy because
18:26there's nothing worse I think we might
18:28have said for there's nothing worse than
18:30becoming pregnant and then stopping
18:32everything and then being in a very dark
18:34and horrible Place sitting around
18:35thinking about things because you can't
18:37work and you can't study and you can't
18:39focus and you can't look after the other
18:40kids and it's that Wellness is very
18:44important so it's always that balance
18:46and they always say benefits versus risk
18:48but it's not easy to establish the risks
18:51and the benefits are often pushed aside
18:54so it's hard to be objective in this
18:56space it's such an emotional can
18:59pregnancy
19:00breastfeeding oh yeah I think there's
19:02always an element of self-sacrifice too
19:04like I think mothers woring enough to
19:07ring you are probably the ones that are
19:08like if it's going to make my life
19:09harder I can cope with it if it's the
19:11right thing for my baby but then they're
19:14not fully appreciating that happy mother
19:17happy baby great point because you are
19:20your baby's Wellness if you are unwell
19:22then your baby is going to struggle if
19:24you are well and able to do all of the
19:26things you know you have to do that
19:28makes baby's Journey a lot more secure
19:31and a lot more environmentally learning
19:34capacity and a whole range of other
19:36things so great Point your Wellness is
19:39Paramount to baby's Wellness I did have
19:43a mom once and she said to me that she
19:45didn't take ADHD meds because she didn't
19:47think she should breastfeeding wise
19:49didn't check with anybody just decided
19:50that was the right thing for her to do
19:52oh lots of Ms do that lots of and she
19:56actually was at a mother's group and she
19:57didn't put the break on the pram and the
20:00pram went right across this car park
20:02like the baby was fine but she was like
20:06I'm actually not okay because it's the
20:07little things and the attention that I'm
20:10not paying that my baby could have been
20:12cleaned up by a car and then that little
20:15bit of breast going through the breast
20:16milk she ended up just going back on
20:18meds because she was that's not worth it
20:20I hear those stories regularly of course
20:24oh wow okay I'm not here to Advocate
20:26either way it's very much a personal
20:28decision here and and all I say to you
20:31is when you approach it with your
20:33prescriber and they're the key person
20:35within your Dynamic here you've got to
20:38be factual but you've got to give them
20:40your perspective quite clearly if it's
20:43made a huge difference to your life
20:44you've got to be upfront about that if
20:46you in any way indicate I'm not sure
20:48whether I should continue on or not
20:50they're going to want to say no don't
20:51continue stop it so if you need it and
20:54it's made a big difference and you feel
20:57you're good or even if you find you
20:59really struggle without it you've got to
21:01get back to them and reiterate that it's
21:04one of those very subjective topics
21:06isn't it yeah that's a great Point
21:08that's a great Point okay so I was going
21:11to take a little bit of a diversion
21:13Rodney okay if you can't answer any of
21:15these checking in yeah diversion you
21:19talk to ADHD Ms all the time a couple of
21:22people have written in and said that a
21:24lot of people are talking about PMS and
21:27ADHD
21:29and there was a few people that said can
21:31you take something else along with the
21:33medication during this or should you up
21:35your ADHD meds or is there anything we
21:38can do to offset that feeling of
21:39insanity when you think nothing's
21:41working my ADHD meds aren't working I
21:44always have the feeling that I need to
21:45get a passport drive to the nearest
21:47airport leave the country that kind of
21:50vibe is there anything we can do around
21:52that period yeah look and it's not just
21:55PMS it's a whole range of other topics
21:57that impact on ADHD and vice versa it
22:00can be even perimenopausal symptoms it
22:03can be a whole range of women's healings
22:05particularly if you're having heavy
22:07periods where you're losing a lot of
22:09blood and you can be very exhausted yes
22:12they usually are fairly independent of
22:15each other again PMS there's a lot of
22:17discussion on it at the moment how do we
22:19approach this there's no clear pathway
22:21although I like the sort of Gan Hales
22:23I'm a big believer in the Gan Hales
22:25group they have a very good website Jan
22:28HJ l.org they have a lot of information
22:32on their website but the two are quite
22:36independent even though they're often
22:38inter link or often Associated they are
22:41quite independent in their treatment
22:42options again it may often be a bit of
22:45an anti-depressant in the mix it could
22:48be a mood stabilizer in the mix it could
22:51be so many different things and it's
22:53hard to speculate on how any individual
22:57is going to go with the combination
22:59normally as I say ADHD is a condition
23:03where a lot of medicines may become
23:05involved over for various reasons okay
23:09okay here's one that you've touched on
23:11earlier a few people have written in
23:13around if you think you just have
23:16ADHD should ADHD meds be enough and they
23:20said obviously following pharmacist do
23:22prescriber
23:23instructions but do I need to take
23:26anti-depressants I think what they're
23:28saying here is if someone's been
23:30misdiagnosed or maybe they do actually
23:32have like depression anxiety and they
23:34find out they have ADHD should they try
23:36and go off their anti-depressants to
23:38then start the stimulant is it the wrong
23:40Med for ADHD definitely not I see that
23:43all the time but then there's often an
23:45element of even a little bit of
23:47psychosis or schizophrenia or even
23:50bipolar so there's often an antis
23:53psychotic in the mix as well and some of
23:55those agents for example might cover all
23:57three there's something like quti pin uh
24:01great for Sleep bit of an
24:02anti-depressant bit of a mood stabilizer
24:05bit of an antis psychotic labels don't
24:07necessarily mean very much it's more
24:10about how they impact on you the pros
24:13the cons and looking for then adding
24:17things for example an ADHD Med might
24:19address you might find You' got a more
24:21underlying anxiety under the
24:23circumstance where you've gone onto your
24:25ADHD stuff and it's really giving you
24:27focus and it's giving you purpose and
24:29you really able to function but you
24:31still got that underlying element of for
24:33example anxiety anxiety is very
24:36prevalent in society particularly
24:38amongst women of childbearing age it's a
24:41big driver and I could blame you for
24:43that J and social media but I'm sure
24:45it's multifactorial and there's a lot
24:47going on isn't it certainly I'm all for
24:50you trying to wean an anti-depressant
24:53but then people will come back to me and
24:54say I was fine when I came off it but
24:56now I'm deteriorating again you're never
24:58quite sure if that's the reemergence of
25:01the condition particularly if this
25:03family history I always find it's really
25:05interesting to get a fairly
25:07comprehensive family history which my
25:09job doesn't allow me but your prescriber
25:11has that opportunity and I think it's
25:13very important to look at Mom Dad
25:15siblings and others to see how their
25:18lives have evolved and what's worked for
25:21them and what hasn't worked for them and
25:23I think that's an extra bonus you can
25:26undertake if you're have that
25:28opportunity to ask those questions of
25:31family members yeah I see what you're
25:33saying I don't know we're talking
25:34generically if you had a really strong
25:36family history and pretty much everyone
25:38has been on anti pressence for a long
25:40period and they don't go well off it
25:42would you then be someone that should
25:43try and go off it yeah I get what you're
25:46saying yeah these are the questions only
25:48you can answer these sort of things mind
25:51you you can come off it and go back on
25:53again but I do find with some things
25:56like ADHD me you can do that you can
25:58come off and go on again pretty easily
26:01anti-depressants it's more challenging
26:03because there's always this this big
26:05startup period where it's really
26:07problematic and then it settles down and
26:09then you function really well but when
26:11you try and come off them again and
26:12particularly some specific agents I
26:15won't go through names are really
26:17problematic to come on and go off and so
26:20it's a bit harder with anti-depressants
26:22compared to say ADHD Ms where you can
26:24stop them and start them with some sort
26:27of regular pattern if you will yeah okay
26:31okay that makes sense and one final
26:33question is a lot of people debate about
26:37medication breaks online there's a lot
26:39of mixed opinions on it I was wondering
26:41if there are any benefits from your
26:43point of view on medication breaks again
26:46it's such an individual thing some
26:48people seem to need it on an ongoing
26:51basis and I think you ask yourself how
26:53have I gone when I've had a break it
26:55depends on the presses and stresses in
26:57your life too A lot of the time if I'm
27:00particularly a lot of young women the
27:02family is the young kids are really
27:05challenging you've got a lot of
27:06Confrontation you've got a lot of
27:08barriers to overcome and you've got a
27:10lot of generally as is at the moment a
27:13lot of illness within the family because
27:15they're bringing things home from
27:17daycare or they're bringing home from
27:18school and you suffer more than they do
27:21necessarily they recover quickly and you
27:23don't they are very challenging is then
27:26you often go through hopefully you go
27:28through a period of more stability and
27:30where things achieve a more natural
27:32Rhythm and I think you've got more
27:34opportunity to come off a number of
27:36different types of medicines under that
27:38circumstance but then you might get
27:40pregnant again and all of a sudden it
27:42winds up incredibly quickly I'm a great
27:45believer in adjusting to the life stage
27:48you're in and how you it's all about
27:51stress to a very large extent but that
27:53manifests in a whole different set of
27:55ways it might be sleep it might be mood
27:57it might be your job your work your
28:00shifting house all of these stresses go
28:03into the mix and so you can never say
28:05it's a good time or a bad time because
28:08you never know what's coming along in a
28:10short space of time for example finances
28:12are a big topic of conversation that's a
28:15huge stress up for a lot of young
28:17families it depends on the time of your
28:20life and how settled and adapted you are
28:23to where you're at in your life cycle
28:26yeah I see what you're saying CU if if
28:28you were going through the last year
28:30I've had three kids diagnosed we've been
28:32at pediatricians all over the place
28:34setting up therapies homeschooling
28:36starting school repeating KY all over
28:38the place would that be a year that I
28:40would take medication breaks no that
28:42would not be the year however is
28:45massively disruptive for so many people
28:49so I get what you're saying but if you
28:50were really at a period of that things
28:53were going well then maybe that would be
28:55something that you could consider but
28:58you need to be in the right place at the
28:59right time kind of even Seasons make a
29:02difference I find a lot of women really
29:04struggle coming into winter because
29:06everybody's in the house and everybody's
29:08getting on everybody else's nerves where
29:10they're all out running around in summer
29:12and they're free and you're a lot more
29:14relaxed in your approach there's so many
29:17things that come into it I'm just a
29:19medicines guy I can't work this stuff
29:21out but maybe then women are looking for
29:23permission maybe they want permission to
29:25stay on the Met because I saw once
29:28someone wrote in the group and said my
29:30psychiatrist recommended that I take
29:32weekends off medication yeah and then
29:35she said back to him Med weekends are
29:38actually the most busy for me because
29:39I've got multiple kids sports and
29:42actually that's worse than a work day
29:45and there's no periods that I am
29:46actually off so I don't know when I'm
29:49going to have this medication break and
29:50the amount of women that wrote and said
29:52thank God because I've been told to do
29:54that too and that makes me feel better
29:56because I haven't been able to have a
29:57medic medication break on the weekends
29:59like they've been advised maybe in a
30:02generic way it's good to have a
30:03medication break without looking at the
30:05whole person and the whole family which
30:07is what you're talking about yeah that
30:09that might not be the right time some
30:11some medicines are vulnerable to what we
30:14call developing tolerance you need more
30:16and more like benzo are horrible
30:18medicines because you start off low and
30:20then you need a bit more and a bit more
30:21and a bit more and end up you're in a
30:23very bad place with them not the purpose
30:25of what we're doing it's all about that
30:27Wellness that you generate and what I
30:29often find is too Ms and other young
30:31women can generate strategies when
30:34they're well and focused and able to
30:36function they can generate their own
30:38inner strategies to cope with the
30:41stresses that life brings along and it
30:43might be simple things like meditation
30:45or cognitive therapy or it might be just
30:47relaxation therapy or it might be even
30:50physical exercise it could be a whole
30:51range of things that are very important
30:54in their Wellness but they can't achieve
30:56that without the medicine so add a
30:58little bit of medicine they get that
31:00capacity to think things through a
31:01little more clearly and they realize
31:03that their Wellness is hinged on the
31:07things that they're doing in their life
31:09that are not the demands of motherhood
31:11it might be they say all right I've got
31:14to go it could be as simple as going for
31:15a coffee three times a week with their
31:18cohort of friends it doesn't take much
31:20someti but those things are really
31:22important in your Wellness journey of
31:24course yeah it's so funny we had some of
31:27the podcast recently and she said that
31:29she had this dog and this dog was like
31:31she reckoned the dog had ADHD and the
31:34dog was doing all these crazy things and
31:35it was hilarious but then she said that
31:37when she took her ADHD meds and she got
31:39diagnosed and medicated suddenly her dog
31:42was instantly Heats better and she
31:45didn't realize that her herself was
31:48rubbing off on her dog she was blaming
31:50the dog and it was actually her and I
31:53was actually thinking to myself oh my
31:54God that's like my children when I love
31:57Reds
31:59they're like crazy and I'm like it's all
32:00their fault look what they're doing to
32:02me and it's no actually I started that
32:05and they just reacting to me yeah yep
32:08people say to me all the time is this
32:11medicine going to affect my baby I say
32:13sometimes in a positive way even really
32:15young babies feel that tension feel that
32:17anger feel that frustration and it is
32:20often at those levels really coming at
32:24and people say postnatal depression but
32:27it's very really just depression it's
32:29usually other things as I say anxiety is
32:32big or it could be anger it could be
32:35frustration it could be just really
32:38wanting to get Escape as you said before
32:40with get out of the country for PMS it
32:43manifests in different ways for
32:45different people and how you cope with
32:46it is a big part of whether you can need
32:50to continue with your med or you can do
32:52without it when you learn the strategies
32:54that cope with it oh absolutely look
32:57those are all of my questions that I had
32:58for you Rodney is there anything you
33:00want to say before we finish up I think
33:01it's important to a lot of young women
33:04neglect their own health and wellness
33:07because of the demands of their life and
33:11sometimes really simple things can make
33:12a big difference like iron deficiency is
33:15big things like glucose just checking
33:18your glucose every now and then to see
33:20whether you pre-diabetic even because a
33:23lot of women have gestational diabetes
33:25and that impacts on their kidney
33:26function and sorts of other things the
33:29simple interventions can often make a
33:32big difference so if you're in any doubt
33:34usually having a good GP makes a big
33:37massive difference so you can have a
33:39talk to them but don't just push it
33:41aside it's really important that you at
33:44least educate even if you can't get to
33:46the doctor have a bit of a look there's
33:48some great websites like the better
33:49health Channel better health. v.g. Au in
33:52Victoria but there are others across the
33:54country that are great for fact sheets
33:57on basic things as I said iron
34:00deficiency iodine deficiency often thyro
34:03hypo and hyperthyroidism comes into play
34:06after pregnancies and around that time
34:08and that's up and down all over the
34:10place and that can make a big difference
34:12simple little things can sometimes make
34:14a big difference to your wellness and
34:16easily corrected even stupid things like
34:19constipation and it can be really
34:21frustrating constipation and irritable
34:24bowel disease sometimes they're very
34:27quickly sort once we get to the the root
34:29of the problem absolutely look thank you
34:32so much for your time there's so many
34:34women that commented and said I've rung
34:36Rodney so many times please thank him
34:38for his service to the community so
34:40thank you so much Rodney I'm realize how
34:44unpleasant my Vis is because they're
34:46talking to me on the phone you say that
34:49everyone that I've spoken to said no
34:50one's being willing to speak to them on
34:52the phone their own treating
34:54professional doesn't want to FL it out
34:57and at least someone listens hears the
35:00whole story and then can make even a
35:03suggestion so I really appreciate what
35:04you're doing well I apologize back to
35:06them because they very rarely get the
35:08opportunity to give me their whole story
35:10my days are so busy that I often will
35:14interrupt them and say p please hold and
35:17I hate I really hate you know what
35:19though Rodney the amount of people that
35:21have said that you have given them more
35:22time than they're treating professional
35:24that shut them down immediately and
35:26don't even listen into the fact that
35:28they really want to a GP I speak to a
35:31lot of GPS during the course of my day
35:33because they have troubles too and you'd
35:34be surprised some of their dramas are
35:37more than in the general population but
35:39what could I say it's a hard gig
35:41particularly from this aspect again a
35:43lot of the time they don't have that the
35:45depth of comfort because I've worked in
35:47the field for so long and spoke there's
35:49so many tens of thousands of women over
35:51the years it gives you a great sense of
35:54understanding and empathy in that group
35:58and I know how tough a battle it is
36:01sometimes to get through but sometimes a
36:04quiet word can make a big difference or
36:06at least set you down the path of
36:07recovery so I bless each and every one
36:10of you and thank you for trusting me
36:13over a telephone especially with
36:15artificial intelligence on the horizon I
36:17think I'd be very careful who I did
36:19trust but thanks for your trust oh no
36:21worries thank you for your time Rodney
36:24thanks John the key message here is you
36:26are not alone thank you for listening if
36:29you enjoyed this episode follow us on
36:31Instagram or head over and join our
36:33amazing ADHD moms podcast basball
36:36Community everything you do matters and
36:38helps to spread the word about what
36:39neurodiversity in females looks like

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of 9. Pregnancy, Breastfeeding and ADHD medication with Rodney Whyte by ADHD Mums, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 6,518 words across 937 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to choose a caption track available on the video.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, caption language selection, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.