The Dr. Brighten Show

Motherhood can expose ADHD and autism in ways many women never expect. In this episode, Dr. Jolene Brighten and Vanessa D’Souza discuss how postpartum hormones, burnout, masking, sensory overload, and relationship dynamics can leave neurodivergent women feeling like they’ve lost themselves—not because they’re failing, but because no one prepared them for what happens after birth. For the complete...

High-masking autism in women often goes unnoticed because success can hide disability. In this episode, Dr. Jolene Brighten sits down with MasterChef UK contestant Vanessa D'Souza to discuss autism, ADHD, sensory processing, masking, autistic burnout, and why so many women aren't diagnosed until adulthood. 📖 For show notes, resources, and links mentioned in this episode, visit: https://drbrighten...

Pre-order ADHD and Women by Dr. Jolene Brighten and discover how hormones shape focus, motivation, executive function, and emotional regulation ⁠http://drbrighten.com/adhdandwomen In early 2020, my life completely changed when I contracted COVID-19. As a doctor, I thought I knew what to expect—but my symptoms didn't look like anything on the news. Instead of a cough or high fever, I experienced a...

Pre-order ADHD and Women by Dr. Jolene Brighten and discover how hormones shape focus, motivation, executive function, and emotional regulation http://drbrighten.com/adhdandwomen Endometriosis and Endometriomas are often misunderstood, leaving many women without answers for years. In this episode, Dr. Jolene Brighten sits down with endometriosis surgeon Dr. Amanda Chu, MD, to discuss how endometri...

Pre-order ADHD and Women by Dr. Jolene Brighten http://drbrighten.com/adhdandwomen and discover how hormones shape focus, motivation, executive function, and emotional regulation. Endometrioma may be one of the most overlooked signs of advanced endometriosis—and it could have major implications for pain, fertility, ovarian reserve, and long-term health. For full show notes, resources, and links me...

Pre-order ADHD and Women by Dr. Jolene Brighten http://drbrighten.com/adhdandwomen and discover how hormones shape focus, motivation, executive function, and emotional regulation. Overthinking at night can feel like anxiety, but for many women, racing thoughts, waking up at 3 AM, and feeling exhausted but unable to sleep may be connected to cortisol, blood sugar, ADHD, hormones, and nervous system...

Pre-order ADHD and Women by Dr. Jolene Brighten http://drbrighten.com/adhdandwomen and discover how hormones shape focus, motivation, executive function, and emotional regulation. Have you ever found yourself snapping at your partner, feeling annoyed by your kids, or becoming irrationally frustrated by something as simple as a dirty dish in the sink—and then immediately wondering, What is wrong wi...

When it comes to hormone therapy and breast cancer, few topics create more confusion, fear, and conflicting information. Women are often told they need to be concerned about breast cancer risk, yet many never receive a nuanced discussion about screening, lifestyle factors, inflammation, environmental exposures, or how to evaluate their individual risk profile. In this episode of The Dr. Brighten S...

My new book, ADHD and Women, is now available for pre-order! Learn how hormones influence ADHD symptoms and get your copy here: http://drbrighten.com/adhdandwomen End picky eating with practical, root-cause strategies from integrative pediatrician Dr. Elisa Song, MD, and view the full show notes at DrBrighten.com: https://drbrighten.com. In this episode of The Dr. Brighten Show, Dr. Jolene Brighte...

I'm hosting a live PMDD Relief Workshop on June 10th, free when you pre-order ADHD and Women. Get your spot at https://drbrighten.com/pmdd What if the IVF missing piece is not only the embryo—but the environment that embryo is trying to implant into? In this powerful episode of The Dr. Brighten Show, Dr. Jolene Brighten sits down with Dr. Gerardo Barroso Villa, a world-renowned fertility expert an...

I'm hosting a live PMDD Relief Workshop on June 10th, free when you pre-order ADHD and Women. Get your spot at https://drbrighten.com/pmdd What if your brain fog, low mood, and poor focus were not just “in your head,” but connected to what is happening in your immune system, gut microbiome, and daily food choices? In this episode of The Dr. Brighten Show, Dr. Jolene Brighten sits down with Dr. Aus...

I'm hosting a live PMDD Relief Workshop on June 10th, free when you pre-order ADHD and Women. Get your spot at https://drbrighten.com/pmdd Most women with endometriosis are told their imaging is "normal" — sometimes for years, sometimes for decades — while the disease silently progresses through their body. When Bryan Johnson posted a viral photo of his girlfriend Kate Tollo undergoing a transvagi...

Pre-order ADHD and Women by Dr. Jolene Brighten http://drbrighten.com/adhdandwomen and discover how hormones shape focus, motivation, executive function, and emotional regulation. This conversation is about one of the most misunderstood areas in women’s health: how hormones interact with the brain. Dr. Brighten explains why estrogen is not just a reproductive hormone, why dopamine is not just a “p...

I'm hosting a live PMDD Relief Workshop on June 10th, free when you pre-order ADHD and Women. Get your spot at https://drbrighten.com/pmdd If symptoms get worse before a period but do not let up once bleeding starts, is it really PMDD, or could it be PME instead? In this episode, Dr. Brighten breaks down why PMDD vs PME is not a small wording difference but a clinical distinction that can change w...

I'm hosting a live PMDD Relief Workshop on June 10th, free when you pre-order ADHD and Women. Get your spot at https://drbrighten.com/pmdd Autoimmune disease management is often reduced to one question: which medication comes next? This episode pushes back on that narrow frame. For listeners living with fatigue, brain fog, pain, or gradual loss of function, that frustration is real. The conversati...

I'm hosting a live PMDD Relief Workshop on June 10th, free when you pre-order ADHD and Women. Get your spot at https://drbrighten.com/pmdd PCOS has a new name, and a lot of people are asking the right question: does this actually change anything? In this episode, I break down the shift from PCOS to PMOS—polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome—and why I see it as directionally positive, but nowher...

I'm hosting a live PMDD Relief Workshop on June 10th, free when you pre-order ADHD and Women. Get your spot at ⁠https://drbrighten.com/pmdd⁠ Have you ever started perimenopause hormone therapy and expected relief, only to feel more bloated, more irritable, more tired, or more in the grip of insomnia instead? If that sounds familiar, you are not imagining it. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Pamela...

I'm hosting a live PMDD Relief Workshop on June 10th, free when you pre-order ADHD and Women. Get your spot at ⁠https://drbrighten.com/pmdd⁠ If you have PMDD and feel like you’ve tried everything—SSRIs, birth control, progesterone, gut protocols, antihistamines, supplements, cycle tracking—and you’re still crashing every luteal phase, this episode is for you. In this episode of The Dr. Brighten Sh...

I'm hosting a live PMDD Relief Workshop on June 10th, free when you pre-order ADHD and Women. Get your spot at ⁠https://drbrighten.com/pmdd⁠ It seems like everywhere women turn lately, someone is talking about using Allegra or Pepcid to get through the worst days of their cycle. The stories are consistent: a few pills, and the dark cloud lifts. The question is — is it real? The short answer is: hi...

I'm hosting a live PMDD Relief Workshop on June 10th, free when you pre-order ADHD and Women. Get your spot at ⁠https://drbrighten.com/pmdd⁠ Many women are told that lab work is normal while symptoms keep getting louder. Weight-loss resistance can worsen even with a normal A1C. Mood can crash before a period even when routine testing shows nothing unusual. Anxiety can intensify after birth and sti...

I'm hosting a live PMDD Relief Workshop on June 10th, free when you pre-order ADHD and Women. Get your spot at ⁠https://drbrighten.com/pmdd⁠ Can a GLP-1 medication change the way progesterone works in endometriosis? That is the central question Dr. Brighten explores in this episode, and it is not a throwaway idea. It sits at the intersection of inflammation, hormone receptor signaling, and the rea...

I'm hosting a live PMDD Relief Workshop on June 10th, free when you pre-order ADHD and Women. Get your spot at ⁠https://drbrighten.com/pmdd⁠ When I say ADHD in women, I am not talking about simple distraction. I am talking about the kind of overload that happens when the brain is already working hard, and then motherhood asks for a million tiny decisions before noon. That is the reality I wanted t...

What if the first sign that perimenopause is shifting hormones is not a hot flash, but broken sleep? For many women, the earliest clues are more subtle: waking at 2 a.m., feeling wired but tired, noticing more palpitations, or realizing that brain fog and irritability are showing up alongside restless nights. In this episode, Dr. Jolene Brighten sits down with Cynthia Thurlow, nurse practitioner,...

What if targeted, evidence-informed changes to daily habits could improve your chances of conceive without turning your life upside down? In this episode, I walk you through a practical fertility protocol that centers metabolic health, ovulatory function, and simple habit shifts that actually stick. I focus on what the data shows is most actionable—which labs to run and how to interpret them, whic...

Most dry eye treatment focuses on drops. This episode is about what drops don’t fix — and the daily habits that actually change things. In this episode of The Dr. Brighten Show, Dr. Jolene Brighten talks with Dr. Carly Rose (Dr. Rose) about what dry eye really is, why it keeps showing up, and what actually helps. Dry eye is often less about “not making tears” and more about the tear film not stayi...