Headaches, Migraines & ADHD: The Overlooked Link That Might Be Costing You More Than You Realise

You’re doing your best to keep it together — the deadlines, the mental load, the to-do lists — and then out of nowhere, a migraine hits. Or maybe it’s a dull tension headache that creeps in most days and never really leaves. You brush it off. You tell yourself it's stress, hormones, screen time. And maybe it is… but maybe it’s something more.

If you’re someone who’s quietly wondering whether you might have ADHD — or already know you do — and you’re also dealing with frequent headaches or migraines, you’re not imagining the connection. And you're certainly not alone.

Wait — Headaches and ADHD? What's the Connection?

We don’t talk about it enough, but ADHD and migraines are comorbid, meaning they often show up together — especially in women. Research shows that people with ADHD are more likely to experience frequent headaches and migraines than those without it. And yet, most doctors never think to link the two.

Why does this matter? Because when these conditions are treated as separate, disconnected problems — and not part of a bigger picture — women are left feeling like they're failing on every front. You’re expected to manage your time, your job, your family, your energy, and your health — but no one’s told you your brain might be fighting battles that aren’t yours to fight.

Why Headaches and ADHD Go Hand in Hand (Especially for Women)

ADHD doesn’t just make you “a bit distracted.” It disrupts your time perception, emotional regulation, sleep, and stress response — all of which are major contributors to headaches and migraines.

Here’s how the link plays out in real life:

• Sleep chaos: If your brain finds it hard to shut off at night, your sleep gets patchy. And irregular sleep is one of the biggest migraine triggers.

• Disorganisation + overwhelm: When planning meals, staying hydrated, or remembering your supplements feels like climbing Everest, it’s easy to skip the basics. But skipping the basics is exactly what can trigger pain.

• Hormones: Many women report an intense worsening of both ADHD symptoms and migraines during their menstrual cycle. Estrogen drops, dopamine levels shift, and the result is heightened emotional sensitivity and more migraines.

• Medication impacts: Some ADHD medications can cause side effects like sleep disruption or appetite loss, which — again — can lead to headaches. Conversely, some migraine meds cause drowsiness, which worsens ADHD symptoms like brain fog or time blindness.

• Co-occurring anxiety and mood disorders: Common in ADHD — and also common migraine triggers.

But Here’s What’s Often Missed…

The link isn’t just medical. It’s emotional. It’s lived.

When you’re already battling the self-doubt, shame, and exhaustion that often come with undiagnosed or unsupported ADHD, adding migraines into the mix feels like the final straw. They make it harder to concentrate. They knock you out of your routine (which you might’ve spent days building up). They leave you irritable, spaced out, or just done.

And every missed meeting, every cancelled plan, every unfinished task adds more weight to that inner voice that whispers:

“Why can’t I just cope like everyone else?”

So What Can You Do?

Let’s be clear: if you’re living with both ADHD and recurring headaches or migraines, you need an approach that looks at the full picture — not just one symptom at a time.

Here’s what I often support clients to begin exploring:

✅ 1. Get the Right Assessment

If you’ve never been assessed for ADHD — or if you suspect your migraines might be linked to deeper neurodivergent traits — now is the time. Understanding how your brain works I promise you changes everything. It helps you stop blaming yourself and start designing a life that works with your brain, not against it.

✅ 2. Track Your Triggers Holistically

Start noting:

• When headaches occur (time of day, hormone cycle, stress level)

• What was happening before they began (missed meal, poor sleep, big emotion?)

• What impact they have on your thinking, focus, and mood

This helps you identify patterns that may be neurobiological, not just lifestyle-based.

✅ 3. Review Medications and Side Effects

If you’re on ADHD meds or migraine treatments, keep a log of how they affect your sleep, mood, appetite, and focus. You may benefit from adjusting dosages, switching formulations, or introducing support strategies around your meds. In addition, look at your nutrition and mineral levels. Most people are Magnesium and B's deficient, supplementing with these can make a big difference to all of the above difficulties, in particular with sleep and energy.

✅ 4. Build Protective Routines (That Actually Work for ADHD Brains)

The usual advice — “just stay hydrated and sleep well” — doesn’t work when your brain struggles to remember or regulate routine.

Instead:

• Use visual cues for hydration

• Try body-doubling for daily meals

• Create hormone-aware time blocks in your calendar

• Schedule in rest before you’re forced to collapse

✅ 5. Learn Emotional Regulation Tools

Stress is a major migraine trigger — and ADHD often makes it harder to regulate emotions. Practices like:

• EFT (tapping)

• Mindfulness for ADHD brains (short, sensory-focused grounding)

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

…can all help reduce the emotional overload that fuels both ADHD spirals and migraine attacks.

🌿 What Life Will Look Like — With Support

Imagine this:

• You understand why you feel the way you do — and you stop apologising for it.

• You have strategies that work because they’re built for your brain, not borrowed from a productivity guru who’s never had to set five alarms just to remember a meeting.

• You feel confident asking for what you need — at work, in relationships, in your schedule.

• You get fewer headaches… because your nervous system isn’t running on crisis mode 24/7.

• And best of all — you start to trust yourself again.

✨ Ready to Explore What’s Really Going On?

If this post resonates with you — if you’ve been living with frequent headaches, burnout, and a quiet suspicion that something deeper is going on — you don’t need to figure it out alone.

You can:

• Take the Free ADHD Screening Quiz

• Book a Free 15-Minute Consultation to talk through what you’re experiencing

• Learn more about Core ADHD Assessments

You deserve more than muddling through. You deserve tools that work. And you deserve to feel like yourself again — not just someone who’s holding it all together with caffeine, willpower, and sticky notes.

Let’s get you there.
Core ADHD