Drshamzy

09/06/2026

One of the most common stories I hear in clinical practice goes like this.

She is in her early forties. Capable, driven. But lately something has shifted. The concentration has gone. The sleep is broken. She is snapping at people she loves and she cannot explain why.

She goes to her GP. She is told it is stress. She gets a leaflet.

Nobody mentions her hormones. Nobody mentions her neurology. Nobody connects the dots between the two.

Here is what is actually happening. Oestrogen directly modulates the dopamine system. When it fluctuates in perimenopause, the downstream effects on attention, emotional regulation and executive function can look exactly like ADHD, or unmask ADHD that was masked for decades.

Most clinicians are not trained to look for both simultaneously. Women fall through the gap between two specialties, neither of which has the full picture.

Read the full article here:

https://shamamamir.substack.com/p/adhd-and-perimenopause-the-intersection 🔥❤️

Why so many women in midlife are finally getting answers they should have had decades ago.

24/05/2026

We moved five days ago and I am still running between two homes.

The new place is ours but still in boxes. The old place has a cleaner in it right now because I need it immaculate to get my deposit back. The gardener comes Thursday.

It is half term. I have an interview this week, a job application filed yesterday and a new role starting imminently.

And my daughter just wanted to play.

Not in a demanding way. In that honest, clear way that 8 year olds have of telling you exactly what they need without any filter on it.

Play with me. Just play with me.

I kept saying yes but it was a distracted yes. Body in the room, head somewhere else entirely. She sees straight through it. She always has.

She started acting out. Getting upset. And I want to be honest about something because I think so many mothers live in this exact gap and never say it out loud. I knew what her behaviour meant. I am a doctor. I understand co-regulation, attunement, what a child's nervous system needs when it is searching for its safe base. I could have written you a clinical essay on it.

And still I hadn't stopped.

Because when you are holding this many things at once, presence becomes the thing you promise yourself you will give properly once everything else is handled. But everything else is never fully handled. And children do not wait for the right moment. They just feel your absence in the one you are in.

Yesterday I stopped everything and gave her an hour. Properly. No phone, no lists, no half presence.

She went from upset and acting out to hugging me, kissing me, completely lit up. The transformation was so instant it almost made me cry. Not because it was hard to do. Because it was so simple. And I had been making it so complicated.

Thirty minutes to an hour every day this half term. Hers completely. Non negotiable.

Not to perform good motherhood. Just to actually do it.

Love Sham Xx

20/05/2026

I moved house this week.

And I thought it would just be boxes and logistics.

It wasn’t.

Somewhere between deciding what to keep and what to release, I realised I wasn’t just sorting through things. I was sorting through versions of myself. Identities I had outgrown. Guilt I had been carrying like it was mine to keep. A whole self I had stored in cardboard boxes, waiting for a moment that was never going to come.

Moving, it turns out, is one of the most clarifying things I have ever done.

I wrote about all of it on Substack. The neuroscience of why transitions feel so disorienting. What I actually let go of. And what I think it means for anyone in the middle of their own in-between.

Link below 💙



https://www.facebook.com/share/1GjCA4SHQF/?mibextid=wwXIfr

On transitions, identity, and the surprising clarity that comes from packing up your life.

12/05/2026

New article now live on Substack!

Five years of medical school. Four years of GP training.

Nobody once sat me down and explained what chronic stress is actually doing to your biology.
Not really.

We learned to name it. Diagnose it. Prescribe for it.

But the nervous system? The lived experience of what burnout, overwhelm and survival mode do to a human body?

That was self taught. Often the hard way.

My latest Substack is live today and it is one of the most important things I have written.

“The Nervous System Nobody Taught Me About in Medical School”

What burnout, stress and overwhelm are actually doing to your biology. And what to do about it.

👇 Read it here:

https://open.substack.com/pub/shamamamir/p/the-nervous-system-nobody-taught-aca?r=a7lfa&utm_medium=ios
Save this. Share it with someone who needs it. It might be the read that changes something for them. 🙏

What burnout, stress and overwhelm are actually doing to your biology and what to do about it.

06/05/2026

Thoughts of the day:

Calm. Content. Ready for what God has in store.

Today I quietly activated something I have been building for a while.

The Power Hour is live!

One focused 60-minute session with me. You bring what is weighing on you most. Your health, your clarity, your direction, your identity, all of it. We work through it together. You leave with real insight and a clear next step.

This is not a discovery call. This is a proper session.

Next available slots are from August 2026. Book now to secure your place. Link in bio

05/05/2026

New article live on Substack today!

She arrived with a folder. Not a metaphorical one. A printed, tabbed, colour coded folder of chatbot conversations, TikTok transcripts and an AI diagnostic report she’d found at 2am on a Tuesday.

This week’s Substack is about what that moment taught me about ADHD, AI, and what medicine can offer that no algorithm ever will.

Link in comments or read it here:

On chatbots, ADHD, and what medicine can offer that no algorithm ever will.

03/05/2026

Here’s what no one tells you about hunger, hormones and willpower.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing everything right and still struggling with food, energy and cravings, this is for you.

Your body hasn’t failed you. The signal just got lost in the noise.

Swipe through The S.H.E. Reset to understand what’s actually happening and what to do about it.

Save this for the next time willpower gets the blame.

Questions? Drop them in the comments and I’ll answer them.

Love, Sham Xx

30/04/2026

If you or someone you love is waiting for an ADHD diagnosis, this one is for you.

The waiting list is long. The struggle is real. And the feeling of being unseen whilst you wait is one of the hardest parts.

But you are not powerless in the meantime.

These 8 lifestyle foundations are evidence-informed, accessible and genuinely make a difference to focus, regulation and daily functioning whilst you wait for formal assessment and treatment.

Protein at breakfast. Daily movement. Omega-3. Sleep consistency. Whole foods. Magnesium and zinc. Mindfulness. Screen boundaries.

Simple. Unglamorous. But the research backs every single one.

Save this post and share it with anyone in your world who is navigating this.

Because waiting does not have to mean doing nothing 💙

01/08/2024

Gentle reminder: Joy and contentment lies in making the best of everything we have rather than expecting to always have the best of everything. Drop me a ❤️ if this resonated with you.

13/05/2024

So well articulated Sara Al Madani!!❤️❤️❤️