Episode 013: The Biochemical Truth Behind Neurodivergent Health with Kim Rogers
Listen, I am so excited to share this conversation with you because Kim Rogers - known as the "Worm Queen" - is absolutely revolutionizing how we understand the physical manifestations of neurodivergence.
If you've been told your ADHD symptoms, digestive issues, POTS, or chronic fatigue are "just part of being neurodivergent" and there's nothing you can do about it, this episode is going to blow your mind. Kim has created the most comprehensive chart I've ever seen that connects neurodivergence, mental health, and autoimmune conditions - and it makes SO much sense.
Here's what I love about Kim's approach: she's not trying to change how our brains work. She loves her bottom-up thinking and hyper-connectivity just like I do. But those comorbidities that come with being neurodivergent? The POTS, PCOS, digestive nightmares, and chronic pain? Those need symptom relief, and Kim has figured out the biochemical pathways that can help us get there.
Episode 013: The Biochemical Truth Behind Neurodivergent Health with Kim Rogers
Listen, I am so excited to share this conversation with you because Kim Rogers - known as the "Worm Queen" - is absolutely revolutionizing how we understand the physical manifestations of neurodivergence.
If you've been told your ADHD symptoms, digestive issues, POTS, or chronic fatigue are "just part of being neurodivergent" and there's nothing you can do about it, this episode is going to blow your mind. Kim has created the most comprehensive chart I've ever seen that connects neurodivergence, mental health, and autoimmune conditions - and it makes SO much sense.
Here's what I love about Kim's approach: she's not trying to change how our brains work. She loves her bottom-up thinking and hyper-connectivity just like I do. But those comorbidities that come with being neurodivergent? The POTS, PCOS, digestive nightmares, and chronic pain? Those need symptom relief, and Kim has figured out the biochemical pathways that can help us get there.
The Research That Changes Everything
Kim's journey started like so many of ours - with her own ADHD diagnosis and her nonverbal autistic daughter's frustration levels being through the roof. But instead of accepting the lack of information around why these comorbidities exist, she dug into the research. Not the autism research specifically, but the biochemical pathways behind the symptoms.
What she discovered changed everything: "I came across BH4 and I was like that causes everything at the same time and my jaw dropped."
Here's the thing that got me fired up - Kim found that 80-90% of us have the same comorbidities. At some point, these have to be part of the diagnosis so we can all get symptom relief. The research has all been there. Kim hasn't done groundbreaking new research - she's just connected the dots between everything that already exists.
The Serotonin Connection That Explains So Much
One of Kim's most surprising findings completely changed how I think about our circadian rhythms. You know how we're always told we need better sleep hygiene and to stick to regular schedules? Well, here's what's actually happening:
The circadian rhythm is connected to serotonin. Serotonin controls the circadian rhythm. The low serotonin seen in neurodivergence is the cause of our sleep issues because serotonin also creates melatonin, which helps you sleep.
This is why the neurotypical rules don't work for us. We're not broken - we're operating on different biochemical pathways that need different support.
Why Your Gut Issues Are Connected to Your Brain
If you're like me and have dealt with digestive nightmares your whole life, this will resonate. I spent 37 years being the chronically constipated one in my family, not understanding that my digestive system had essentially stopped working because it was never given the support it needed.
Kim explained the gut-brain axis - something they don't tell people about. The neurotransmitters that supposedly can't cross the blood-brain barrier? There's actually cell signaling from the brain to the gut for neurotransmitter production. The two have a communication system.
When you combine chronic stress with fight-or-flight being activated constantly, your digestive system suffers. Add Ehlers Danlos into the mix, and your connective tissue isn't keeping everything moving down properly. It all connects.
The Fight-or-Flight Trap We're All In
Here's something that hit me hard: Kim discovered that when we have brain chemicals that are high for too long, it depletes the CRH hormone. We need to figure out how to work around that and heal our systems from those fight-or-flight hormones being extended for such long periods.
And here's the kicker about ADHD and executive function: the research shows it's a dysregulated fight-or-flight response. When you're in fight-or-flight, executive function shuts down because you're in survival mode. We can't just turn that on - we have to stop that fight-or-flight response first.
This is why accommodations are so crucial. This is why the mindset shift from "anxiety and depression that can be fixed with a pill" to "this is your neurotype and it requires accommodations for the rest of your life" is everything.
Taking a Bottom-Up Approach to Healing
Instead of getting caught up in stigma or backlash from the medical community, Kim focuses on symptom relief. Pick your symptom, find what causes it, and figure out how to help it. For example, lack of blood flow that comes with POTS - what causes that on the nitric oxide pathway and how do we stop that gap?
I love this approach because it's practical. We're not trying to cure autism or fix ADHD. We're supporting our bodies so we can feel our best and live our most successful lives.
The Supplements That Actually Work
Kim's recommendations focus on the active forms of vitamins that your body can actually use:
5-HTP for serotonin support
Active form of vitamin B6 for the tryptophan conversion
Active form of folate for neurotransmitter production
Nitric oxide test strips (they're $10 on Amazon!)
The key is understanding which pathway needs support and where your individual hiccup might be.
Data Is King for Neurodivergent Health
You know how I feel about data when it comes to our energy and health patterns. We have to track what's actually happening in our bodies and minds to make connections. I make all my clients use my energy optimization guide for 30-60 days because we need that data to say "this week I needed a nap every day at 2 PM - what was different about this week?"
The world wasn't built for our function. We're all breaking down on a systemic level. Taking a holistic approach and looking at everything as a whole is what's going to help us thrive.
Moving Forward with Compassion and Knowledge
What I love most about Kim's work is the community aspect. Those of us who have the capacity to do research and share it are doing it. There's this amazing camaraderie between all of us figuring out how to help each other because the traditional medical system isn't equipped for our needs.
Kim's got a book coming out and is working on getting her research into conferences. She's also created free resources on her website to help parents of nonverbal autistic children understand what could be causing communication challenges.
If you want to dive deeper into Kim's research and access her comprehensive chart, check out her resources below. And if you're ready to start optimizing your own energy patterns and health as a neurodivergent entrepreneur, make sure you're signed up for my newsletter at https://mindsetmelanie.com/newsletter for more insights like these.
Remember: there's nothing wrong with the way we think. We just need the right support for our bodies so we can feel as good as humanly possible while living our most authentic, successful lives.
Connect with Kim Rogers
This episode of Trailblazers Rising reminds us that symptom relief is possible when we understand the biochemical pathways behind our neurodivergent experiences. We're not trying to change anybody's brain - we're maximizing and improving so we can all feel as good as is humanly possible.
