Bravo! I love Dr. Newson. Perimenopause had me in such a state; feeling gaslit, itching, sleepless, with torrential night sweats. It was such a journey ( a.k.a. wild goose chase) to figure out the right combo of HRT--now things are pretty good--but our sisters and daughters should never have to endure this. We need to do better for them. xo
Love this, KVB. Women have got to stay current with the science and take everything with a grain of salt, knowing that medical science has left us way behind. Back in 2020, when I did the first iteration of my podcast, I interviewed Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su. She confirmed the study my GP was basing her "no, you can't go on HRT because of your sparkly boobs" stance on (BTW, I'm paraphrasing her) was hogwash. By then, I was 4 years into hotflashes (my only symptom, TG) which would come on every couple of minutes (seriously, I timed them), and I was taking every supplement I could find to mitigate (couldn't do Black Cohosh because I'm allergic to aspirin), and they helped a smidge. My new GYN was impressed with my study knowledge and put me on the 'mones. Let me just say: HRT is ev-er-y-thing. However, even the low, low does caused my appetite to go crazy. Of course, there's no proof that was the cause (because they don't study women and think everything is in our heads), but I spoke to my GYN and asked if I could cut the pills in half. She kind of laughed and said sure. And that changed it all. Still no symptoms. Appetite went back to normal. Weight is coming off. We want to think that our doctors know everything, but they don't. Especially what they don't specialize in. And menopause is an elective that's like 2-3 weeks long.
One last thing: Most women don't know there is a blood test that can detect ovarian cancer. It's the CA-125 test. Here's the thing: they really don't like using it because it can give a false positive. Who TF cares if it's a false positive?!!? It's the only early detection tool we have. So I fight with my GP every year to get it. No, I don't have BRCA but I used baby powder (didn't we all), so there's that. I've never gotten a false positive, and I will continue to request the test until they create a mammogram equivalent for our ovaries. xo
I am feeling really frustrated with the lack of knowledge and interest in menopause by my doctors. Even though I have a female GP and a female OB-GYN, I have been through five or six years of feeling like a crazy person, and they give a blank look when I say: "Do you think the symptoms I'm experiencing might be related to menopause?" They say I can try hormones if I want them, but they give no guidance, and they don't seem to know anyone they can refer me to for evidence-based care.
I am going to give this a full listen, because I've been frustrated for years with my endless hot flashes and seemingly total lack of ability or interest on the part of my doctor to do anything about it, other than tell me to get off the HRT!
I don't know about elsewhere, but about 10 years ago, a number of midlife women - some of whom were magazine editors here in the UK - got really interested in the menopause and there's been a big national discussion around it since. That said, I don't think many of the symptoms are widely known or understood.
For example, I had terribly itchy skin and was wondering what might help while pootling around the local pharmacy, and a woman, who'd obviously seen me pretending not to scratch myself, told me to get some Ibuleve, an anti-inflammatory gel. Worked brilliantly and I was forever grateful for her popping up like that.
Oh my goodness. I had really itchy skin too! I had no idea why. I would scratch my shins until I had a rash and the be given a steroid cream to calm the rash. But no one ever got to the bottom of WHY I was so itchy. It lasted for years.
I’m so glad we are finally talking about all things menopause these days.
I told my daughter some of the symptoms to watch for, she’s 36. I didn’t want her to be taken by surprise like I was. Her response was one of shock… “mom you’re scaring me.”
“Sorry, darling. Better you know now that your vagina is going to shrivel, you may start sweating uncontrollably, sleeping will be elusive, sex will start to be painful (see shriveling vagina.)”
I don’t want to overwhelm her as she’s still got little kids, but I don’t want her going into that period of her life blind like so many of us were.
I had itchy shins too! I was also given a steroid cream but it made it worse! Much worse. I ended up ditching the dermatologist and going to see naturopath who specializes in skin. Non prescription solutions helped and now I'm fine. But I had to pay a lot for those naturopathic consultations. It's a two-tiered health system if you want menopause help in Canada.
I’m in Canada too. I willed myself to stop scratching and let my shins “breathe” and eventually it went away. But what craziness that we’re all out there guessing.
She talked about estrogen in HRT coming from yams these days. So not chemical. I thought that was wild. It seems so much has changed for women facing these issues today. Which is why I thought this podcast episode was mind-blowing. So many old ideas/myths busted.
Ack! Sorry to hear about your family history of breast cancer.
I’m not a candidate either, and while it’s too late now for me, I wonder if the changes to the HRT she talks about would make a difference now. (Ie, no pregnant mare urine.) It sucks to think women have to suffer through years of symptoms if they’re not candidates for one reason or another.
I take the specific targeted estrogen vaginally she mentions and it’s been a game changer for me.
Glad there are changes. I can’t take the estrodial vaginally either. HRTs are chemical hormones. Is mare urine progesterone? I can’t have that either. Sucks.
Bravo! I love Dr. Newson. Perimenopause had me in such a state; feeling gaslit, itching, sleepless, with torrential night sweats. It was such a journey ( a.k.a. wild goose chase) to figure out the right combo of HRT--now things are pretty good--but our sisters and daughters should never have to endure this. We need to do better for them. xo
Love this, KVB. Women have got to stay current with the science and take everything with a grain of salt, knowing that medical science has left us way behind. Back in 2020, when I did the first iteration of my podcast, I interviewed Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su. She confirmed the study my GP was basing her "no, you can't go on HRT because of your sparkly boobs" stance on (BTW, I'm paraphrasing her) was hogwash. By then, I was 4 years into hotflashes (my only symptom, TG) which would come on every couple of minutes (seriously, I timed them), and I was taking every supplement I could find to mitigate (couldn't do Black Cohosh because I'm allergic to aspirin), and they helped a smidge. My new GYN was impressed with my study knowledge and put me on the 'mones. Let me just say: HRT is ev-er-y-thing. However, even the low, low does caused my appetite to go crazy. Of course, there's no proof that was the cause (because they don't study women and think everything is in our heads), but I spoke to my GYN and asked if I could cut the pills in half. She kind of laughed and said sure. And that changed it all. Still no symptoms. Appetite went back to normal. Weight is coming off. We want to think that our doctors know everything, but they don't. Especially what they don't specialize in. And menopause is an elective that's like 2-3 weeks long.
One last thing: Most women don't know there is a blood test that can detect ovarian cancer. It's the CA-125 test. Here's the thing: they really don't like using it because it can give a false positive. Who TF cares if it's a false positive?!!? It's the only early detection tool we have. So I fight with my GP every year to get it. No, I don't have BRCA but I used baby powder (didn't we all), so there's that. I've never gotten a false positive, and I will continue to request the test until they create a mammogram equivalent for our ovaries. xo
I am feeling really frustrated with the lack of knowledge and interest in menopause by my doctors. Even though I have a female GP and a female OB-GYN, I have been through five or six years of feeling like a crazy person, and they give a blank look when I say: "Do you think the symptoms I'm experiencing might be related to menopause?" They say I can try hormones if I want them, but they give no guidance, and they don't seem to know anyone they can refer me to for evidence-based care.
I am going to give this a full listen, because I've been frustrated for years with my endless hot flashes and seemingly total lack of ability or interest on the part of my doctor to do anything about it, other than tell me to get off the HRT!
I don't know about elsewhere, but about 10 years ago, a number of midlife women - some of whom were magazine editors here in the UK - got really interested in the menopause and there's been a big national discussion around it since. That said, I don't think many of the symptoms are widely known or understood.
For example, I had terribly itchy skin and was wondering what might help while pootling around the local pharmacy, and a woman, who'd obviously seen me pretending not to scratch myself, told me to get some Ibuleve, an anti-inflammatory gel. Worked brilliantly and I was forever grateful for her popping up like that.
Oh my goodness. I had really itchy skin too! I had no idea why. I would scratch my shins until I had a rash and the be given a steroid cream to calm the rash. But no one ever got to the bottom of WHY I was so itchy. It lasted for years.
I’m so glad we are finally talking about all things menopause these days.
I told my daughter some of the symptoms to watch for, she’s 36. I didn’t want her to be taken by surprise like I was. Her response was one of shock… “mom you’re scaring me.”
“Sorry, darling. Better you know now that your vagina is going to shrivel, you may start sweating uncontrollably, sleeping will be elusive, sex will start to be painful (see shriveling vagina.)”
I don’t want to overwhelm her as she’s still got little kids, but I don’t want her going into that period of her life blind like so many of us were.
I had itchy shins too! I was also given a steroid cream but it made it worse! Much worse. I ended up ditching the dermatologist and going to see naturopath who specializes in skin. Non prescription solutions helped and now I'm fine. But I had to pay a lot for those naturopathic consultations. It's a two-tiered health system if you want menopause help in Canada.
I’m in Canada too. I willed myself to stop scratching and let my shins “breathe” and eventually it went away. But what craziness that we’re all out there guessing.
Great info. Unfortunately, I am not a candidate for HRTs having had estrogen positive b cancer. My mom and MIL both got breast cancer from HRTs.
She talked about estrogen in HRT coming from yams these days. So not chemical. I thought that was wild. It seems so much has changed for women facing these issues today. Which is why I thought this podcast episode was mind-blowing. So many old ideas/myths busted.
Ack! Sorry to hear about your family history of breast cancer.
I’m not a candidate either, and while it’s too late now for me, I wonder if the changes to the HRT she talks about would make a difference now. (Ie, no pregnant mare urine.) It sucks to think women have to suffer through years of symptoms if they’re not candidates for one reason or another.
I take the specific targeted estrogen vaginally she mentions and it’s been a game changer for me.
Glad there are changes. I can’t take the estrodial vaginally either. HRTs are chemical hormones. Is mare urine progesterone? I can’t have that either. Sucks.