The menopause transition is getting more and more press these days, but too often that coverage casually – and, it can be argued, irresponsibly – talks about antidepressants as a routine treatment option for mood issues.

Andrea Donsky is a Canadian nutritionist who turned her own terrible and epic perimenopause into a movement – and a company. Now a Menopause Educator and Researcher with 300,000+ TikTok followers, she is on a mission to change the conversation around perimenopause and menopause.

I interviewed the famous makeup artist and businesswoman Bobbi Brown the year she was turning 50 (I was 37). When I asked her how she felt about it, and expecting dread, or something negative, there was a long pause.

Kathryn Lindley, an MD and clinical investigator in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and one of the authors of the paper is my guest on the podcast this week to break down these findings.

Frozen shoulder, also known as adhesive capsulitis, is a condition caused by a stiffening of the adhesive cap that covers the shoulder joint, causing pain, stiffness and immobility in one or both shoulders. It is a painful and movement-limiting condition, with three stages – freezing, frozen and thawing – that all told can add up to a two year arc.

In this solo episode on the podcast I talk about travelling to New York for my first big event on behalf of Hotflash inc. And how I finally realized that I belong in the room. The broad themes are connection, confidence and purpose.

Wendy Kohrt knows a thing or two about our estrogen: she’s been studying its impact on metabolism for 30 years.  When she started out the common belief was that estrogen therapy was so effective that every menopausal woman should be on it – to the point that she had to justify the ethics of randomizing women to a placebo during her clinical trials. 

Dr Maria Luque is an Austin, Texas-based, United States Air Force veteran (she was a fitness program manager) and health science professor who studied fitness in menopause for her doctorate.

I started leaning into my hot flashes. I stopped dreading them. Which means I stopped denying them. I started approaching each one with curiosity and detachment, as a neutral experience that I will soon get through, and that has made everything better.

Arizona ob-gyn Dr Burt Webb he gets into all the different treatments, hormone therapy and otherwise – that he uses for the entire pelvic region. With almost 30 years in practice treating women, he is one of the most switched-on mainstream practitioners to appear on the podcast.

The average woman, according to a report from the Female Founders Fund, spends US$2,000 a year on trying to manage symptoms. Here are a few evidence, expert and experience-based suggestions on how to tackle how you feel without forking over any more cash.

Arizona ob-gyn Dr Burt Webb tells the Hotflash inc podcast why dry vaginas aren’t always dry vaginas due to menopause, and how he takes everything into account – including the health of the gut microbiome, food insensitivities and nutrient deficiencies – in coming up with treatment plan to lower inflammation and get the blood flowing.

When the natural and mainstream medicine worlds battle it out, supplements tend to be caught in the crossfire. There are several truths worth considering here: hormone therapy is not for everyone and hormone therapy might not help everything.

Michelle Aspinwall is a Medical Intuitive, Body Whisperer, and transformative healer whose mission is to shift women’s health specifically beyond 40.

I’d call my 40s a roller-coaster, similar to the kind of ride many women report experiencing in perimenopause. I would easily and often stew and ruminate about people, or their actions. Anxiety was near-constant; I was always fighting a lurking sense of dread – a feeling that hit hardest in the morning. I ran myself ragged trying to cope: exercising like a crazy person to feel better and on the weekends, drinking too much just to relax.

Elisa Kurlyowicz wants you to think about what you believe. This conversation was life-shifting for me and I hope it will be for you too. Elisa Kurlyowiscz is a Canadian former World Cup freestyle mogul skier turned coach and wellness mentor and host of the highly rated highly rated Elisa Unfiltered Podcast.

ICYMI Q+A - What is Hotflash inc? What’s the USP, you ask? Why this, why now? Read this Q+A conducted with founder Ann Marie McQueen conducted ahead of the Livewell With Nakheel event and all (ok some) answers will be revealed.

The first non-hormonal drug to treat hot flashes – brand name Veozah, aka fezolinetant – is hitting the market. Part of a class of drugs known as NK3R antagonists, the drug was acquired by Japan’s Astellas Pharma and put through the required clinical trial process to determine safety and efficacy.

For several years now I’ve been interviewing experts and reading research and literally changing my mind between days and even some hours on this one thing: menopause hormone therapy, aka HT aka HRT.

Both of the Channel 4 menopause documentaries, hosted by presenter Davina McCall, have been important pivot points in the ever-growing UK #menopause revolution.