13. Andrea Donsky wants you to follow the research

I'm taking a short break, and we are going to come back stronger than ever. 

Here I explain why! 

I also butcher Joe Pulizzi's name, and for that I am sorry. 

See you soon. AMx

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Today we are doing something a little bit different because let’s be honest, everyone is overwhelmed right now and I’m no different. 

This summer I was a guest on Sherry Jibb’s Happy & Healthy in Midlife Summit, and had a great conversation with her about so many things we don’t talk about much in the menopause conversation. 

Sherry is a registered yoga teacher, a movement educator in Pilates mat and reformer, reiki practitioner and personal trainer. She’s also a person who deeply understands the menopause transition exists on so many levels, and gets just what a mind-body-soul transformation it is. In her words, in this interview: “It's a de-conditioning.  It's a letting go of what society tells us is the recipe that we need to finding the recipe for ourselves. And love and compassion is the only way to do that.”

I just loved this interview. In it you will learn:

• More about my journalism career and what drew me to the Middle East
• What happened to my weight and how I got there
• How I think taking care of our health is actually  simple – but not easy
• Why it's time to take radical responsibility for your health
• Some details about my stormy “transmenopausal year” 
• The essentials of grieving 
• Some of the things that helped me through perimenopause
• Why we need a toolbox

Where you can find Sherry Jibb:

Web: SherryJibb.com
IG: @sherryjibb_balancedmidlife

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I'm giving a talk at the Organic & Real show in Dubai and this is my test run. 

I talk about the intersection of my 30-year journalism career, which launched around the same time as my mother's death from pancreatic cancer. 

And how that set me on a path to finding out whatever I could about health and wellness, all while I struggled with unchecked IBS that resulted in a health explosion in the autumn on 2022. 

I talk about what I've learned from all the people I've interviewed and all the research I've done, and how combined with my search for answers for myself and my mom, that has informed a lot of my life. 

How I got to where I was and how I got to where I am. 

Join the Hotflash Inc perimenoposse:

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Dr Vonda Wright is an American double board-certified orthopedic sports medicine surgeon, who has spent a career working with high-level atheletes and immersed in clinical research. 

She’s also a woman in her mid-50s who experienced terrible body pain and a range of other symptoms. All of that combined is fuelling her mission to educate women everywhere about the importance of taking care of our bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons as we age. 

We talk about the complexities of perimenopause, menopause, and mobility issues, and the lack of research in the area of Musculoskeletal Syndrome of Menopause, a term she coined. And we talk about all the interventions – diet, supplements, activity and more – to alleviate the symptoms and prevent problems like osteoporosis, muscle loss and fractures.

Highlights: 

00:33 The Importance of Bone and Muscle Health

01:23 The Impact of Aging and Menopause on Musculoskeletal Health

03:08 The Misdiagnosis of Perimenopause Pain

04:57 The Need for Research Funding in Women's Health

06:33 The Musculoskeletal Syndrome of Menopause

13:22 The Role of Mobility in Maintaining Health

15:56 Understanding Bone Mineral Density and Osteoporosis

23:17 Strategies for Maintaining Bone and Muscle Health

24:48 Breaking Old Habits and Embracing a Healthy Lifestyle

25:12 Understanding the Importance of a Balanced Diet

25:56 The Controversy Surrounding Calcium Intake

26:36 The Essential Role of Vitamin D

28:43 The Debate on Hormone Therapy

29:34 The Impact of Estrogen on Women's Health

34:22 The Fear and Reality of Frozen Shoulder

43:04 Exploring Cutting-Edge Treatments

45:24 Final Words of Hope and Inspiration

Where to find Dr Vonda Wright

Web: Drvondawright.com

IG: @drvondawright

TikTok: @drvondawright

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I have two power players in this perimenopause space: half of the four-person team that founded Wile, “a plant-powered hormonal and emotional wellness brand for women 40+ that reframes midlife as a time of peak power”. (You will hear the word “tincture”)

Introductions: Gwendolyn Floyd is a venture-backed serial social entrepreneur – five companies and counting – and Wile’s co-founder and CEO. The title of this podcast is “4 women go through perimenopause” because not only is Gwen a perimenopausal woman, but she watched her mother be buffeted by this transition too. Julie Kucinski is Wile’s co-founder and chief marketing officer, coming from the worlds of beauty and wellness and some of the biggest brands of our time. American actress Judy Greer and former journalist-turned-entrepreneur Corey Schlolibo round out the foursome, and they’ve also got some pretty influential investors along for the ride, including US tennis star Serena Williams. 

I did this interview back in the summer, but the conversation has legs. We talked about the current reality of this space, what’s happening with women, how the options facing us are complementary, what we face on the job and in our home lives and what it means to square up with the heroine’s journey of menopause all still stand. You will hear the word tinctures a lot too. 

There are many highlights in this frank discussion of the business of perimenopause, as well as the realities of what it is to go through perimenopause.

They include: 

• Why DON’T companies pay attention to women over 40?
• There is no ‘natural vs HrT’, only natural and HrT
• Calling in versus calling out and getting defensive on social media 
• How they came to build their formulation (under the guidance of XXX)
• The one thing you want to know about most of the products you use 
• Yeah, we get angry. Okay? 
• How pretending that we are perfect emotionally – and in every other way – hurts and harms us. 
• Acknowledging we have a lot going – and a tincture or two – and resilience. 
• Why menopause needs the straw in the turtle’s nose moment to blow the consciousness up 
• Why the workplace isn’t even close to accepting perimenopause (and why it’s, for us, just the latest hurtle)

Where to connect with Wile:

Web: Wilewomen.com/
IG: @WileWomen

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This is a very special podcast, because it’s with a person who is so authentic and honest about what she’s been through – a rare thing indeed. Over in Canada (Peterborough, Ontario, to be specific) Deborah Porteous takes us back eight years to when she was 53, going through menopause – and had never had an orgasm. Through the love of a patient and attentive partner  that soon changed. 

It was through their search for a workable lubricant that Pleasure Pods, a disruptive company that produces 100 percent plant-based solid product, was born. They are now for sale at Amazon Canada, in more than 50 stores in Ontario, and this autumn became the first such brand to win the CHFA LaunchPad Award at the CHFA LaunchPad and Show in Toronto. 

Highlights (there are many): 

• Deborah's history – it’s going to resonate
• The shame, abandonment, ADHD piece (try not to cry) 
• You can rejuvenate your vagina: part 1 
• How the pandemic fueled the launch of Pleasure Pods (a moisturizer AND a lube)
• Breaking down the ingredients and what they do
• Why she thinks a you need to check out a modern adult sex store (she’s toured to more than 50)
• The problem with most lubricants (silicon, water-based, hybrid, coconut oil) – in menopause, in particular
• You can rejuvenate your vagina: part 2
• The power of orgasms
• Her message to women: you need to use it
• What she has learned about abandonment and it’s impact on relationships, and self-love 
• Her ADHD journey and diagnosis (get a tissue)
• Straight talk about what it’s been like being a GenX women
• Why she doesn’t want to get married now
• Her menopause experience (what happened and what helped)

Names mentioned:

Dr. Carolin Klein, registered psychologist and director of the West Coast Centre for Sex Therapy, 

Becoming Cliterate Why Orgasm Equality Matters--And How to Get It by Nicole Prause 

Where to find Pleasure Pods:

WEB: Thepleasurepods.com
IG: @thepleasurepods
YOUTUBE: @thepleasurepods
FACEBOOK: @plantbuttersandoils
LinkedIn:/@pleasure-products-inc/

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I started the Hotflash inc podcast two years ago on a wing and a prayer and a glass desk, and quickly learned that is the worst possible surface for audio.

Along the way I have spoken to the top experts in the world, found out an incredible amount of things, and refined and iterated the podcast intensely, getting it to the point that I'm pretty sure it's – and me – are ready for our own slot at SiriusXM, or at least a bunch of other improvements.

Take a listen as I break down some of the things that other people aren't talking about. Because asking questions about uncomfortable things? That's what I do.

And don't forget to celebrate, because we have launched our first merch. The "you can be in my #perimenoposse" shirt. I think they are pretty darn swell. 

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Dr June Chin knows about pain and how to treat it on the deepest levels: from her own experiences that started in her teens years and through to that of patients. 

She’s an integrative medical cannabis physician and has spent more than20  years working in holistic medicine. 

She is currently a professor at New York University and Syracuse University teaching Cannabis Health and Science, Vice Chair for the Cannabis Advisory Board for the New York State Office of Cannabis Management and Chair of the Health, Safety and Research Committee for New York State’s Office of Cannabis Management. She is the author of the book Cannabis and CBD for Health and Wellness and founded and operated seven bicoastal integrative cannabis medicine clinics in California, New York, and Connecticut.  

Her training includes studying nutritional biochemistry at Cornell University, osteopathic medicine at Touro University, medical acupuncture at Harvard University, and research at Columbia University, Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Women’s Health. 

Through her work as a clinician, professor, and author, she has created medical protocols for the industry and internationally accepted methods for cannabinoid formulations, research, education, and training programs. She is also the chief medical officer for NNABI. 

Highlights: 

• The personal experience that drew her to holistic medicine, and cannabis in particular
• The 101 on our endocannabanoid system 
• The different forms of cannabis – and how CBD is different 
• The interplay between CBD and hormone therapy
• The intersection between perimenopause and the endocannabanoid system?
• How specifically can cannabis and CBD help 
• Her work with the startup NNABI, which is providing a CBD solution for perimenopause
• Her take on some of the other alternative, plant-based medicines and psychedelics being developed to treat peri/menopause
• Her top advice for women in perimenopause

Where to find Dr Chin:

IG: @nnabi.life @drjunechin

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Dr Karyn Eilber is board certified in urology and female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery, as well as an associate professor teaching, training and working in administration at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She’s a mom of three, co-founder of the clean, luxury intimacy company Glissant, founding medical partner at Doctorpedia and co-author on the awesomely title book A Woman’s Guide to Her Pelvic Floor: What the F#*@ is Going On Down There?”

Over her years of practice, she’s also become open to alternative approaches to medicine and all the new – and old – things that can help. “No pun intended,” she says. “You gotta think outside the box.” 

Highlights: 

Why vibrators are important in perimenopause
How to choose a vibrator
Why kegal exercises are not one sized fits all
The very important role of a pelvic floor physical therapist 
The intersection between our urinary tracts, pelvic floors and overall vaginal health 
Vaginal estrogen is safe! (Even if the packaging makes you think otherwise)
Why systemic estrogen may not be enough for your vagina 
The latest tech: lasers, sound waves and O Shots 
Bioidentical hormones and testosterone pellets
Our rapidly advancing understanding of the vaginal microbiome
What’s going on with all the infections? (Hint: It’s about the lactobacillus)
Boric acid for BV: the doctor’s Rx (and what you have to watch out for)
Goop, vaginal (vulvar) steaming and jade eggs
Falling bladder: what it is and how to treat it
Glissant and the importance of using clean lube (and some CBD)
What young women are doing differently at the gynecologist 
Is vaginal estrogen mandatory? 

Where to find Dr Eilber:
Web: Glissantlove.com
LinkedIn: @KarynEilber
Instagram: @dreilber

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This week we get down to basics, and basics are exactly what we need in this confusing world right now. This is THE podcast to listen to if you are confused about all things to do with taking hormone therapy.

Dr Vikram Sinai Talaulikar is a specialist in reproductive medicine at University College London Hospital’s NHS Foundation Trust and an associate professor in Women’s Health at the University College London. He graduated in medicine in India in 2003 and completed a postgraduate degree in obstetrics and gynecology in 2007. He is a certified menopause specialist by the British Menopause Society, a menopause trainer and he is constantly educating others on this transition as well, via online webinars, events and through social media. 

He is also part of the trio who established the Menopause Research Education Fund, alongside medical journalist Fiona Clarke and groundbreaking menopause campaigner Diane Danzebrink.

Highlights of our discussion: 

• Hormone therapy (HT) 101
• WHI: good, bad and what we can learn from it 20 years on
• Estrogen in the pill vs estrogen in HT 
• All the kinds of estrogen and what they are used for strogen too ethinyl estradiolEstrone, Estriol, Estradiol, and Estetrol.17 beta estradiol
• Getting to the bottom of body simila, body identical and bioidentical – and why that varies from country to country 
• Pharmaceutical company produced HT vs compounding pharmacy versions
• the big “Catch-22” with compounding pharmacies that keeps their bioidentical hormones out of official recommendations
• the pill, HRT and breast cancer risk
• why problems with the pill don’t get flagged and HRT does 
• Evidence over estrogen and breast cancer risk (and randomized trials versus observational data)
• What’s what: progesterone, progestin and progestogens (how they work and which one carries a slight risk for breast cancer)
• how long you really need to take HRT to see if it’s working
• why HT works for some people and not others
• Dr Talaulikar’s favourite non-hormonal treatments

Where to find Dr Talaulikar:

X: @VikramSinai 

Web: Menopause Clinic London

Menopause Research and Education Fund

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