Thank you for having me. Thank you.

Menopause brought me into this. Um, I, you know, I was going through life fit, healthy, very athletic, and all of a sudden my energy drive was changing, and it's the usual rhetoric, it's like everything's changing but I haven't changed sort of scenario. So my body was changing, and I didn't know why. I just thought maybe it was my vitamins, maybe I needed to get more sleep. So when I started researching, I really, this was... so I'm 55 now, so this was 10 years ago. There was nothing. That, you know, we didn't even have Chat GPT then, so it was Google. Um, and the more I put in, then this word kept coming up: perimenopause. And I thought, what the heck's that? I've heard of menopause, but in a really negative manner, you know, and I related it, like most people do, to my mom or my grandma and so on. I wasn't... definitely not in menopause stage. Um, but I was. And it was perimenopause. And I've worked with women for 30-odd years, working with them through nutrition and exercise, even lifestyle changes. And I thought, gosh, I've worked with all these women who are probably within that range, and I didn't even know about this. So, had I known, I'd have probably worked with them differently. Because the way that we work with them now.

Oh, education. Just education and awareness. Um, because as I say, as I was sort of researching it for my own personal, I realized that there was no communication, there was no talk about menopause. Um, because women didn't want to talk about it because of the rhetoric, the shame, the embarrassment and everything else that came with it back in the day. So I felt that I really needed to put this on a bigger scale and get women and medical professionals, coaches, talking about it so that women didn't feel ashamed anymore of something that's just naturally biological. We will all go through it in different stages and ages and different ways. So we should... we shouldn't be embarrassed about it.

Yeah. So the perimenopausal stage starts first, and that's something that slowly is making your body change. And generally it's usually your cycles that change. Your periods might become lighter, heavier, not come at all, just have a mind of their own. Um, so that's the first kind of stage that you'll sort of see. Then you may start to get the symptoms like hot sweats, your body weight might... your body composition might start to change a little bit. And just things don't feel quite right. And if you know your body as a woman, you'll know the changes are starting to occur. However, saying that, the symptoms can actually be masked because we as women nowadays are very busy, and this can start, the perimenopause can start in your early 30s, 40s upwards. Um, and as we are now in life, we're very busy women. We've got lives, families, extended families. So stress, anxiety, depression, mood swings all comes with natural day-to-day life, right? So we just then put it down to that, and we never do that exploration of, could it be the perimenopause? So now we're making women aware that it could be, there are things that they can do quite quickly to help that. So once we start the perimenopausal journey, that can last for anywhere between 4 and 10 years. Every woman's different. And once our periods come to a stop, we have to go through 12 months of no cycles.

And once we've gone through that 12 months of no cycles, we are in post-menopause. Because menopause is just one day. It's literally a crossover from our 12th month of not having any periods to going into post.

The perimenopausal stage is the worst... I wouldn't say the worst stage, but the longest stage apart from the 12 months that we don't have any periods. Then we're in post-menopause for the rest of our lives.

Oh, there's loads of reasons. Um, the main reason is because we as women have never been studied. The... all the studies and the... that have been done have usually been done on white male men. Because women's hormones are so fluctuating, it sort of doesn't give a true reading of studies that they do in the medical industry. So we've never really been... you know, we've never really been studied. And even with the education that I got, I was always working on white male, mid-50s, 40s. Whether it's to do with exercise and nutrition. So everything that I got taught when I was younger for my profession, it was all... it was all done on men. So that's one of the reasons. Um, I think that's the main reason, because we've never been studied really.

That's a great question. I love that question. Um, now. If... today, now. Even when you're in your younger years, the pre-menopause, the pre-perimenopause as they call it. Um, the more women can identify with their own bodies. Look, data is key. The more data we have on our individual self, the better we will transition. And what the studies are now showing is that the more we look after ourselves pre-menopause, pre-perimenopause as well, is nutrition... well, I'll start with sleep. Nutrition, exercise, stress. And if we can start looking after those four pillars, then I'm not saying the transition would be any better, it might be the symptoms might be less. And there are studies to show, and I've worked with women where we have changed those, and their symptoms have really calmed down. So the more they can be aware of their cycles, work with their cycles, um, and really understand their own bodies.

Tracking apps... absolutely, yeah. Anything we can get that data from is key.

Yeah, I think so. And it's always been put down to age. So when you mentioned the word menopause, it's always like, oh, I'm not there yet, that's in your 50s and 60s. And you know, well those... those years creep up quite quickly. And you know, it's always been associated with aging. And it is, because our bodies are aging and it's a natural biological process. However, at the GCC Menopause Hub we are actually trying to make it trendy to be in the perimenopause. Because if you're in your 30s... cause going back to the perimenopause, some women can actually start their menopause very early due to um, treatment cancer... like cancer for example. Um, they could have early onset menopause, um, and so on. So they're not old. So you know, it's how we as women approach it and embrace it, and how then we have that conversations with others. And we... I would say my generation um, are hopefully the last generation to be able to... you know... to not be fearful of it, and the generations above us embrace it. Because there are a load of women that go through the menopause who are amazing and are really strong in the post-menopausal stage because they understand their bodies, they know where they want to be in life, they've got rid of stuff that doesn't serve them anymore, and they really start living. And I've seen it, and I've... you know, I've been witness to it, and me included. So there's no reason to fear it. It's just understanding it, educating yourself and your family and those around you, and then just, you know, embracing it.

It's true. It is true. It is true. You know, I can vouch for that. There are certain days where some things that you were more tolerant to, just send you haywire. Like you said, somebody's breathing too loud, and it really irritates you. And there's nothing you can do about it, it's just there because we're losing those really valuable estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone... definitely progesterone. That sucks.

Yeah, I guess we do have testosterone. You know, we're quite high in testosterone at certain times of our period cycle. We've usually got higher testosterone than men when... at the beginning of our period cycle. So, you know, it's that calming progesterone and that balance of hormones that, you know, have regulated for so long. And you can now imagine our bodies are now going, what's happening? You know, you used to have all this, now... Your body is trying to, and definitely your brain is trying to rewire whilst all this is going on. And that's what's happening.

Of course it is, yeah. On the decline. Yeah.

Um, the most common ones are brain fog, uh, hot flashes, um, anxiety, mood swings, um, sleepless nights... you know, sleep... yeah, sleepless nights. And the most... the ones that are overlooked are vaginal dryness, um, your burning... the mouth, your tongue can be burning. Itchy skin, itchy head. Um, there's a whole array of different... you know, when I first started, I think there was roughly round about 52 different symptoms. Now there's over 100 different symptoms. Like tinn... is it tinnitus?

That one as well. Ringing in the ears. Dry eyes... all sorts of different stuff.

Um, if there is anything... yeah, definitely. Go and have a conversation with somebody like a GP or myself who know about what's going on. Just to... just to put their mind at ease. A, that they're not going crazy. Because a lot of women do feel that they're going, you know, crazy. Um, just to have a conversation with their GP. Keep a journal. A per... you know, like you were saying about trackers and stuff like that. So you can physically take it to them. Because what was happening, and not so much now because doctors are actually getting trained. Because, believe it or not, doctors never got... don't get educated enough on this subject. They have about three to four hours of training in their whole medical career. Crazy, huh?

And they are the first people to say, you know, hands up, we never got the training. But now there are some... there's some great doctors out there that... who do understand. Because what happens is, again, women will go to their GP, and if they're not versed on it, they will go, "Oh, you're just having a bad day. Oh, you're maybe a bit depressed. Or take this tablet to do this." So they don't look at you as a... as an individual. They'll look at one symptom. But you could have an array of symptoms that are starting. So really keep a journal and go and say, "Could I be in perimenopause? Is this an option?" And then if the... if the GP... gynecologist is clued up, then they'll give them the options of maybe taking HRT, maybe alternative medicine if they don't want to go down the HRT route. So I think the... the key thing for your listeners is that there is something that you can do straight away. You don't have to suffer, which a lot of women have suffered.

No. And just going back to that, you know, a lot of women are at the heights of their careers. You know, C-suites or whatever they might be in. And they really feel that they need help. And a lot of women have actually left their positions because they don't feel that they've been heard or understood or listened to or helped. So the more we can, you know, sort of work within workplace and get doctors... you know... onto the... onto the right path, women then have loads of different avenues to go and get help.

It is a combination. And, you know, as you go through the menopause, it's not a quick fix. Um, if you... women always ask me, should I take HRT? And my answer to them is, if your lifestyle is flawed by your symptoms, then why not? Why not go on it? Obviously you'll have to have the checks and stuff. And another quick thing as well, which I forgot to mention, when they do go to the GP, if you're in your perimenopausal stage, so you're still having your periods, your GP might say to you, "We'll give you a blood test." They'll give you a blood test and everything will come back normal. So that's not an indication that you're not going through the perimenopause. You still might be. But because you're having hormonal cycles, it might come back normal. And then the GP will go, "Oh, it's normal. Go away and do whatever you want." So again, understanding your regular cycles and where you're at will really help. Um, I forgot the question.

Sleep and stuff, yeah. It isn't one thing that... it's a combination of everything. And I think for me, it's sleep. Because when we... when we look at the hormonal shift that's going on in the body, and when we talk about the perimenopause, we're always just talking about usually progesterone, estrogen, testosterone. They have a massive, massive impact on all the other hormonal profiles that's going on in the body, like your melatonin, your serotonin, your leptin, your ghrelin, and all the other hormones that are going on in the body. So looking after your sleep... we all know that if we sleep better, we eat better, and we exercise and we're less stressed. So I always work with sleep first because that... that is your key, your kingpin.

Yeah, yeah. And our bodies... and the other thing that as well is if we're highly stressed, not sleeping, cortisol levels are raised. And cortisol is one of the biggest, you know, I'd say it's the kingpin of your hormonal profile. Because if cortisol is high, it shuts everything down. So you know, if you're looking to lose weight or destress, then it really plays an impact on your nervous system.

I think with anything, um, it's finding out why you want them and what, you know, what it's going to help. So Creatine is one of the main things that when I was talking about we've never been studied, Creatine has always been related to men. Men in the gym getting big, muscly, and so on. Creatine now, the studies are showing that if women actually do take Creatine, it actually helps with cognitive function.

So the brain fog and stuff like that. Now, some women have experienced a little bit of weight gain with it, and it's usually fluid retention. Maybe they're taking too much. And the sign... the... when you take Creatine, it has to be over a period of time, usually between six to eight weeks before you start to notice something. And it's 5 grams, less than 5 grams a day, every day. You just pop it in your water. That's it. So this is a perfect example of what studies are now coming out for women to use whilst we go, whilst we transition through to post-menopause. And even in post-menopause you don't have to stop. And when it comes to other supplements, I'd always say where's your baseline and why are you taking them? Because, you know, there's so much stuff out there now just with slapped menopause labels on them. So I'd suggest getting, you know, your baseline tests done, vitamins and minerals and other stuff before you start adding to it. But there are other things you can take like Ashwagandha, Rhodiola, all the natural herbs and remedies if you want to take those as well. But understand why and what they're serving first.

Yeah. So with me, I'd always look at their lifestyle. So I'd look at their sleep. And when it comes to nutrition, definitely a lot of foods that we use to eat don't serve us well anymore. We get bloated from them. So again, it's keeping a diary, understanding how it affects you after the meal. Do you feel hyper? Do you feel low? Do you feel bloated? Generally with me, um, I find my best results when I work with my clients is protein-based diet. We as women, we are... I'd say we are mostly in an underfed state. Meaning we don't feed ourselves enough and properly. We've... because of everything we followed from the 70s, 80s, 90s, you know, it's like do this diet, do that diet. And what it's done is it's just really played a massive rollercoaster with our hormonal profile. So it's bringing that balance back. You know, and there's a lot of hormonal profile changes as well. So I tend to find that a protein diet... a, sorry, a plant diet with high protein really helps as well. Um, women kill me for saying don't drink alcohol. You know, because a lot of women... you know, if they're having a stressful... not a lot of women, some women may turn to alcohol to get over a really bad day or stress or whatever. Alcohol plays a massive part with... because it's high in sugar, with hot flashes and stuff like that. And...

Sleep, yeah. I was just gonna say it disturbs our sleep as well. So if we can cut back on things that we know are not beneficial to us, which we know... they're just habits and comfort blankets I guess, you know. And if they can cut back on stuff like that and just really look at their diet. Protein intake, fiber intake, um, is really, really important.

I think everyone should have a choice of what they want to do and whether it's going down the HRT route or not. And what I say when people ask me is that HRT can be a lifesaver. Okay. So, and again, there's so much more studies now to show that it's more about longevity as well. So we talk about HRT taking it to get us out of that really stressful perimenopausal stage. Should a woman be in that way? Because you and I could be completely different. I could go through it with no symptoms, which to be honest I nearly did, with a little bit of hot flushes and mood swings. Um, so I say to them, if you are flawed, then why not take it? As long as you've been checked out for cancer risks and other stuff. Because in 2002 there was a study that showed that HRT was causing cancer. So women overnight ditched their HRT, and it's taken till now to sort of get that... get a good name behind HRT again because it was associated with breast cancer. There was a lot of flaws in that study. Um, but now the HRT has changed, it's better for us, and it helps with us longevity. So in post-menopause for example, we are prone to osteoporosis, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular diseases as women. Taking HRT long... through that stage and beyond can actually help us with those diseases. Not to say that we couldn't do it through lifestyle, of course, um, but it can help us. So I would say to those who are not sure about it, have a conversation with somebody that understands what HRT does. And if... I've heard some women love it and some women don't get on with it. And going back to, um, what can we do in our perimenopausal stage, there are tests now that can be done and we can have a test done to say whether we would be susceptible to responding to HRT or not. So there's a lot of DNA tests that can be done on us now that we can help us even decide in our pre-menopausal years. Because a lot of women are having their children later, having a DNA test done at the very beginning so that we know what our sort of fertility might look like. So then we can have the option of freezing eggs and having children earlier.

Yeah, you can get a rough idea of when you're going to start the menopause. Yeah, when you have your DNA test done.

I'm not quite sure whether those have an impact on menopause as they go through that stage. Um, I guess it's... it's going to have some impact on your hormonal profile because it's unnaturally induced. That said, you know, I've seen women in their late 50s go for IVF who have gone through the menopause and have children.

Because what they do is they stimulate the egg, have artificial insemination, and have pregnancies. So the world is changing. Very differently.

Again, I love that question because it's something that women just don't talk about. And it has a massive impact on not only us but relationships as well. So it does have an effect on... on you. Um, again, every woman is different, but you know, you tend to... I always say that if women are usually sexually active, enjoy intimacy, then they can still enjoy that going through the menopause. But our libido does drop. Our vaginal dryness has an impact on us. And it's really important that we have that conversation with our partners because it's not the fact that we don't want to have intimacy, it's because it hurts or there's something that, you know, we're not quite sure about. So again, there's loads of stuff coming out now. There's local estrogen vaginal cream that you can use, lubricants and other stuff that are available. So that doesn't have to have a big impact on us as it used to do before. And then I always say, well look, if you didn't really like sex before post, you never... you know... But saying that though, a lot of women who do go through into post are actually more sexually active because they're not thinking about pregnancy, don't have to take the pill. So you know, again, it's down to the individual woman and what floats the boat really, I guess. You know. And I do a cheat sheet for sort of like men and couples to say, look, if it's a testing time and it's just a transition and you're trying to figure things out, go on date nights without expectations. Do something fun. And you know your partner, you know what she was like before the menopausal stage, so recreate those... those fun things that you used to do and not always put it down to intimacy. And do things that way until you figure it out.

Yeah, exactly.

Um, yeah. I mean, the good thing is if you go in with your diary and your journal about what's actually happening, then that cuts out all the conversation beforehand. And it says, I think I'm in perimenopause, can we have a conversation? Um, and then just say what are my next steps? What should I do first? Generally they'll take you for a blood test. And to be honest, most of the time like I said it comes back... if you're over the age of 45 in the UK they don't give you blood tests, they go on your symptoms. Okay. So that's ruled out. But here because we're on private insurance, they'll send you for everything and anything. You'll have tests up to your eyeballs and not necessarily come back with any answers. So have that direct conversation. You know your body as a woman, and go to the right doctors. Which on the Menopause Hub website we've got all the doctors that are really up to date with menopause.

Yeah, I think there's a difference here because of what you've just mentioned. I think the UK are really um, you know, they're at the forefront of talking about menopause and talking about menopause in the workplace, which is where I sort of took my lead from. Um, here we've got to be very sensitive because different cultures have different ways of dealing with family issues and definitely women's health issues. Um, but I think it comes down to the women in any country. We've got to be talking about it. If we don't talk about it, how do we expect anybody else to talk about it? And that's no different no matter what culture you're in, I think. It's got to be an open conversation.

Yeah. I would love to be able to have within the medical industry a proper path for women's journey to go and have that conversation. To have more doctors on board to be able to, you know, have conversations with women. To have better health care policies, insurance policies. Because at the moment I'm 55, not... I can't get pregnant anymore unless I go down the IVF route, which I don't want to. Why should I be paying for maternity or pregnancy on my insurance policies? So looking at insurance is how do we navigate that for women? Why do we have to pay premium all the time? And then with the medical industry, having um, you know, routine checkups for perimenopausal women and so on. So I'd really like... and open policies in workplaces.

Guidelines, yeah, definitely. And for the government or and the medical industry to start talk... health authorities to actually have policies and talk about this openly.

I think from me personally, I think for women to really embrace this, the menopause. Because it is a real... it's a learning curve for us to learn about our bodies, understand it, embrace it. And the more education that you can get about it, the better you will transition through it. And don't fear it. You know, you can really thrive through it. Don't suffer. A lot of women suffer for years before they go and get help. So have conversations, go see your GP, you know, connect to coaches. There's quite a lot of coaches out there now. And just really open that conversation and don't be afraid of, you know, what people might think. Because that's... we're trying to... You know, I don't know whether you know but the UAE, or the actual Arabic word for menopause is "Age of Despair".

But they've changed it to "Age of Hope" now. Which is a little bit better. So, yeah. So you know, we are sort of getting there. And as long as we embrace it, everybody else around us will embrace it. Don't be shy.

Don't be afraid of it. Embrace it. Yeah.

You're welcome. Thank you for sharing the information.