Demystifying Menopause with Susan Dominus and Dr. Rebecca Brightman
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- Опубліковано 20 лип 2024
- For so many women, menopause is a mystery. Its symptoms can be wide-ranging and last for years, information about treatments can be confusing, and - to make it even more challenging - health care providers can be less than helpful when it comes to solutions. New York Times writer, Susan Dominus’ recent article, “Women Have Been Misled About Menopause” became a viral sensation, offering a valuable resource for the latest research and treatments. Her reporting also resonated for another reason: it finally took womens’ symptoms seriously. Dr. Rebecca Brightman, a gynecologist from New York City who specializes in menopausal medicine joins the conversation to share what she’s learned from years of treating women going through this life-altering transition. Plus: our guests answer your questions.
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00:00 Susan Dominus on her reaction to the reaction to her New York Times article on menopause
01:56 Dr. Rebecca Brightman on her reaction to Susan’s article
03:28 Susan on how the piece came about
05:08 Katie reads a quote from the article in which Susan is talking about her friends’ experiences with menopause
06:30 Was Susan surprised by how significantly menopause affects women in their daily lives
07:48 Dr. Brightman on the accuracy of the symptoms described in Susan’s article
08:24 The cognitive impacts of menopause
10:08 Dr. Brightman on what causes brain fog during menopause
11:39 Katie on how, to avoid brain fog, she wore a hormone patch when she first started menopause
12:31 If men went through menopause would we have more solutions?
14:00 Why do so many doctors avoid talking about menopause with their patients?
17:30 An explanation of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) and the 1991 NIH hormone trial
19:30 The historical use of estrogen by women
21:13 Why the WHI trial was suddenly stopped, and the repercussions
26:05 Dr. Brightman talks about the impact of all the negative coverage of the trial
26:43 The long term implications on medical students who graduated around the same time as the trial
27:31 Why the study done surrounding the WHI wasn’t accurate
29:38 The bad rap that hormones received because of the study, and the rise in unsafe options the study gave rise to
31:47 Why Premarin in particular got a bad reputation
33:01 Dr. Brightman explains the difference between compounded and synthetic hormones
34:50 HRT has a small risk but a big reward
35:38 Can HRT be used if you have a family history of ovarian cancer?
36:24 Can HRT be used if you’re at a high risk for breast cancer?
36:44 Should women take hormones if they are only experiencing slight symptoms?
38:42 Katie asks Dr. Brightman if she thinks the hormone patch Katie used to wear had anything to do with her breast cancer
40:34 An explanation of hot flashes and night sweats
42:50 Why so many doctors do not know that joint pain is a symptom of menopause
44:21 What causes joint pain during menopause
44:56 How powerful estrogen is
46:14 Racial disparities in menopause symptoms
47:18 What can women do for extreme dryness caused by menopause?
51:16 The frustration of dealing with insurance companies for treatments
51:56 Dr. Brightman explains the Mona Lisa laser treatment
52:50 What studies on hormones and estrogen have there been since the WHI?
54:49 Dr. Brightman discusses perimenopause
56:08 When should women start talking to their doctors about perimenopause and menopause?
57:27 Treatments that are available for perimenopausal women
01:00:10 Dr. Brightman explains why women should be cautious of new products and supplements being advertised to help with menopause symptoms
01:03:03 Historically women’s health issues have not been given the attention they deserve, and how so much more research needs to be done - Розваги
I wish Gynecologist and psychiatrist would get together to discuss PMDD and WORK together to help us patients who suffer from this debilitating illness. It destroys lives during the perimenopauseal period and neither one of them know how to treat it. I'm 55 and still going through perimenopause and have received no help from either dr.s so I have just given up trying to be heard and fighting for help. If it was a man's disorder, it would have been solved by now!
Now age 76, and still have night sweats. It started in my early 40s. All the symptoms you described, I experienced. The depression was crippling. I wanted to die. Or hide away and not interact with others at all.There was no one who understood. I was ridiculed by a woman gynecologist, she was young of course. My mother suffered terribly, now my daughter is showing signs of great distress at age 50.
@@4sstg Doctors are clueless on how to help each individual. They give us all the same medication and one size doesn't fit all! It needs to be individually designed treatment for each woman. They have along way to go!
OMG this is so serious, wish I had seen the article …….Im 75 and still have hot flashes, along with. Fibromyalgia and Arthritis……..my GYN took me off a very low dose of HRT after being on it for over 25 years…….she said I had been on it for too long, I’m also adopted and have no medical history………Brain fog is a permanent state of mind and I would be completely nuts if I wasn’t on meds for the fibromyalgia which helps me sleep at night……….stand strong ladies…………Donna in Toronto
Women need to understand the flaws in the WHI study along with the distinctions between the relative versus absolute risk calculations used. Many women need estrogen to help them through menopause and they shouldn't be scared away by misleading media hype and a study with too many confounding factors. So, thank you Katie et al for spreading the truth.
Thank you for calling out Pat Schroeder. She was ahead of her time and I would love to have seen her run for president.
This is a great show. I am 62 and truly believe I could benefit from Estrogen. I am going to ask my Dr about it.
I thoroughly enjoyed this episode! Right on Katie. Thank you Susan and Becky for shedding light on this important subject. As a menopausal woman in Canada with severe micro vascular cardiac issues I learned more today about menopause that I didn’t know before. We’ve been taught as a female society not to talk about our menopausal issues. Those days are become days of yore. We must all stand up to the medical community and be heard. I was so proud of my politicians here in British Columbia when they announced all birth control prescriptions as of April 1, 2023 are free. The government is beginning to listen to our roars. One step at a time, and lets hope they don’t stop. Let’s all support our girls education, especially in the sciences so they can learn how to help us all. Obviously men can’t or won’t hear us!
I've been under the care of an integrated hormone specialist for many years now. I'm 72 and she has been my lifesaver.
Thank you for sharing this. I had no idea about this kind of help but will be looking into!🙏
@@heidiperez1387 you don’t someone with a fancy title like the above comment. It’s just a blood menopause panel they take to check your hormone level and then do replacement therapy. It’s pretty basic and saved me for sure.
Once you start on HRT you’ll quickly realize the stigma around it is an actual joke. You feel so much better that life gets back to normal.
What a great discussion of the experience of menopause for rich women. 🙄
Exactly! You have to have the cash to get the PROPER help 👍
Great point.
Maybe you should vote for the people who don’t want to take your healthcare away.
Thank you so much for this video. I'm 45 going through this , and I really really needed that "Aunt" to give me the talk.
I’m in Peri in my early 40s and have premature ovarian failure. I’ve had a range of symptoms since mid thirties but no one told me my ovarian failure meant I was likely to be menopausal earlier than many. I’ve had extreme symptoms for the last 3 years…was put on Zoloft…and told sounded like an autoimmune disease. A month before your article came out I knew something had to give, this wasn’t me…I was scared of myself…crippling anxiety, rage, brain fog, worthlessness. My mental health was the breaking point…not to mention all the other physical issues, I armed myself with data and research and went to my doctor. After trying and trying to get her to understand with little luck, I was in tears for weeks. Finally heard of a Telehealth that was available, went through my fertility background she stopped me and simply said “I believe you, I can help”. I took my first dose of HRT last night, thank you, you empowered me to not give up. We still want a family that my infertility took away from me, and now I feel like there is hope I can mentally and physically have our dream. ❤
I wish the panel had discussed the decrease or lack of libido in menopause.
Sure would have been nice to have the link to the NYT article.
@@TheVelmanator Thank you!
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor.
I'm literally crying. Thank you!!! I've been to so many doctors in the last year for GI problems, heart palpations, left hip pain that comes and goes and no one has thought it's because of menopause. My anxiety is back like when I had postpartum. I no longer sleep through the night and wake up hot. I at least feel validated.
Women have so much to carry! I am 51 and have been going through this for about ; years now. It is hard to recognize what is hormonal, work situational, home life struggles including those damn straw breaking the camels back moments, any ptsd we may have. I have learned to handle everything naturally! Stop, breathe, recognize what your immediate stressors are , write them down!!!! Then check off your list and get to walking!!! Exercise saves lives in more ways than one!! Eat healthy , avoid depressants!!!! And I will say just go to bed and sleep!!!! Drink tons of water and Keep Walking!!!! I thank God that sleep comes natural for me!!! I hope I am almost over the extreme bleeding, periods seem to be returning to normal though 45 days apart. It is awful to be at work and fear blood running down our legs!!! Natural is best…in all areas! So says the mama that had 3 natural child births that felt like super woman afterwards! The 4th I MADE induce so I would not have natural and though no pain during labor, afterwards felt like death!!!!
I for one am glad I will not be bringing anymore haters into this mean world! For 3 of mine ghost me and I was and am a good mama. Advice from my experience… Natural is best!!!
This was really wonderful. Thank you so much for doing this interview Katie. I wish or would love to see a part 2 with a functional physician, dedicated to more alternatives, such as studies that have been done on going low fat plant based, using soy, maca - things that have been shown to have success for a good number of people.
I work in physical therapy & post-menopausal women come in in droves with chronic pain that they don’t attribute to “the change of life”. The percentage of men is much less. I gently suggest to them that after age 40, our metabolism changes, but it is not my place to teach about the hormonal changes due to peri & post menopause. Our muscle mass (strength) & exercise needs change greatly as the decades march on. So many women either have been exercising “too much” like a 20-year-old or absolutely not enough & are faced with having to learn how to make new habits. We take our youth for granted because we barely understand inevitable aging & what we can possibly do for ourselves at every stage of life. Also, while I went through peri & post menopause, I had a supervisor from hell who offered no empathy & it wasn’t my place to even talk about what I was going through so I didn’t & kept trying to do my best. It was an extremely traumatizing time that was only solved when the world came to a grinding halt due to the pandemic. I got a much needed break & am doing much better now.
Yes Katie I was so moody , sad , cried nonstop for no reason.. then I got on HRT! All my sad, depressed symptoms went away.
Thank you for this! Another amazing resource here on YT is the Menopause Taylor channel with Dr. Barbie Taylor. With currently over 350 videos, it's a Menopause University of sorts 😊 and is so worth the deep dive.
Yes, but for me it overwhelming. This is all basic in one hour. Thank you for reminding me though about her.
I still have night sweats at age soon to be 77. It started in my early 40s, all the conditions you have named. It was awful, I wanted to crawl into a cave and not interact with any one. A woman gynecologist ridiculed me for being too concerned..My mother suffered until her death at 76 when she died from ovarian cancer. She was taking Premarin. now my daughter age 51 is having the discomfort.
When I was young menstruation was called the curse…… Health care in America is pathetic, especially for women.
Thank you for this valuable discussion.
It will take time for our society to accept menopause as a no Tabu subject and the social media are definitely helping to many women to realize how neglected their needs are in middle life.
Men need to be aware as well of this changes as normal physiological conditions women have in middle life as it has a great impact on marital relationships.
Every woman should be educated on options available in menopause and given a choice.
Just like birth control is a choice and has a lot of serious side on a woman’s body of which we may not even know yet, HRT comes with some risks.
However, so many women have no idea about the options and suffer. Women need to know of the benefits of HRT and this information is not widely available.
Medical school needs to educate every doctor on this stage of women’s life so they can be aware of our needs and at least refer to a right professional.
FYI, I am married to a surgeon who doesn’t take my issues seriously and makes fun of my hormonal treatments….
This was a wonderful discussion! Thank you. Can you please link to the NYT article?
In perimenopause I got PMS rage that was really intense and I found myself arguing needlessly with colleagues and even with friends, unfortunately. A GYN PA suggested taking Zoloft just on the day that I felt the rage in the morning -- I'd be telling off people in the shower! -- and it was a lifesaver. Didn't make me happy, but took the edge off so that I could control my emotions and my speech so much better.
Do you know what? I see myself in that description. Thank you!
So many people say, all they know about menopause is what they saw with Edith Bunker on All in the Family!! Me included!
We as women are only replacing what we already ready have or had ❤️
Night sweats, hot flashes, mood changes, memory loss/brain fog, painful sex -- all of the above. It's horrible and I did not get on HRT due to the misleading WHI study -- then after 4 years of broken sleep and constant fear of being a sweaty mess 10-15 TIMES A DURN DAY and being HOT/COLD/HOT/COLD several times a night...I said enough is enough and started doing my own durn research on HRT and discovered that the WHI was flawed and I'd been lied to. I just got on the patch this past Oct (at 49) and while it's not a miracle (I had to have my doctor increase my dosage), my hot flashes & night sweats have gone down exponentially ... like drastically. My memory is still a bit off, my libido is pblttttt, and my mood still changes, buttttttt --- I credit Menopause Barbie (on YT) for really helping me understand the benefits of Estrogen and progesterone... I expect to get better in the other areas that are just tripping...
Poor communication?! The average age of the subjects was like 63 and a good number were smokers. Poorly done with misinterpreted data. It was not unintentionally alarmist. It WAS alarmist. Total sh*t study. Over the pandemic I watched Menopause Taylor on youtube, BBC, read articles, abstracts of studies. Thank God my father was a doctor, and even though he was not in my life, he made me understand the risk/ benefit model. I do on the skin pharmaceutical FDA estradiol and insert micronized progesterone capsules 3 times a week, of course I had to figure out all on my own because it's off label [thank you Australian website!] And I'm a happy camper. Of course, that's my own individual risk benefit. If it weren't for having those things in my background, and being trapped in the house for months on end, I would be completely clueless and still taking gabapentin for night heat. Synthetic preogesterone actually IS not as safe.
lubricants help topical ones especially.
Any thoughts on the risk of blood clots with hormone therapy?
The word “synthetic” bothers me. I am still hesitating to go and get my prescription for patch that contains synthetic progesterone.
If the progesterone is made in a lab and an exact copy of your body's progesterone you will be ok. Do not take the synthetic medroxyprogestrone used in the WHI.Good luck
I’ve have hot flashes and night sweats!
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Just so many patients and so few doctors!!! I am thankful for any time they can give me. Just like all other areas in the world such as my field… teaching. NO time!!!! To many students , not enough teachers, to much curriculum!!!! We all do the best we can do for priority’s are proportioned around T I M E!!!!!