INTRODUCING – The perimenopause diaries
Ladies, We Need To Talk
Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Hey ladies, you know how we made an episode recently about perimenopause and mental health? You probably do because the episode went gangbusters and made us realise that there's a pretty desperate need for information about this phase. But info that's not coming from influencers trying to sell you something or a self-described expert trying to trick us with quack science.
That's why we here at Ladies We Need To Talk have made a four-part mini-series about perimenopause and it'll be dropping out of the great big ovaries in the sky and into your ears starting next week. You'll learn what the hell is going on with our bodies during perimenopause. I will go from missing a couple of cycles to it being 15, 16 days in between. So still to this day I do not know and every time I think, could this be my last perimenopause?
So far, I'm still waiting. We'll understand why our brains can get scrambled. Problem-solving abilities would be connected to poor sleep, but the mood changes are in fact a direct effect of the changes in estrogen. And it's not the decline in estrogen that seems to matter, it's the variability.
And what people mean when they say that during this period, sex can start to hurt. It's just like my vagina just refuses to cooperate. I used to have no trouble with lubrication. Now it's just not working. Even with lube, it can be painful.
And yeah, importantly, we'll learn what we can do about it. Just like we would use creams to moisturize our face, there are moisturizers developed for the vulva and vagina. But to restore the tissue, you really need to think about hormone therapy in the vagina and the vulva.
You'll also hear what it's like to go through menopause much earlier than expected. The level of understanding, even around women approaching their 40s, around menopause as a concept and what it does, is still really lacking. And I'm kind of like, guys, do you want a preview? Ladies, we need to talk more about perimenopause, starting from next week. You can catch the episodes on the ABC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts. Love you.