Tamsen Fadal: You Are Not Going Crazy… Your Hormones Are Changing! (THIS is the GUIDE to Navigate Menopause & Take Back Control of Your Mind, Body & Life)

In a conversation highlighting the societal and medical challenges of discussing menopause, Tamsen Fadal and Jay Shetty emphasize the stigma and lack of knowledge surrounding this natural stage of life.

Menopause: A Taboo in Society and Medicine

Fadal acknowledges the difficulty in discussing menopause openly within society and the healthcare system, attributing its status as a taboo topic to ageism and sexism. This societal attitude contributes to the overlooking of menopause-related health concerns and leaves many women unprepared for its onset and potential long-term health ramifications, such as osteoporosis, heart disease, and Alzheimer's.

Fadal, who has spent 30 years in the news business, has never discussed menopause on television, reflecting the pervasive silence around the topic. She shares her surprise upon being advised of her menopause with a simple note from her doctor, without further guidance or information.

Lack of Menopause Knowledge Among Healthcare Providers

Doctors Receive Little Training On Menopause, Leaving Symptoms Untreated or Misdiagnosed

Fadal points to the deficiency in healthcare providers' knowledge or communication about menopause as a significant issue. She reveals that OB-GYNs sometimes receive as little as a day of training on menopause, resulting in around 75% of women's menopause symptoms going untreated. Many doctors graduate from medical school uncomfortable discussing menopause and perimenopause.

Furthermore, Fadal highlights that doctors often do not require blood tests to diagnose perimenopause, instead basing it on symptoms. When women present with stress, weight gain, and sleep problems, they are frequently given antidepressants rather than exploring the possibility of menopause or perimenopause.

Reflecting on her personal experience, Fadal struggled for years with misunderstood symptom ...

Tamsen Fadal speaks candidly about the journey through perimenopause to menopause, emphasizing the diverse range of symptoms that can affect women physically and emotionally.

Perimenopause and Menopause Cause Debilitating Symptoms Like Hot Flashes, Sleep Issues, Joint Pain, Brain Fog, and Weight Changes

Fadal describes the symptoms of perimenopause leading up to menopause, such as hormone fluctuations, hot flashes, irregular periods, brain fog, anxiety, and mood swings, noting the varied intensity and duration for different women. Sleep disturbance is common, with difficulties in falling asleep and staying asleep. Fadal herself experienced hair loss, an inability to sleep, moodiness, weight gain, and had hot flashes around 15 times a day.

Fadal shares the confusion that can come with perimenopause, as hormonal fluctuations begin and symptoms like joint pain and weight gain become more prominent. Symptoms can be unpredictable and confusing, sometimes resembling reproductive years or postpartum experiences. She experienced challenges in prioritizing sleep and had to establish routine bedtime and wake-up time. With the aid of magnesium supplements, progesterone, and eventually hormone therapy, she was able to tackle sleep issues.

Physical Changes Impact Emotions, Causing Mood Swings, Anxiety, and Identity Loss

Fadal discusses physical symptoms leading to struggles with emotional well-being. She talks about brain fog and mood swings causing anxiety and strained ability to perform daily tasks, impacting her sense of identity—feelings shared by many women who no longer recognize themselves. Her mother suffered silently through menopause, trying to disguise her symptoms.

Hormonal Shifts During Transition Can Impact a Woman's Libido and Sexual Experiences

Painful Intercourse and Loss of Libido Strain Relationships

Fadal explains how perimenopausal hormonal changes can cause fluctuations in a woman’s sex drive, sometimes experiencing a high desire and o ...

The transition into perimenopause and menopause can have various effects on women's lives, from career impacts due to symptoms like brain fog and mood changes to relationship strains as partners struggle to understand these changes.

Menopause Impacts Career With Symptoms Like Brain Fog and Mood Changes

Fadal details how brain fog during perimenopause significantly impacted her, noting that it could hinder professional capabilities by complicating conversations and diminishing one’s ability to communicate effectively at work. Fadal shares her own struggles with memory and how worrisome such experiences can be, as women might fear serious conditions like dementia or Alzheimer’s. She describes the challenge of going to work and feeling unlike one's usual self due to sleep disruption, an issue that can greatly affect work performance and concentration. Fadal recounts waking up on just two hours of sleep and then struggling at work, forgetting her tasks.

Employer Misunderstanding and Lack of Accommodation Compound Women's Transitional Challenges

Though this podcast transcript chunk does not delve explicitly into employer misunderstanding or lack of accommodation, Fadal's discussion of symptoms such as brain fog implicates potential career impacts when workplaces do not provide suitable support during this transitional period.

Menopause Strains Relationships as Partners Struggle to Understand Changes

Fadal turns to the personal side, discussing the aggregate challenges many women face—managing menopause while raising children, caring for aging parents, and maintaining relationships. Such complexities can strain relationships, with Fadal acknowledging the difficulties of having community and loved ones who understand—one’s experiences. She conveys empathy toward past generations of women who endured menopause in silence, emphasizing the importance of partner and familial support.

Jay Shetty echoes this need for understanding, stressing the necessity of men being educated about menopause to support the critical women in their lives. He admits his ignorance about the subject and seeks to correct this, not least to prevent misconceptions in relationships that come from misunderstanding menopausal changes, such as decreased libido.

Shetty collaborates with male friends to raise awareness about how menopause might affect their relationships. He acknowledges that without personal experience, it c ...

Tamsen Fadal and Jay Shetty discuss the importance of heightened awareness, research, and support for women going through menopause, arguing that existing gaps in these areas impact women's health and well-being during and after their reproductive years.

Menopause Research and Funding Gaps Persist

Fadal and Shetty acknowledge a lack of spotlight on menopause despite the certainty that every woman will experience it, indicating a gap in research and attention on women's health post-reproductive years. Fadal expresses surprise at the limited information available regarding menopause, pointing to an existing gap in research and a need for more focused studies. Shetty points out that only about 2% of all medical research is directed towards women's health, with a tiny fraction going to menopause and perimenopause research. There are indications that different ethnic groups, such as black women and women in Asia, may experience varying menopausal symptoms, yet more research is needed to understand these differences thoroughly.

Few Medical Studies Focus On Women's Health Post-Reproductive Years

Fadal emphasizes the need to inform young women that menopause is not just an older woman's concern and to bring awareness to the long-term health concerns related to perimenopause and menopause, such as brain health, heart health, and bone health. She expresses a need for further research, especially in the correlation between hot flashes and heart health. Shetty questions why menopause doesn't receive more investment from medical research, given its significant impact.

Improved Training Needed for Providers to Address Menopause Symptoms

Healthcare providers often dismiss or mishandle women's menopause concerns, indicating a lack of training and awareness. Fadal recalls an incident in which a doctor pursued brain scans after forgetting a commonly used medical number, which suggests that even healthcare professionals can misinterpret menopause symptoms. The conversation implies that most doctors need improved training to effectively address menopause symptoms and concerns, considering that women are sometimes told their symptoms are just stress-related when they could be perimenopausal.

Doctors Dismiss or Mishandle Women's Menopause Concerns

Fadal wishes that couples counselors and coaches would educate themselves about menopause to solve related problems. She notes a gap in ongoing healthcare for women around 35 to 38 years of age, who may experience symptoms related to perimenopause or confuse them with potential pregnancy. Fadal suggests women take the initiative to track their symptoms and open discussions with their doctors regarding me ...