WEBVTT - This is Dramatic: MENOPAUSE 0:00:01.000 --> 0:00:06.000 This is the most dramatic podcast ever and iHeartRadio podcast. 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:10.240 Chris Harrison here coming to you from the home office 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:15.040 in Austin, Texas. I am unbelievably excited about the show today, 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:17.400 And when I tell you what the subject matter is 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:20.800 going to be, You're maybe going to be scratching your head. 0:00:21.800 --> 0:00:28.720 But the entire show today is dedicated to menopause, something 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:31.800 that every woman who walks this earth is going to 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:35.720 go through. But it's something that as I have kind 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:38.680 of dove into this, have realized that a lot of 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:40.879 people don't know a lot about it. They don't know 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:44.760 what to look for when it's coming, what it means, why, 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:48.159 And it is kind of astounding to me and shocking 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:51.720 and terrible that we all don't know more men and women. 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:55.680 But I know you might be thinking, Chris, you're a 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:59.520 middle aged man, you're going to be talking about menopause. Yes, 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:03.480 I am, because I know my audience and I know 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:08.160 this is an important topic. And there are a lot 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:11.800 of people that go on social media and they talk 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:15.399 like they're nutrition experts, they talk as if they know 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:20.280 and these people kind of get passed off as experts. Well, 0:01:20.480 --> 0:01:24.000 I made sure that we had the foremost expert. This 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:28.600 woman is active on social media, but she is BORED 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:33.440 certified obgyn has practiced for many years. She is also 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:38.200 a mom, also a wife. She is a published author. 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:42.039 She has an incredible book called The Galveston Diet. I'm 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:47.200 talking about doctor Mary Claire Haver, and she was nice 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:49.760 enough to join us so we could dive in and 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:55.480 allow me to ask everything about menopause, joining me now 0:01:55.520 --> 0:01:58.600 from her home in South Texas, just down the road 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:01.400 from where I am here in Austin. Doctor Mary Claire 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:03.480 have thank you so much for joining me. 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:05.360 Thanks for having me now. 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:07.680 I know you do a lot of this now between 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:12.679 social media, TV, you name it. You probably don't sit 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:16.600 down with a lot of middle aged men to discuss menopause. 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:21.600 Not very often occasionally, but it's one of the most 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:24.600 enlightening conversations for me because I really get to see 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:28.880 it from your perspective and it really helps me guide 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:32.760 you know, fifty percent of the population, because you are 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:36.640 affected just as much as we are. Because everything's changing 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:39.080 in our bodies, in our minds and how we're you know, 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.320 interacting with the world through this menopause process, and that's 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:43.920 affecting your relationships as well. 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:47.160 And while I know just enough to be dangerous, I 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:52.120 will admit that I have cheated because I am engaged 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:54.800 to a beautiful woman, Lauren Zema, I am raising a 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:58.080 beautiful woman, Taylor, my daughter. They gave me some very 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:02.160 important questions that they wanted to ask. And my team 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:04.640 here at iHeart on the most dramatic podcast ever, is 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:08.360 probably ninety five percent women, so they had questions. It 0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:12.720 was amazing when we started talking about menopause doctor, how 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:18.160 many women were lining up that had questions. And it's 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:20.320 something they're all going to go through. It's something you 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:23.920 think that we would all, but especially women, would be 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:28.080 so knowledgeable about, and we're not. Why is that? 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:35.960 You know, there's several reasons, everything from society, to medical 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:41.080 education and training to you know, asism, and so if 0:03:41.080 --> 0:03:44.560 you look at in medicine, which is you know what 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:46.280 I'm an expert in, I can tell you from my 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:50.280 own obgi N residency training, which was amazing, I've learned 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:52.880 so many important things. But there was a just a 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.320 sliver of time spent on menopause and I thought nothing 0:03:56.320 --> 0:03:59.120 of it at the time, to be honest, And there's 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:03.880 also that little bit well a lot of of it's 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:07.280 kind of in her head. You know, like when a 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:09.880 woman and a man with the exact same symptoms walk 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:12.119 into the er, say with chest pain, shortens of breath, 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:15.080 some classic symptoms of a heart attack, she's much more 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:18.800 likely to have a delayed diagnosis and to be thought, 0:04:19.000 --> 0:04:22.240 you know, have a mental health diagnosis rather than a 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:25.960 heart attack. And that is just kind of how we're trained, 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:30.800 and so that that's a problem. Number Two. We have 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:34.799 the kind of classically medically recognized symptoms of menopause, hoplaches 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:38.920 and night sweats, you know, changes in the female anatomy, 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:42.280 et cetera. But what we're learning now is that there 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:46.280 are probably forty plus symptoms that can raise their head 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:51.280 in menopause and they're not recognized as being classically menopausal 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:55.920 from a society standpoint. You know, look at the Golden Girls. 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:59.440 They are my age, you know, I love that show. 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:02.440 They were amaze. I mean, Blanche was still teaching right, 0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:06.119 and it's like they were old ladies in my head, 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:09.680 you know, the haircut, the outfits and the way they 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:12.440 approached life and health. I mean, they were wonderful. But 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:15.160 just this kind of dismissal of this is the end 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:17.320 of your life when we're going to spend a third 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:20.479 of our lives a third, we're going to live thirty 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:23.560 to forty years in this menopausal state, and there's so 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:25.960 much we can do to improve our lifespan and our 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:27.000 health span throughout it. 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:29.479 Well, what I found interesting is you mentioned going through 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:32.760 med school, and you are a board certified obgyn. You 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:37.159 have practiced for many many years, worked with women, delivered babies, 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:40.600 you name it. But from what I understand of your story, 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:43.720 it wasn't until you went through menopause that you realize 0:05:43.760 --> 0:05:46.200 that the advice that you had been giving all those 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:49.440 many years probably not the best. Is that fair? 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:54.400 That is very fair. If someone came in with severe 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:58.680 hot flashes, I knew what to do, okay, format, therapy, conversation, 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:02.360 et cetera. But most of the patients, the number one 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:04.280 complaint that they had in my office, and when I 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:06.839 talked to other menopause specialists and looked at, you know, 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:09.920 thousands of years of patient data, the number one complaint 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:13.120 really is weight gain and body composition changes like new 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:15.000 weight gain in places you never had it before, and 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:17.440 you really haven't changed your diet and exercise. So the 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:19.640 advice that I'd been taught to give, that I gave 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:23.279 for years was work out more weight less. We slowed 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:25.080 down a little as we get older. I mean I 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:27.280 cringe when I think of the things that came out 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:32.080 of my mouth, and then it happened to me so embarrassingly. Yes, 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:35.760 my entry into this menopause world, into doing more research 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:37.719 and trying to understand what's going on and why do 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:40.640 I have such a gap in my education was around 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:44.919 pretty cosmetic reasons of just some unwanted weight gain that 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:47.919 was making me unhappy. But what I didn't realize, I 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:49.400 mean it was just the tip of the iceberg. And 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:51.320 when I when I you know, cracked over in the 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:54.200 top and started, you know, ice diving, I was like, 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:58.000 wait a minute, there's so many things here, cardiovascular disease risk, 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:02.680 you know, neurodegenerator these like Alzheimer's and dementia, and hip pain, 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.520 bone pain, joint pain, every organ system and our bodies 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:06.279 affected by this. 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:09.480 I mean, it makes sense. It makes sense that we are, 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:11.760 you know, one kind of living organism and everything is 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:14.920 tied together in our bodies. Of course it's going to 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:16.920 all be affected. I mean, it would be crazy not 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:18.840 to and it's going to affect people in different ways. 0:07:18.880 --> 0:07:22.480 And so I'm right. I'm glad that not only you 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:26.120 had this awakening, but now that there is And don't 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:28.280 get me started on social media. There's plenty of bad 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:32.000 things out there, but people like yourself that are knowledgeable, 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:35.960 that can now speak out and just normalize this conversation 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:36.720 that we're having. 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:40.160 I feel like the biggest contribution I've made to this 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:44.640 menopause conversation is trying to normalize it and just validating people. 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:48.320 My DMS just blow up with and I can't give 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:50.440 personal medical advice, you know, it's against the law. I 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:53.320 mean to practice medicine in another state, and so but 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:55.560 I'm just trying to calm people down, like, yes, this 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:58.280 absolutely could be could be related to your menopause. Here's 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:00.760 the questions you can ask your health care, here's the 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:03.240 you know, medications you might want to think about. Here's 0:08:03.280 --> 0:08:05.720 some supplements that might help, you know. Just trying to 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:08.160 get everybody on an equal playing field so that they 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:09.560 can make an informed choice. 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:11.200 I was looking at I was trying to find because 0:08:11.200 --> 0:08:13.000 I wrote it down, I can't remember where it was. 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:16.360 The quote you just posted on your social media about 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:19.200 the validation of what you're going through, if you're going 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:23.120 through menopause, having those symptoms validated, And I love the 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:24.360 quote that you put up. 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:28.960 Like every woman deserves to have validation of what she's 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:31.840 going through is real. And then in a decision whether 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:35.000 she chooses or not to pursue certain pharmaceutical options, that's 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:37.760 that's up to her. But you know, so much of 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:40.839 that's being taken off the table for so many women 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:42.600 for at least the last twenty years. 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:46.200 So what I'm going to do today is think of 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:50.480 me as the arbitrary voice for all the amazing women 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:54.480 in my life. And so they lined up, I mean, 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:57.240 pages of questions. So I'm going to jump in with 0:08:57.320 --> 0:09:00.320 the most important women in my life, vers all my 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:07.760 beautiful fiance Lauren Zema. She asked, what is para menopause? 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:11.400 That's a wonderful question. So most, you know, most people 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:14.560 women men will understand that menopause represents kind of the 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:17.040 end of your fertility. You're not gonna have periods anymore, 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:20.760 and you're something about hormones might stop functioning like they 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:24.880 used to. So when in actuality what happens. There are 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:29.120 three kind of phases of this menopause journey. We have perimenopause, 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:32.440 we have menopause, and then we have post menopause, and 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:36.079 I'll well, let me define those for your followers. So 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:39.079 menopause is really just one day in your life. It's 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:41.520 kind of that you go up and then you go down. 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:46.680 And so menopause represents the last day that your ovaries 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:49.560 will ever function. There's no more estrogen to be produced. 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:51.680 There you've run through all of the eggs that you 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:55.600 were born with and there's you know, nothing. Everything after 0:09:55.679 --> 0:10:00.760 that point is postmenopause, got it. Menopause represents a seven 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:04.760 to ten year time period when that function doesn't just 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:07.920 shut down overnight. It is kind of a degradation. So 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:11.640 we're born with all of our eggs, right you guys, 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:14.920 aren't you know? If you're born with the opposite gonads, 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:17.160 you make your stuff fresh every day. Good for you? 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:20.400 Yeah, ask Robert de Niro, who's still making babies at 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:21.280 a one hundred and four. 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:24.959 Yeah. And we are born with all of our our 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:28.040 gonads are set. We're done, locked and loaded, ready to go, 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:31.840 and we start losing eggs at about five months in utero, 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:34.560 so we start, you know, So we're born with a 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:37.000 certain amount. By the time we're thirty, we're down to 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:39.080 about ten percent of what we were born with, and 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:41.400 then when we're forty, we're down to about three percent. 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:47.839 And those germ cells represent the ovarian production of estrogen, progesterone, 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:52.480 and some testosterone as well. And so perimenopause is when 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:56.720 you become symptomatic from this choo choo train that's getting 0:10:56.720 --> 0:10:59.000 harder and harder to chug to get those last few 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:01.679 eggs you know, on market, so to speak. And the 0:11:01.760 --> 0:11:04.480 quality of those eggs is decreasing as well, which is 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:07.800 why we see more down syndrome and other chromosome latinormalities 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:11.400 as a one gets older and has children. So perimenopause, 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:13.360 you know, if the average age of menopause in the 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:17.640 US is somewhere around fifty one, okay, but it's still 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:21.160 very normal between forty five to fifty five fifty six 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:23.720 two for that to be normal, And then you do 0:11:23.800 --> 0:11:26.600 the math backing that seven to ten years back. So 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:30.200 somewhere between thirty five and forty five, a woman will 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:32.720 probably start noticing. She may not put her finger on 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:36.120 it or recognize it as perrymenopause, but something is changing 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:40.560 in her body without any rule, increase in stress, no nutrition, diet, 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:43.280 you know, like everything's going, She's living her best life. 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:47.160 And then you know, outside of just aging, which does 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:48.640 its own magic to us, you know. 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:54.719 That it does. So this Laura and I very much 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:57.480 believe in kind of preventive medicine. Have taken care of yourself, 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:00.679 your diet, gut health, et cetera. And I had this 0:12:00.760 --> 0:12:03.800 question a couple of times from not only Lauren, but 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:06.960 my young producer Kendall, who's on the line with us 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:09.320 right now, and they both kind of ask the same 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:11.760 question of what do I need to be doing for 0:12:11.880 --> 0:12:14.679 my hormones while I am in my mid twenties, while 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:17.280 I am in my young thirties. Are there things I 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:20.600 can do that will help alleviate or just help me 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:21.800 get through menopause later? 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:26.760 Sure, so, how you show up in perimenopause, your baseline 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:29.760 health status, those habits that you are locking in the place, 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:34.160 is going to determine for most women, how much, how 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:36.959 many symptoms you have, how serious your menopause is, how 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:40.480 life disruptive it is, as well as attenuate some of 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:44.559 those cardiovascular risks that seem to accelerate and neurodegenitive risks 0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:47.000 as we get older. So for my children, you know, 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:50.560 my girls are nineteen and twenty two. They live and 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:53.920 breed this stuff unfortunately because they're you know, my kids, 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:58.440 but they understand that they need to lock these health 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:02.400 habits and now so that it's much easier, they'll have 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:06.319 an easier menopause. We can't. We haven't figured out yet 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:08.720 how to prolong the shelf life of the ovaries, like 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:11.280 if when that happens, and there's some research being done 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:12.840 for that to delay menopause. 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:15.720 Interesting, that's probably. 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:18.120 The thing that will improve quality of life, lifespan and 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:21.160 health span and a female more than anything else, is 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:23.400 if we can delay menopause. 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:25.880 You're already outlasting us anyway. How much longer do you 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:26.960 want to be exactly? 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:31.120 You know for evolutionists or life maybe this happened so 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:35.080 that we didn't outlive men for so long. You know, 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:38.920 we already outlived five to seven years, but take away menopause, 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:40.679 we'll live forever. 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:45.199 But I don't doubt that. Okay, So the last question 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:48.199 from l Z and again remember where this is coming from. 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:51.760 I'm going to read it in her voice. Doctor, I'm 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:55.400 afraid is my vagina going to dry up? Will I 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:58.880 be vadryina? 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:00.000 That's awesome. 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:03.600 That is a medical term that LZ invented by vagarina. 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:08.680 More than likely, yes, so, but it's absolutely preventative. I mean, 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:14.240 it's preventable, preventable. So we we have our vagina, our vulva, 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:16.720 our all of our you know, bladder, all that tissue 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:18.800 you know, basically from the pubic bone to the to 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:22.120 the spinal cord is all super estrogenized. And when our 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:25.520 estrogen levels began declining in perimenopause, some more than others, 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:28.480 we will see a decrease in the amount of mucus 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:31.640 we produce, the amount of mucus we produce with relations, 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:35.200 as well as loss of elasticity. The tissue gets really 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:38.040 thin and really irritated, and for a lot of women, 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:42.040 probably forty to fifty percent, you will have severe atrophy 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:46.359 with you know, dramatic pain and being uncomfortable with relations 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:49.320 to the point where libido goes out the window because 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:51.960 it hurts and you don't want to do it. Fortunately, 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:56.240 there are safe, efficacious, and reasonably priced medication that can 0:14:56.280 --> 0:15:00.640 absolutely prevent that, and that is vaginal estrogen. And so 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:02.840 we just put we'll give you back the water you 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:05.280 were drinking, and we put it in the vagina where 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:08.120 you need it. And there's no that's the one. There's 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:11.160 no increased versus of blood clots breast cancer at People 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:14.760 with a blood clot with breast cancer can absolutely safely 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:18.840 use this formulation of estrogen to keep that area healthy. 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:22.240 It's the number one most effective treatment for recurrent bladder 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:26.360 infections in menopause, not antibiotics, vaginal estrogen. 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:31.160 Probably because of Hollywood and you know, just the old 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:34.360 you know scene we've seen, whether it was Golden Girls 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:38.880 or every movie with middle aged women. You think hot 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:42.200 flashes and menopause. So I want to dive into this 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:45.120 a little bit because my daughter, actually Taylor, who's nineteen, 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:47.920 had a very interesting question. She's heard about hot flashes, 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:51.400 but how much does your body temperature actually rise? 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:55.480 Oh that's such a good question, Thank you, Taylor. Okay, 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:58.880 so it's about one to three degrees okay, like fever. 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:01.400 So you know, think about it. We're ninety eight point 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:04.280 six is the average, you know, tent right, and then 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:05.960 if we get up to one hundred, one hundred, one 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:08.240 hundred and one, one hundred point six is a fever. 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:10.000 Yeah, that's a solid fever. If you're at one hundred 0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:11.320 hundred one, basically have. 0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:14.080 A short term fever, and then your body, in an 0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:17.160 effort to cool itself, will dilate all the blood vessels 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:20.240 of the skin, usually in a hot flash scent, typically 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:24.240 the central area, so the head, the next, shoulders, chest, back, groin, 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:28.040 and dilate those blood vessels, which just drives the heat 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:30.800 out and you just sweat like crazy, and then you're 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:33.280 freezing because you're so wet. You know, your temperature goes 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:35.840 back to normal, but you're soaking wet. So yeah, it's 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:37.040 about one to three degrees. 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:42.280 Danielle an amazing woman who works with me. Why does 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:45.600 your body go through this? Why are you having hot 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:47.880 flashes with menopause? What's actually happening? 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:52.160 Yeah, So there's a thermoregulatory center in our brain that 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:56.320 controls our body temperature, and that's the mechanism by which 0:16:56.400 --> 0:16:59.000 we have a fever, which is a physiologic response to 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:03.440 an infection or medication, you know, adverse reaction whatever. We 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:07.639 don't know exactly how it happens, but there's something to 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:12.080 do with declining estrogen levels. Estrogen kind of stabilizes that 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:16.600 temperature center, and when you take that estrogen away that 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:19.280 it just becomes erratic and starts going off on its 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:21.400 own without the usual chemical signal. 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:24.639 I saw in your social media. Sorry to be uh, 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:27.399 you know, peeping on you, but you were talking about 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:31.280 this nightgown that you created because your hot flashes have stopped. 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:33.200 Yeah, but I'm still hot. 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:35.479 Your body's still hot. So is that something you have 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:38.879 to worry about? Once the hot flashes stop, your your 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:41.480 body temperatures is still like cooked. 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:44.000 So you're inspiring me for my next TikTok, Like, here 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:47.320 are the things that hormone therapy did not help me with? Okay, 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:50.760 And definitely my hot flashes, the ones that woke me 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:52.679 up at night, that pulled me out of a meeting 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:55.879 that you know, embarrassed me in public, are gone. But 0:17:55.960 --> 0:18:00.040 I'm just in general hotter all the time, And so 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:03.040 I was always freezing, freezing, bundled up under the covers, 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:05.280 going to bed with sweatpants. My husband's very excited. I'm 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:08.439 not wearing a sweatpants to bed anymore. And that I 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:10.919 like have this great nightgown I've worn for years, and 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:13.400 I just cut the arms out of it, like wear 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:18.040 it like a trucker because I was so hot at night. Still, so, 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:21.040 hormon replacement therapy can do so many wonderful things for 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:23.160 our bodies, but it's not I can't give you back 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:25.440 your twenty five year old ovaries, right, you know that, 0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:27.840 And that's okay. I think most women are fine with that. 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:29.720 They're not expecting that, but they just want to be 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:36.119 able to sleep and get on with their lives. 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:47.400 Hannah asked, how do you know when you are actually 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:48.520 in menopause? 0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:53.560 That's a really good question. So if you were a normal, 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:58.720 regularly menstruating person, Okay, yeah, period every month and suddenly 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:00.960 that stops. If you're over the age of forty five 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:03.119 and you have not had a cycle when it was 0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:07.440 regular before for a year, that is the definition of menopause. 0:19:07.480 --> 0:19:11.960 As far as using clinical symptoms to make the diagnosis, now, 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:14.399 say you've had a hysterectomy or an ablation or some 0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:18.240 procedure or surgery where you don't have periods anymore. Well, 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:21.080 sometimes just on the symptoms we can make the diagnosis 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:23.679 and your age. You know, clinically, there is a blood 0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:27.879 test that we can use to diagnose complete menopause, that 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:34.280 postmenopausal state but because hormones fluctuate so wildly in pery menopause, 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:37.280 we don't really have good blood you'urine saliva tests to 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:39.760 diagnose that. It's a clinical diagnosis. So you need a 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:43.040 menopause friendly provider who knows what they're doing, who's willing 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:45.920 to talk to you, help untangle some of the other 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:49.600 diseases that kind of look like perimenopause, like hypodiroidism or 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:52.440 an autoimmune disease. You know, when I'm doing blood work, 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:54.439 hormones is not the first thing I check in a 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:59.040 perimenopausal woman. It's thyroid, it's nutritional deficiencies. It's a blood 0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:00.960 count to look for a name, you know, based on. 0:20:00.920 --> 0:20:05.800 Her symptoms, you're speaking of a normal period. Blair asked 0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:08.520 a very interesting question. Does the age you get your 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:12.240 period effect when you start menopause? For example, if you 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:14.800 started your period very late in life, does that mean 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:16.080 menopause will come later. 0:20:16.520 --> 0:20:21.240 Yes, it's not a huge contributor, but we do see 0:20:21.280 --> 0:20:23.440 that women who go through and I think it's before 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:27.600 the age of eleven, tend to have earlier menopause than 0:20:27.680 --> 0:20:31.920 women who don't, and then therefore going through later. Because 0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:35.639 again we're born with the finite amount of eggs, and 0:20:35.800 --> 0:20:38.280 so if you kind of let them sleep for longer, 0:20:38.880 --> 0:20:42.160 you'll have more that'll last you in your mix. Sure 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:45.280 it's not huge. There's a lot of environmental things that 0:20:45.440 --> 0:20:49.360 go into what you know, genetics, exposure to certain chemicals, 0:20:49.400 --> 0:20:51.680 you know, different things that affect when we go through menopause. 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:53.760 Well, you talk about that exposure to chemicals and just 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:56.520 different foods and how our foods have changed. And again 0:20:56.520 --> 0:20:58.320 I'm a big believer in diet and gut health and 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:03.439 all that young. Can you start menopause and have you 0:21:03.520 --> 0:21:06.960 seen that number change over the years, like, for example, 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:09.479 I went through this with my daughter. Is like, girls 0:21:09.520 --> 0:21:13.200 are hitting puberty quicker. You know, whether it's the milk, 0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:15.440 whether or whatever you want to say, it is things 0:21:15.440 --> 0:21:17.000 have changed and they're happening faster. 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:21.280 That's a good question. So we definitely know that women 0:21:22.359 --> 0:21:26.280 girls are going through menarchy or puberty earlier than they 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:28.359 did one hundred years ago. Isn't that is a fact. 0:21:29.160 --> 0:21:31.879 We think it's improved nutrition actually, so like one hundred 0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:34.639 years ago, you know, the famine and all those things, 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:38.360 and then they're also have more body fat now and 0:21:38.440 --> 0:21:41.600 that is leading to higher estrogen levels, which is contributing 0:21:41.680 --> 0:21:46.480 to this earlier puberty. So we think on the back end, 0:21:46.960 --> 0:21:52.120 we haven't seen that age of menopause change quite yet. 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:56.399 They're kind of driven by two different things. So we 0:21:56.480 --> 0:21:59.040 know that smokers go through menopause early. So that's a 0:21:59.119 --> 0:22:02.440 definite something that we know is not good for us 0:22:02.440 --> 0:22:03.160 and attacks our. 0:22:03.080 --> 0:22:07.160