WEBVTT - I Am Going a Bit Batty! 0:00:01.360 --> 0:00:04.560 It's time to rage against the menopause with Petrina Jones. 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:07.400 My next guest is someone I've long admired and grew 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:10.240 up reading in Dolly magazine, and Cleo ignited my passion 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:13.640 for journalism. In fact, Kaz Cook is an ossie author, 0:00:13.760 --> 0:00:17.040 cartoonist and broadcaster. Chances are, if you're a parent like 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:18.959 me in a gazillion others, you had a copy of 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:22.120 Up the Duff on your bedside table. The Practical Guide 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:25.079 to Pregnancy and Childbirth was a staple for any baby 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:28.200 shower hamper. While she has learnt her talents to menopause, 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:32.519 pinning It's the Menopause, a reassuring, practical go to from 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:36.360 a trusted source after talking to literally thousands of women. 0:00:36.640 --> 0:00:39.720 I love that for women by women. It's full of 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:42.239 her laugh out loud signature style and felt like a 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:44.320 gift from the gods when it landed on my desk 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:49.200 one morning after the show Welcome and thank You. I've 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:53.480 got to say this book, it's almost like a gift 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:56.120 from the heavens. I'm not kidding because I came off 0:00:56.160 --> 0:00:58.320 the show, off the Christian o'connells show one morning a 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:01.400 few weeks back, and you your book. Your publicist had 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:05.360 sent me this amazing new book, it's The Menopause, and 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:07.800 it was sitting on my desk and it was almost 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:10.680 like a gift from the gods, like they were listening. 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:14.679 Oh that's gorgeous, thank you so much. Well, I wish 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:18.040 i'd had it when I was going through menopause. I'm 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:23.240 just through. And yeah, it's just with that my background 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:26.840 as a journalist, I thought, you know, this is going 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:29.120 to be a big job. But I didn't realize it 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:30.760 was going to take me three and a half years 0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:34.160 of my life. A million, not a million, but you know, 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.560 nine milling, nine thousand women filling in the survey and 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:41.640 selling me all their secrets and wishes and worries, and 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:45.200 then all the medical electors. So it's been huge and 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:47.880 it's for me too. It's lovely to see it all 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:50.200 in one package now and ready to go. 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:54.960 Oh no, congratulations, it's you know, your books are like bibles. 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:57.960 I hope you realize that up the Duff was so 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:02.640 pivotal to my pregnancy experience twelve thirteen years ago. 0:02:02.640 --> 0:02:05.120 And it's just so yes, I mean, it is amazing. 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:07.960 It's a multi generational thing with my books now, because 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:12.360 I keep updating them, and it's so nice to have 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:16.760 mothers and daughters both reading different different books at different 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:18.000 stages of their lives. 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:19.720 Well, you know, when I grew up, when I was 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:22.160 a teenager in the eighties, I think it was doctor 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:23.960 Llewellyn Jones. 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:27.160 Every woman, imagine having your body explained to you by, 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:31.320 you know, a man, and that's how it was for 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:34.240 so many people. I mean, doctors didn't even know what 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:37.720 hormones were until the nineteen thirty so they've got a 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:39.000 lot of catching up to those. 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:41.919 Tell me about your book, Tell me about the chapters. 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:43.920 What I decided to do with the book is to 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:47.040 get you know, those comments and quotes from nine thousand women. 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:49.840 So part of the book is like a conversation between 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:53.600 women on all of those things, plus the experts. But 0:02:53.720 --> 0:02:58.640 I've divided into chapters, so you know, we start the 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:01.960 first chapters called what even is the menopause? And then 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:05.320 it's a chapter called It's Your Hormones because I think 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:11.440 we're all really confused about progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, How much 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:15.280 do we need? What's happening? Are our levels of hormones 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:18.120 falling off a cliff in our forties, or as I 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:21.640 explain it, it's kind of more like the ABC logos. 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:24.680 So it's take up and down, around and going backwards. 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:27.600 And then I talk about because I think a lot 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:31.760 of people, we're all old enough and grown up enough 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:35.320 to bring our own philosophy to what's happening to our health, 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:39.800 but it doesn't always work when we hit menopause. You know, medication, 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:42.520 we may not want to take it, or maybe we can't. 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:47.080 Maybe the self help stuff isn't working for us. So 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:51.640 I talk about how solutions to menopausal symptoms can be 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:54.400 like a buffet. So you choose, and here's all the 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:58.400 evidence based information that you need. Page thirty six of 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:01.360 the book is more than the thirty symptoms that women 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:05.200 haven't even known were connected with their hormones. And I 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.120 didn't when I started going through it. So it's insane 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:12.360 mental changes, the brain fog, the lack of concentration, the 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:17.279 confidence falling off a cliff, and you know, then there's 0:04:17.320 --> 0:04:19.920 all the body stuff. So it's not just hot flushes, 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:24.640 it's crazy heavy periods, it's headaches for many people, it's 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:28.000 itchy's skin. Who knew itchy skin with the menopause. 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:30.720 We'll talk about itchy skin. I've got the weirdest thing. 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:34.400 I've got dermatitis in my ears, which is driving men. 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:38.080 Same, oh, that would drive you, and that is something 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:41.200 that you know, dry skin everywhere, everything that so many 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:45.160 women didn't know was connected. And then it's just your 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:49.880 sex life as well. And sex life yeah, well it's 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:52.640 often joked about, oh, women just lose interest. But what 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:55.479 women told me in the survey was, for many women, 0:04:55.600 --> 0:05:00.600 it's so incredibly painful. Many women mentioned it and said 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:04.320 it's like razor blades. And there a pollutions for all 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:07.080 of these things, but women are often shamed to talk 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:10.960 about the fact that they're weeing unexpectedly or when they sneeze, 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:14.479 and they didn't know that that was connected to perimenopause 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:17.400 and what they can do about it. So and I 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:19.800 think a lot of people also, I don't know about you. 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:22.560 It's not like I was for a supermodel who had 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:25.719 to rely on my looks for my career or anything. 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:28.880 But even I was sort of going, oh, my face 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:30.920 is sliding off the front of my head, and why 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:34.760 is my hair suddenly all whoopy? And I used to 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:37.719 think that as you got older, women just stopped bothering 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:40.440 you know, doing anything with their hair, and then I realized, no, 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:42.839 actually your hair changes. 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:45.799 It does. Oh the hair's manky. What's with the hair. 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:50.280 It's just no amount of good Oh, no amount of 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:54.880 good shampoo, blow drying setting, nothing works. It just doesn't 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:57.040 want to do what it's meant or you need it 0:05:57.080 --> 0:05:57.360 to do. 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:01.080 No, because it's it's changed. Things you can do. But 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:03.599 one of the really important parts of the book for 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:07.320 me was to let us all know that there are 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:10.160 so many ripoffs out there. There are so many claims. 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:14.960 I mean, people are selling menopause shampoo, menopause conditioner, menopause moisturizer. 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:16.480 It's all nonsense. 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:17.160 Yeah, it's cract. 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:21.520 People are using us as a marketing opportunity, and we 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:24.800 need to understand that they're absolutely coming for us. And 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:27.200 you can't just Google because you get this kind of 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:32.000 fire hose of people selling your stuff and it's not 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:34.560 necessarily the information that you need. So I've got a 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:37.160 whole section on how to talk to your GP, what 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:43.120 to ask your GP, which websites are trustworthy, because it 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:47.680 can just be so confusing for people when they hit menopause, 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:50.080 even if they know that's what is the cause of 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:50.839 their problems. 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:53.400 Yeah, why do you think this is why? This is 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:57.240 the whole reason I'm doing the podcast is because I 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:01.480 want to formulate a really of support for other women 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:04.480 who are going through it. But also my other main 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:07.600 thing is I really want to open the conversation why 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:11.240 why aren't we talking about it? Why aren't we when 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:13.520 we go and have coffee with our girlfriends. If we're not, 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:17.760 what is the mojo that's hanging over it? I think 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:20.720 we should talk about it like we do conception and 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:24.040 pregnancy and childbirth. Why do you think that is? 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:26.240 I think there's a number of reasons, and one of 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:28.880 them is a really huge one I reckon is shame. 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:32.720 Women have been taught that their periods or anything to 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:37.840 do with women's health is lucky or shameful or embarrassing, 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:40.480 and we shouldn't talk about it, even with our doctors, 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:44.320 even with our girlfriends. I do think it's changing, but 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:47.280 I think that's one of the reasons for this book too, 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:49.760 as well as the same reason as your podcast, to 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:54.960 share feelings, to share experiences, but also to understand that 0:07:56.320 --> 0:08:00.840 everyone's experience is different, so when you share them, when 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:03.880 you see your stories, the more we can do that, 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:06.520 the more. We understand that some people breathe through with 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:10.040 hardly any problems. Other people have a really difficult time. 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:14.040 And I was really shocked to discover, when I tell 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:16.040 you up what people had told me in the survey, 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:20.160 that so many people withdraw from their friends during perimenopause. 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:23.520 It's part of losing their confidence, it's part of feeling 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:27.960 that you know, they're not good at things anymore. They 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:31.040 tend to go into their shell often during perimenopause, and 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:34.960 that's a problem at home with your friends and at work, 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:39.559 and then again that creates even more shame. One of 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:42.600 the interesting things about hot flushes is women are so 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:45.320 embarrassed to get a hot flush at work or if 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:47.240 they've got a job where they're in front of people 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:50.720 and perhaps is a teacher or a nurse and having 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:54.000 to be, you know, the voice of authority. And if 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:57.160 you don't know, then a hot flush can look to 0:08:57.240 --> 0:09:01.240 other people and feel to yourself like it's anxiety or 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:04.319 a panic attack, or you're embarrassed, or you're fibbing, because 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:07.760 those are the things we associate with going red and sweating. Right, 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:13.640 So we've got to change the knowledge base, get rid 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:16.080 of the shame and I think the other thing is 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:20.240 it is tied up with the way society treats older women. 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:23.000 We think about all the words that are used, you know, 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:26.640 old chook and crone and bunch of grandmas and you 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:28.880 know where talking about women in their forties who are 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:32.920 getting these symptoms, you know, and sort of being embarrassed. 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:36.800 I think to be associated with aging, embarrassed to go gray, 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:40.240 and that's a choice. But I've decided not to go 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:43.560 gray yet, and that's just an individual choice. But I 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:48.760 think there's so much stigma with women's health, with periods 0:09:48.800 --> 0:09:51.079 and with getting old, and all of that is going 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:53.560 to have to change as we support each other. 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:56.080 That yeah, And I'd like to think by the time 0:09:56.120 --> 0:09:59.200 my daughter is going through this in decades time, that 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:01.520 the narrative had has changed. I think it is seen 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:05.360 as a sign of weakness just aging in general. And 0:10:05.920 --> 0:10:09.720 really when your flowers sort of dying out and crumbling 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:12.680 away in a lot of ways, I think you're really 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:17.079 growing into yourself, especially when you turn around fifty, I reckon, 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:17.840 don't you think? 0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:21.440 Well? The last chapter of my book is all of 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:26.440 the positive, optimistic, wonderful things that women are sharing with 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:30.160 each other, and there is a sense of freedom that 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:32.680 comes with letting go of the idea of what you 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:36.640 should look like or what you should do. I think 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:40.720 a lot of women are really looking at taking what 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:43.280 can help them in medication, what can help them with 0:10:44.120 --> 0:10:50.000 wellness or self help that there's evidence for. They're getting 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:54.160 canny about, Okay, what are my priorities in life. They're 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:57.320 saying to their teenage kids or older kids living at 0:10:57.320 --> 0:10:59.880 home with them, it's time that you did your own laundry, 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:03.680 your own washing, saying that partners too. People are changing, 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:07.160 They're not putting up with the way they've been treated 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:10.880 in the past. And I think you know that there 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:13.800 are lovely families and lovely partners who are trying to 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:18.840 help women through perimenopause and menopause and feeling really confused. 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:22.079 And that's why you know books and podcasts that are 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:25.040 independent and not trying to sell you something, that are 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:28.679 really just trying to sell you the idea of you know, 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:30.760 you decide who you are and what you want out 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:33.640 of life in your in the last half of your life. 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:36.920 I'm in that's a long way to go, right, Yes, 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:42.600 The idea of writing ourselves off and our forties and fifties. 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:46.440 Is you know is I think we're all questioning that now. 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:49.760 I love that, Kas. What helped you? You say that 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:51.760 you're sort of out the other end of it? Now? 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:55.640 How long do you think you went through that perimenopausal 0:11:55.720 --> 0:11:58.720 stage and what sort of lengths did you go to? 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:00.679 What helped you in your experience? 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:03.880 Well, I did not realize that what was happening to 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:08.280 me was perimenopause. I was losing sleep, and that is 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:12.760 a really huge symptom of perimenopause. It makes everything harder. 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:17.079 I had the confidence crash, and all of that happened 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:20.280 years before I had my first hot flush. And when 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:21.920 I went to the doctor, I reckon. I was in 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:25.600 there for about twelve minutes and came out with antidepressants. 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:28.000 And I know now that that was not right for 0:12:28.080 --> 0:12:32.160 me at that time. I think antidepressants can be great 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:36.080 for many people and at different times, but for me, 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:40.680 I think the doctor completely missed that I was entering 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:45.400 into perimenopause. I think I had three or four years 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:49.520 of really difficult mental problems and sleep problems, and then 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:52.439 I reckon, I had about two years of hot flushes. 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:56.720 But then I went on medication and that just completely 0:12:56.760 --> 0:12:59.959 controlled it. So some people that you know, they breathed 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:02.120 through that, you know, they don't even really notice. To 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:08.760 other people, they get noticeable symptoms like crazy periods, hot slashes, 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:13.600 you know, sneaky weing, and that might depending on whether 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:17.160 they tackle that with medication, and you know what their 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:20.840 own philosophy is. I mean, one woman in the survey 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:23.200 pat said to me that she was in her eighties 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:27.080 and still getting hot slashes. Yeah, people have one more 0:13:27.120 --> 0:13:30.439 than a decade, more than twelve years, more than fifteen years, 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:34.400 and have not been well served, you know, by their 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:37.440 medical professionals. Some doctors are great, and there's that's why 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:39.800 they're stopped in the book about you know, what to 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:44.000 ask your doctor, how to find a good doctor. For me, 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:47.160 that's what made the difference is doing all this research 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:50.120 and finding out what I was going through and why. 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:52.240 I mean, I was so relieved when I found out 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:57.400 that my crazy itchiness, you know, had a physical hormonal 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:00.480 reason because I just really did a lot of women 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:03.040 talk about thinking that they've hit early dementia. A lot 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:06.600 of women are quitting their job. I mean, for me, 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:09.319 I did have a period when I didn't know what 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:11.440 was happening where I thought, oh, I can't be a 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:16.960 writer anymore. I can't remember words. I'm confused about, you know, 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:20.440 keeping track of my research. And thankfully I then understood 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:23.200 that it was temporary and there was medication I could 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:26.840 take for it. They think so many women suffer in silence. 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:27.960 Were you on HRT. 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:32.160 I'm still on MHT, which is the new name for HRT. 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:35.600 Used to be called hormone or replacement therapy, and now 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:39.160 doctors want us to call it menopause or hormone therapy, right, 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:41.480 And I'm still on it, and I'm on it partly 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:44.400 to protect my bones and to lower my risk of 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:48.200 heart design says, I'm in menopause, that is, you know, 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:49.400 for the rest of my life. 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:51.000 So is that like a patch cat. 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:55.400 I used gel for the estrogen. I use an oral 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:58.840 tablet for progesterone, because you've got to take progesterone if 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:02.240 you still have a uterus and you're taking estrogen. Some 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:04.280 of this is quite complex, but in a way, it's 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:06.720 just simple, if you know. And that's what I've written 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:08.200 it down all in one place. 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:11.280 I'm not taking anything and I'm not saying that to 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:14.200 say Anihroo, that's not at all, But I'm not even 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:16.520 taking vitamins or minerals, which is not a good thing. 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:19.600 I should be taking something, but it's because I don't 0:15:19.600 --> 0:15:20.520 know what's out there. 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:23.640 A lot of vitamins are completely unnecessary if you have 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:27.720 a reasonable diet. You only need to take supplements if 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:32.320 you've got a deficiency. So that that involves going to 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:35.240 a good GP, getting tested, seeing what your vitamin D 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:39.840 levels are, and having a bone test if you've started perimenopause, 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:42.520 having a bone density test. This is all in the book. 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:44.800 These are all the things you can do to protect yourself. 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:48.560 If you don't have symptoms that are driving you nuts 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:52.600 that MHT would help, then no point in taking MHT. 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:56.080 It's not an automatic thing, it's not the devil, and 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:59.160 it's not a cure all. So you've got to look 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:01.880 at the symptom that you have, if any, and deal 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:04.560 with what can help you with those. It's kind of 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:07.280 common sense. It's a bit like I say, here's the 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:10.960 buffet of things that you can choose from bus I 0:16:11.120 --> 0:16:14.600 do sweep a whole bunch of crockery off one end 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:17.560 of the buffet. Lebel and say, exhare this stuff because 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:20.720 there's no evidence for it, and This is just people 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:21.080 trying it. 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:24.320 It's like a platter, You've laid it out and it's 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:27.240 I guess it's for each woman to try what works 0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:29.600 for them, because what works for you may not necessarily 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:30.600 work for someone else. 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:34.520 Well, we know that MHT, which used to be called HRT, 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:38.280 is a great frontline treatment for several of the symptoms, 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:42.080 and it's really reliable and it will help. We know 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:47.040 that exercise is really great. We know that trying to 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:50.560 do something to do with stress really helps hot flushes 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:53.120 and other things. So there is this mix of self 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:56.000 help and medication if you can take it. There are 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:59.600 also alternative medications to take. If you have a history 0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:03.560 of breast cancer or endemetrial cancer and you've been advised 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:08.119 not to take MHT, you can still probably take and 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:11.520 in vagina cream which will help with the driver gina 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:16.000 symptoms and will also help with those wiing symptoms. So 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:19.200 it's just a matter of all this information that women 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:22.439 haven't been given in the past, and we need that 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:24.919 base lift. I mean, it's such a cliche, right patch, 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:27.480 but knowledge is power. If you can go to the 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:31.000 GP knowing which symptoms you might have and you get 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:33.320 a bad GP who says Oh, you just have to 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:36.120 put up with it, or oh you're too young. You're 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:38.600 too young in your forties to be having these symptoms. 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:41.760 That's a GP that you either need to get educated 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:43.640 fast or you need to go to another. 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:44.720 Dome, find another GP. 0:17:45.080 --> 0:17:47.840 And a good GP is absolute gold in helping me 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:50.879 through this. And women said in the survey they really 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:54.280 love the gps who listen to them and help them. 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:57.640 A lot of us go through it feeling alone. Yeah, 0:17:57.680 --> 0:18:01.200 and we were actually fifty percent of the population who 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:02.240 will experience this. 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:06.160 That's what I mean. I'm so flabbagasted that there's not 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:09.200 not enough talk because it affects so many women across 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:10.000 the world. 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:12.400 I know, and there's still such a stigma, like two 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:16.919 point five million Australians yes, are either in menopause or 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:20.800 approaching the perimenopause, which just means all the symptoms around 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:25.680 and leading up to menopause. And I'm hearing men saying, oh, 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:28.639 no one's really interested in some men saying no one's 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:31.040 really interested in this, or this is a bit embarrassing, 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:34.919 or someone actually said to me live in an TV interview, Oh, 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:36.840 but you wouldn't give it to someone as a present. 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:43.240 Why not? It's not why not to say, like every 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:46.399 other woman in the world will go through menopause and 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:49.960 here's a fun book with cartoons and evans faced information. 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:52.840 I was so indignant. I was like, oh my god, 0:18:52.920 --> 0:18:56.639 this is what we're fighting against, you know this idea. 0:18:56.840 --> 0:18:59.480 Yeah, we need to change the narrative and normalize it 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:03.000 because it's a perfectly normal stage of life. Yea, was 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:05.679 it three years? It took you to write the book. 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:08.720 About three and a half years to solidly research and 0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:13.520 write it. And I'm so in awe of all the 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:17.600 fabulous experts, many of them women, that Australia has now 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:23.680 doing research in psychiatric areas of what menopause does to 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:29.560 mental health, all the studies that many professors who are 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:32.000 experts in the area are trying to do now about 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:35.960 different hormones and the effect that they have. But we 0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:38.440 are so behind the eight ball with research. 0:19:38.720 --> 0:19:41.080 And like we say, women are so in such a 0:19:41.119 --> 0:19:44.000 desperate period of their lives as well, Like some days 0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:48.080 you feel really rancid and you're just desperate for some 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:52.359 sort of relief from the hot flushes, from the exhaustion. 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:56.760 Yeah, and that's the difficulty too, because when hormones are erratic, 0:19:56.920 --> 0:20:01.000 which is exactly what happens in perimenopause. You can feel 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:03.639 a certain thing one day and then it suddenly goes 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:06.240 by half past three. You don't get it next Tuesday, 0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:08.639 but then it's back next Thursday, and then nothing happens 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:13.119 for two months, and it's so bizarre, so confusing. Yeah, yeah, 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:15.120 that's actually really characteristic. 0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:17.760 You do actually feel like I don't know how you felt, 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:19.760 but I actually feel it. Sometimes I think I actually 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:23.280 am going a bit batty, like I'm going crazy. 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:26.640 Absolutely, so many women said they thought they were having 0:20:26.680 --> 0:20:30.040 early dementia, and you know, in the survey, so many 0:20:30.080 --> 0:20:33.199 things came up in the survey and the quotes that 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:37.920 are in the book that I didn't expect, and you know, oh, 0:20:38.000 --> 0:20:41.240 I've just lost my train of Thought's brain frog again? 0:20:42.600 --> 0:20:43.440 What was I going to say? 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:49.000 No, it's gone no good, No, haven't got it? 0:20:49.359 --> 0:20:51.440 Oh sorry, pat, No, I don't apologize. 0:20:51.480 --> 0:20:53.840 It's it is complete. I get it all the time. 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:57.720 I had doctor Sarah, and here I go, I can't 0:20:57.720 --> 0:21:00.520 think of a surname now from Jean Hale's foundation. 0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:02.680 It's hilarious. 0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:06.040 I was saying to her, how on air, you know, 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:08.879 it's this whole imposter syndrome that you go through waves of. 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:12.040 But I'll be talking to Christian and Jack and I'll 0:21:12.080 --> 0:21:14.119 be on a train of thought and then all of 0:21:14.119 --> 0:21:16.240 a sudden, it's like someone just rips the rug out 0:21:16.280 --> 0:21:18.800 from under me. And I feel like such a twat 0:21:18.920 --> 0:21:22.480 on air because I've got no idea, like I think, 0:21:22.560 --> 0:21:25.000 oh my god, Like if you're in an office environment, 0:21:25.320 --> 0:21:27.160 you can probably get away with it, but when you're 0:21:27.160 --> 0:21:29.480 on air, you must look like a. 0:21:30.320 --> 0:21:35.159 It happens to me in interviews sometimes too. And that 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:37.320 I was going to say that women do feel like 0:21:37.400 --> 0:21:40.600 they're going mad one of the things that women said, 0:21:40.640 --> 0:21:44.119 and I didn't expect this. Women use the phrase not myself, 0:21:44.440 --> 0:21:46.840 I don't feel myself. I don't know who I am. 0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:52.160 I've lost myself. And I think that is talking about 0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:57.479 those mental changes and understanding that there's a hormonal reason 0:21:57.560 --> 0:22:00.520 for them, even if you don't get treatment, can be 0:22:00.600 --> 0:22:03.960 so comforting understanding that other women are going through it. 0:22:04.320 --> 0:22:08.440