Latest / The Dr Louise Newson Podcast / 292 - Thee Third Act: laughter, friendship and menopause

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292 - Thee Third Act: laughter, friendship and menopause · The Dr Louise Newson Podcast

0:48
So today on my podcast, I'm very lucky because I have two guests.
0:51
So I have two for the price of one as it were, and they're 2
0:54
ladies from America. I seem to have a little run of
0:57
American guests, which is great because the menopause doesn't
1:01
just affect UK women. There's 1.2 men, billion
1:05
menopause of women globally. They're in every single country
1:08
and it's going to affect all of us.
1:10
So it's really important in my mind that it's the most positive
1:14
time of our lives because it lasts a lot longer than many
1:17
other things that happened to us.
1:19
So I've got Jane and Sherry who have known each other for many
1:23
years, who are going to just to introduce themselves and then
1:26
we'll talk about what they're doing.
1:27
So welcome to the podcast. It's very exciting to have you
1:30
here, even though it's remote. So go on then, Jane, you go
1:37
first, OK? Who you are and where you come
1:39
from. OK, I'm Jane Haydock.
1:42
I'm originally from Pennsylvania and now I'm in Los Angeles, CA.
1:48
And yeah, this is my partner. Go ahead, Sherry.
1:52
Hi, I'm Sherry Duran and I'm originally from Michigan.
1:56
And the quick back story of Jane and I, we actually met in
1:59
College in Ohio at Wright State University.
2:02
We are both working in the industry out here as far as
2:05
producers, writers, actors, directors, doing a little of
2:10
everything. And we made friends and are
2:13
going through menopause through like the rest of the world and
2:17
came up with this idea to have a show about menopause.
2:21
And it's really about friendship and menopause.
2:24
It's about two best friends in the throes of menopause.
2:27
And they decide to journal it, which is funny.
2:29
We're on our phones right now, the exploits of of trying to
2:33
find anything, as you know, in the market.
2:35
There's everything out there right now and misinformation and
2:38
great information to try and ease their pain into what we
2:41
call our third act. And that's what the show is
2:42
called. It's called the third act to
2:44
ease TH EE with Shakespearean and our menopause, as I like to
2:48
say, and. Yeah, and that's on, that's on
2:53
YouTube, isn't it? Yes, so that would be on it is
2:56
on YouTube right now and if you go to at the third act, you know
3:01
will it will it Jane ask them, tell them will it actually help
3:04
them with their menopause symptoms?
3:06
Absolutely. Not.
3:08
You will laugh. And hopefully it'll open up
3:11
conversations with your girlfriends and possibly even a
3:15
male who also has to kind of go through it in a different way.
3:19
All our husbands and boyfriends and whoever else we're dealing
3:24
with in the male industry. So yeah.
3:27
But I will tell you too, the episodes are two to five
3:31
minutes. So usually, and it's this first
3:35
season is really about the insane things or the really cool
3:39
things. We try to just relieve some of
3:42
the symptoms we have of menopause.
3:44
So a lot of times my partner Sherry, who in the series is
3:50
Joe, sorry, Lauren, she's walking out because she's had
3:53
enough of it. And so we usually, because it is
3:56
252 to 5 minutes, we're usually starting right smack in the
3:59
middle of a class or of a massage or of a whatever it is
4:03
that we're going through. And then we get to the end.
4:05
And so, yeah, it's kind of wrapped up.
4:08
Quick and it's great, isn't it, to have these conversations.
4:11
So when I started my clinic and our Google menopause and nothing
4:15
came up really very little. And I've been a medical writer
4:19
for many years as well as a doctor.
4:21
So I set up a website which was then called
4:23
menopausedoctor.co.uk. And I set up my Instagram
4:26
account just because my daughter said, mummy, you're telling me
4:29
all these stories about these women, but you're coming home
4:32
and saying, you know, this woman feels like she's been hit by a
4:35
bus. She feels like the shutters have
4:37
come down. She doesn't know what to do,
4:38
Like 'cause she said this is just awful.
4:41
Like, but why don't we all know about it?
4:43
Why aren't we all taught it at school?
4:45
Like, why do we have to wait till we're feeling really awful?
4:48
You're telling me these people, their jobs have gone, their
4:51
partners are leaving them, they're in crisis and they're
4:54
coming to see you. And it's the menopause which
4:56
effects every woman. I, I don't want to wait till I'm
4:59
like suffering like that. So I decided to set up this
5:03
website and I literally, I, I didn't have any money and I went
5:07
to the web designer and I said, I all I want is pages like, what
5:10
is menopause? What is HRT, What is
5:12
testosterone? And just a symptom
5:15
questionnaire. That was all I wanted on it.
5:17
And then every week I'd go, Alan, could we just add this for
5:21
so menopause in younger women? Could we add about urinary
5:23
symptoms? Could we add about brain fog?
5:25
Could we add? And then in the end he's like,
5:27
oh, is you've blown your budget? Like this is ridiculous.
5:29
So we then that's when I decided to, to develop balance app to
5:33
get more people out there. So it was just easier and you
5:37
know, the information has increased, but not just my
5:40
information. Now, if you Google menopause,
5:42
the first thing that probably come up is some menopause
5:44
shampoo or some face cream or some supplement or some like,
5:49
you know, my husband found some menopause chocolate the other
5:51
day in a health food shop. And it's like, Oh my God, like,
5:55
are we just a marketing commodity?
5:57
Is it, are we just something to laugh at?
5:59
And even somebody who's very high up in finance, many years
6:04
ago, they wouldn't get away with it now was saying that the UK
6:08
economy was menopausal like because it's up and down, like,
6:12
and it's like, hang on. We've always been a bust of
6:15
jokes. So now we're a bust of jokes
6:16
being menopausal, like, oh, don't go near her.
6:19
She's a bit Moody. She's got a fan.
6:21
But actually this poor woman is suffering.
6:24
She's got something going on that she doesn't want to be
6:26
Moody, she doesn't want to be shouting at her husband.
6:30
But she has no idea what's going on.
6:32
And for too long we've been told it's either all in your heads
6:36
and it can't be the menopause 'cause you haven't got a flash
6:38
or sweat or that, or well it's because of your work or it's
6:42
because of something else. So actually to allow women, the
6:46
biggest thing that we find when people come to our clinic is
6:49
they thank us for the time and they thank us because they've
6:51
been listened to and understood. And I think what's really
6:55
important, what you're doing with humour is good because when
6:57
you're happy you learn more, don't you?
7:00
And so you know it's not making. There's a there's a balance
7:04
between making fun of something and being happy and entertained
7:08
and learning through it. And I think what you're doing is
7:11
the latter to have this fun. But actually then hopefully
7:16
women who watch the episodes will feel really empowered and
7:19
that sort of kick ass generation.
7:21
Yeah, Come on. Why are we feeling like this?
7:23
What can we do about it? And and learn, like you were
7:25
saying, from girlfriends who are watching it with you or your
7:28
partner. When you say actually that I
7:30
didn't realize that was a symptom of the menopause.
7:32
I just thought it was, you know, you were annoying me.
7:34
But actually maybe my irritability is due to my
7:37
hormones changing in my brain and what can I do about it?
7:39
So it's really great. And we're going through it.
7:44
If you are that of that, you know, person, you can make the
7:47
joke, but if you're not and we're going through it.
7:50
So there is laughter, but there are tears.
7:54
And like like we said at the beginning, it will open up
7:58
conversation. Right.
8:00
And I think, too, another big thing that it's it opens up is
8:03
that sometimes seeing other people having the same thing
8:07
that you have going on or that you tried something really silly
8:10
and you're like, oh, my gosh, I did that.
8:12
I did that. I tried yams on my body.
8:14
I thought it would do something. Yeah.
8:16
And and it just gives you permission to kind of go, oh,
8:18
I'm not alone. I am not alone in this.
8:21
Because really, if you think about it, how many women you
8:23
just said billions, right, are already in menopause?
8:26
There's a sisterhood. There's a sisterhood out here
8:28
that I think we haven't touched on.
8:31
And and you had said also about mothers.
8:33
My mother never spoke of it. Jane, did your mom ever speak
8:36
about it? Never, never.
8:38
You see, I'm quite lucky because my, my mother's on HRTI can't,
8:42
she's forbidden me to say how old she is.
8:44
But you know, she's very strong. But actually many years ago,
8:49
when she was in her early 40s, my father died and she went to
8:52
her GP and said, oh, I'm really struggling.
8:54
She was a teacher and she said I just can't remember things.
8:57
And I'm. And the GP said, oh, I think
9:00
it's your menopause. He didn't use the word
9:02
menopause. He said it's the you're going
9:03
through the change. Yeah.
9:05
And she was like, oh, I don't know what that is, have these
9:07
tablets. And it was Dix of it, which is
9:09
like, it's not hormonal. It it's it's called Clonidine.
9:13
It's it, it doesn't really work. But he gave it to her.
9:16
He went back and then saw a female Doctor Who said, oh, you
9:20
don't want that, you just need some of this and gave her HRT.
9:23
And this was in the 80s. So no one questioned the doctor.
9:28
Then in the 80s, you didn't have Doctor Google.
9:30
You just did what you were told by your doctor.
9:32
So she went off, took these tablets and she said within days
9:35
her memory was back, her mood was back, she felt great, she
9:38
could carry on. So she's just carried on taking
9:40
HRT. Many years ago that was a
9:43
pregnant horses. You were in HRT, the synthetic
9:45
hormones, so she has been converted to the natural body,
9:49
identical hormones which are lovely and safe.
9:52
But many times she's gone back to the GP for a repeat
9:56
prescription and they've said no, you can't have it, you can't
9:58
have it, you're too old. And she said no, no, I'm not
10:01
stopping it. I am absolutely not stopping it
10:03
because I know it's keeping my brain and my body.
10:06
And now she'll, she does sometimes say do you know who my
10:11
daughter, my daughter is? Have you seen my surname?
10:13
Actually, she knows quite a lot, but it's still really hard.
10:16
But she's so I know like, and I look at some of her friends who
10:20
haven't been on hormones and some of them have dementia, some
10:23
of them have had osteoporotic hip fractures.
10:26
They're sort of more crumbling. And I'm sure a lot of how she is
10:30
is because she was very fortunate.
10:32
She just saw the right doctor at the right time.
10:35
But it would could have been very different for her.
10:38
But we are luckier now that we've got access to more
10:40
information, but there's also more misinformation as well.
10:45
And that's what really worries. And I'm his stories of women who
10:49
are spending hundreds of pounds a month or hundreds of dollars
10:54
on hocus pocus stuff. You know, when you think
10:57
actually you should be spreading that money, going out with your
10:59
friends or going out with your partner or going on holiday or
11:02
whatever, work out. Is it worth taking?
11:05
Is it really worth putting yams all over your body?
11:07
Is it, how's it going to really help, you know?
11:10
But so we can allow women to to be educated through these sorts
11:17
of platforms is really important, isn't it?
11:21
And it is. And it's really not A1 size as
11:24
you know, fits all. Like what might work for someone
11:27
doesn't work for another. And, and I mean, it's crazy
11:30
because I have had exercise in my life throughout so that, you
11:35
know, it's not like somebody's telling me at age 57 to go and
11:39
work out, you know, I've already done that.
11:41
So it can be different things. But even with our show, we do
11:45
ridiculous things. But then you'll see Lauren go
11:49
through where our characters names are, Josephine and Lauren,
11:51
you'll see her in a boxing class and she's just, it just works.
11:56
It works. And then all of a sudden,
11:58
because it works because what do we do?
12:00
We overdo it. And then a few episodes down,
12:03
you see she's she's ready to kill me.
12:06
And anybody who walks in front of her, she is so, so it's, it's
12:09
things like that. It's just not a one side, you
12:11
know, one pill fits all, one activity fits all.
12:15
So although we'll make some crazy episodes where it's like,
12:19
what are we doing 1 where we're in a class talking about sex and
12:23
how to how to how to have outer course instead of intercourse
12:28
and and Lauren leaves right away.
12:31
I end up staying but quickly get out of there.
12:34
So it's it's it is fun, but hopefully we'll also see some
12:37
things like the boxing class where, Oh my gosh, somebody
12:40
wouldn't expect at all that connected with her.
12:45
Which is great. And I, I think having these
12:47
conversations is actually, sometimes it's easier to listen
12:52
to other people's conversations that have them themselves.
12:54
And actually as a doctor, I'm not, I can talk about dry
12:57
vaginas, I can talk about sex. It doesn't, it doesn't embarrass
13:00
me. It's very easy.
13:02
But actually, the more I talk to women about sex or usually the
13:06
lack of sex that they're having, the more they say, do you know
13:09
what? I've never spoken to anyone
13:11
about it. I didn't realize other people
13:14
were not having sexual intercourse or not having any
13:17
pleasure when they had sex or just going through the motions.
13:20
I had no idea because I haven't spoken to anyone.
13:26
And it's one of those things that you think, actually they do
13:28
need to listen and hear that they're not alone, that other
13:31
people are experiencing difficulties as well.
13:34
Because the number of relationships that breakdown
13:36
during the menopause is huge. And it often can start with a
13:40
very small thing that escalates. But not being able to listen to
13:44
other stories or not being able to talk can be really isolating
13:48
for women. And I think too, Jane and I have
13:52
found as we start, every time we tell people, oh, this shows
13:55
coming out, women are just beside themselves to share their
13:58
story. Every time I speak to someone,
14:00
I'm like, that's an episode. You know, I have a friend that
14:04
went to of it's she's a therapist.
14:07
She's a therapist for sex, but it's a physical therapist.
14:10
I was like, how do you get that job?
14:11
I'd like to know, you know, like what's the qualification for
14:14
that? And my friend, she goes, I
14:15
didn't know how to dress. She goes, I took a bottle of
14:17
water and do I wear workout clothes?
14:19
Do I, what do I do? And I go, Oh, this is an
14:22
episode. I mean, here's this woman, you
14:23
know, just trying to, she's, she's struggling, she's dying.
14:27
You know, her, her, you know, her vajayjay is not doing well
14:31
and she needed help. And she saw a physical therapist
14:34
for it, which I didn't know there was.
14:35
I was like, really? You could.
14:38
But again, giving permission, you know?
14:41
And it came through humour of the stories that we hear that
14:44
Jane and I heard just blow my mind again, starting that
14:47
conversation. Thank goodness.
14:49
And I think women are better at that, too.
14:51
I mean, I think we're a little more open to each other.
14:54
They're they're totally, yeah. I mean, when I started my
14:56
clinic, believe it or not, I was only wanting to do one day a
15:01
week as menopause work. That was all I wanted to do and
15:05
I had no idea. I had no idea the suffering.
15:08
I had no idea the refusal for treatment for so many women
15:13
without any evidence base. And I had no idea how sort of
15:17
education for healthcare practitioners hadn't caught up
15:20
with the evidence as well. But I did see somebody and he
15:23
said, oh, you need a marketing plan for your clinic.
15:26
I said no, I only want to do one day a week.
15:27
I didn't want to mark anyway. I haven't got any money for a
15:30
budget for a marketing plan. I'm a doctor.
15:32
Like I'm not going to market myself.
15:34
And he said, oh, well, you'll never get busy.
15:36
I said, that's fine. I don't want to do more than a
15:38
day a week. And then I said, but do you know
15:41
what actually, because this was, he was obviously a man and he,
15:43
he said, I said, look, if he goes, if I do well, like people
15:47
will talk. They've all got hairdressers.
15:49
They all go out for coffee. You know, they, they meet,
15:52
they're socialized. Women are quite sociable,
15:53
actually. And actually, if it doesn't do
15:56
very well, that's because I'm not doing very well and it's not
15:59
right. So I don't want to advertise
16:00
something that's not right or if there's not a need for it.
16:04
And then my husband met him at a meeting a year later and he
16:07
said, oh, I can see she's setting up her own clinic and
16:09
she's really busy and, but it but it's about women.
16:13
And most people who come to our clinic is, is from
16:17
recommendation from a friend or a colleague or this or that.
16:20
Whereas if I was doing a men's health clinic, men would just,
16:24
their pride wouldn't let them often to sort of admit that
16:28
they've gone somewhere or that they've admitted that they had a
16:31
problem. And in men's health, it's
16:33
another conversation. But it can be very difficult to
16:36
allow men to for them to come and see us if they've got a
16:39
problem. Whereas I think women, once
16:41
they've know what the cause of the problem is, they're really
16:44
eager to get help and talk about it.
16:47
But in my experience listening to thousands of stories is that
16:51
it's a long journey before they get help because they've often
16:53
not realized what's going on. They feel very isolated.
16:57
They've got all these psychological symptoms.
16:59
So they're feeling low self worth, low self esteem, low
17:03
confidence, anxiety, low mood. They have no idea that hormones
17:07
even work in their brains. So they're not aware that that
17:10
could be a possibility. But then suddenly when this
17:13
light bulb moment that someone says, actually you sound like
17:16
you could have some hormonal changes, it's like, wow,
17:19
actually OK, I haven't got dementia, I haven't got clinical
17:22
depression. I don't have to, you know, my
17:24
whole family fall apart. There's something I can do about
17:27
it. So that it's that first journey
17:29
that you're really helping with. And after that it's it's up to
17:32
the woman to decide, do I want to take hormones?
17:35
Do I want to do whatever? It doesn't for me.
17:37
It doesn't matter as long as they've got the right
17:39
information. But it's recognising those
17:41
symptoms because women in your country, in my country, across
17:45
the world are being misdiagnosed with depression, fibromyalgia,
17:49
chronic fatigue, you know, these labels that we're giving women
17:53
without excluding their hormones being A cause.
17:55
And it's making women feel even worse, actually, you know what I
17:59
mean. There, I think there is that
18:01
noise that this is one of my things when, when you're
18:06
emotional, it's just like, oh, am I just being a woman because
18:11
of that noise we've heard? Oh my God, look at her.
18:14
She's like getting all hyper and, and, and I, I really do
18:17
question when I started to really, you know, like I would
18:21
just immediately get upset and go, wait, is this just just a
18:26
woman thing? And, and so I think we do hear
18:29
so much. I'll call it noise, whatever,
18:31
can't call it information. But another thing that you were
18:34
talking about is, yes, men don't come, but how quickly did we
18:38
have that blue pill out? I mean, for sure.
18:41
Don't even get me started about that.
18:43
OK, good. I have another.
18:45
Friend, come to me and say, well, you know, when men go
18:48
through their menopause, I go, wait a minute, wait a minute.
18:50
I mean, that blue pill was out so quick.
18:53
Please find me a pill where I just want to have sex all the
18:56
time with the man I love, with the man who's done so much.
18:59
But I mean, give me that, I'll take a pink pill.
19:02
I'll take a yellow. I'll take.
19:04
What is blue pill? It's, it's so interesting, isn't
19:07
it? Because the, the blue pill
19:09
Viagra that we're talking is, is actually very effective, It's
19:13
very safe, but it's still a medication and it does have some
19:18
contraindications and some very small risks.
19:21
But you can buy it over the counter.
19:22
If you've got money, you can buy Viagra now.
19:25
The natural hormones we prescribe are just natural
19:28
hormones. They, they are very, very safe.
19:31
And even if we are just talking about vaginas because we've been
19:34
talking about sex, vaginal dryness, soreness, irritation,
19:37
urinary symptoms, effects the maturity of menopausal women.
19:41
Putting some hormones in your vagina, anybody can do because
19:44
it there's such low dose, they're very safe.
19:47
Can we get them? Can we buy them with some money?
19:50
No course, it's really difficult and even to get them prescribed,
19:55
whereas it just doesn't make sense really That and also we
19:59
have a really good treatment hormone, testosterone, that we
20:03
know can improve libido. And 25% of women have what's
20:07
called HSDD, which is a hypoactive sexual desire
20:11
disorder. So we have to be diagnosed with
20:14
this disorder and you have to have symptoms for a minimum of
20:18
at least three months, say the guidelines.
20:20
So it doesn't even and and you have to be severely
20:23
psychologically distressed. It has to be no other reason.
20:26
And you have to have done all this.
20:28
And then I can assess you and say, right, you've got HSDD, you
20:31
could try testosterone. Whereas men like HSDD doesn't
20:34
really, you know, it's like, yeah, you've just had a couple
20:37
of nights where you don't feel great.
20:38
Just try this and it might help get your libido back, your
20:40
erections harder, and you can go forward.
20:44
It's it for us, we have to prove that we're really distressed
20:46
because we're not having sex. I I don't really understand it.
20:50
Well, and I think I'm kind of going on top of that.
20:54
And Jane, I know you've found a wonderful doctor right away.
20:56
So in in my experience, you know it in in our country, the
21:00
insurance system, how it works. That's a whole other, that's a
21:02
whole other podcast. But you know, it's amazing the
21:06
doctors that I've gone to three or four before I found 3 or 4,
21:10
which I'm sure you hear all the time before you, I found.
21:14
And it ended up being a male doctor, a gynecologist.
21:17
And he was about, let's talk about the quality of your life.
21:19
Let's talk about the things that can make that happen.
21:23
That's what we need to get to. And I was like, how, how come my
21:25
General practitioner, who's a woman does not have this
21:28
philosophy? And she didn't.
21:30
And whatever the reason is, it's, it's, and it's not she's,
21:32
I love her. She's, you know, she's been my
21:34
doctor for years. But it just, it wasn't there,
21:36
whether the knowledge wasn't there or whatnot.
21:38
So it's, it's interesting as women, you know, we kind of have
21:42
to sift, sift, sift, keep going. You know you have to be a
21:46
detective. Almost.
21:47
What about what do women want? That should be in my mind.
21:51
The first part of my consultation is why have you
21:54
come to see me? What are you expecting to get
21:55
out of the consultation? And what would you, you know,
21:58
what were you thinking? Because some people say, I just
22:01
want to make sure that I haven't got a brain tumor and my
22:04
headaches are due to my menopause.
22:07
Other people will say I the only treatment I want is X or
22:10
whatever. And then I we can explore that
22:12
in the consultation, but we're not just a machine.
22:15
We're not a tick box that we can just all go, yes, Mrs. Smith,
22:19
you're going to have exactly the same as Mrs. Jones.
22:21
And medicine's not like that. And actually, we can't blame the
22:27
menopause on everything. You know, my husband was
22:30
frustrating me this morning because he just said he'd take
22:33
my daughter to the bus and then he didn't because he was faffing
22:36
around. So like, don't worry, I'll just
22:38
do it. It's fine.
22:39
And it's like, I can't blame my menopause.
22:41
It's just because, you know, he was a bit frustrating, but we
22:47
need to have the right information.
22:49
We need to listen to the right healthcare professional.
22:52
For us, that's empathic and holistic and will will help us
22:57
in our treatment decision because like you say, it's like
23:01
the third act. It's not just a couple of days.
23:03
We're menopausal. For the most women, it's going
23:07
to be at least a third of their lives.
23:09
My youngest patient is 14 now. She's hopefully going to live
23:13
for many, many years. So it's not just like a little
23:16
thing, like, I don't know, when you're pregnant, look how much
23:19
attention we get in those nine months.
23:21
But that's only nine months. You know, this is decades.
23:24
So it's so important. The conversation starts and
23:28
continues, isn't it? Yes, and I want to ask you what
23:31
is the, because we're going to write an episode probably about
23:34
it. What is what is the funniest
23:38
cure all or something that you heard from a woman?
23:40
I mean, because you've had so much research of something that
23:43
she's tried that you're just like, this is not really where
23:46
you want to go. It's.
23:47
Interesting. So, so it always seems like it's
23:49
not really funny. I think it's a shame really.
23:51
So this lady a while ago came to see me and she said, look, I
23:54
want something natural. I don't want hormones, I want
23:57
something really natural. So we have this whole
23:59
conversation about, you know, there's lots of natural plants
24:02
in my garden that I wouldn't want to eat or made into tablets
24:06
and our hormones are natural because we produce them.
24:09
And, and I said, are you on any medication?
24:11
She was super, well, super fit and, but she was getting quite a
24:13
lot of headaches, but they, they, and she's feeling a bit
24:16
sick and couldn't quite work out what was going on.
24:19
So I said, are you taking any other medication?
24:21
She said, I take vitamin DI said great.
24:24
And she said, oh, and I take this menopause support tablet,
24:27
but it's really, it's from this amazing health shop in the, you
24:30
know, wherever, and it's quite expensive.
24:31
I said, well, what are the ingredients?
24:33
Oh, I don't know. So OK, well, let's Google it.
24:36
So we Googled what it was and inside it had Oh no, yeah, it
24:40
had all sorts of things that I didn't really know, but they had
24:42
poor sign ovarian tissue, so ovaries from pork.
24:47
And then it also had bovine pituitary tissue.
24:51
So, so bit of what of and whether it did or not, I don't
24:54
know. But I said, Oh my gosh, just
24:56
leaving that it's going to make me feel really thick.
24:58
Like, do you know what? So you're saying you don't want
25:01
natural hormones derived from yam plants that are the same
25:04
biochemical structure as our own hormones, but you're taking
25:07
something from pig Pig. Like I I just don't really.
25:12
And and then she was great because we we were just laughing
25:14
because I thought, I can't laugh at her.
25:16
That's really rude and disrespectful.
25:17
But this is absolutely ridiculous, to be honest.
25:20
Like, she was so well researched, but she hadn't
25:23
researched what she was taking. So.
25:28
Yeah. Well, we've all done that.
25:30
So I I'm not, she's never alone in that.
25:32
I've taken things that are like, what?
25:33
What was I thinking? Yeah, well, that's the thing.
25:36
But we all do because we're desperate to feel better.
25:39
And that's what really saddens me with.
25:41
It saddens me with this sort of commercialization of the
25:43
menopause. I sort of feel like I've opened
25:45
this Pandora box because I like I say, the demand is huge.
25:49
People were thirsty for knowledge, pursue for
25:52
information. But if you're not getting the
25:54
help that you want from your clinician or your physician,
25:57
then of course you're going to go and buy something that's
25:59
really beautifully branded or heavily marketed because you
26:02
feel it might help. And then, you know, there's the
26:05
new, I won't say the product, but there's another face cream
26:08
coming out. So the company emailed me to
26:10
say, are you interested? Could you put a quote?
26:13
And I said, no, but could you just send me the evidence to
26:16
support your cream? And a week later, I got an
26:19
e-mail yesterday actually saying, oh, we just reached out
26:22
to our research team to see what we can find.
26:25
It's like, OK, right. But you're putting this cream.
26:27
They're a really well known brand, but I know what what will
26:29
happen. It will be one of those stars,
26:31
you know, research. 6 out of seven women said that their skin
26:34
felt glory after three days of using this cream.
26:37
It's like it's actually quite disrespectful to women actually.
26:41
I think we're going back in time.
26:45
And I, I think that's part of our show too, is that we are
26:48
just two kind of regular women that that made the show.
26:52
You know, we're not a star who's trying to push something or push
26:55
an agenda. It's, it's really, it was it, it
26:59
helped us get through menopause and hopefully it's going to help
27:02
other women get through and have that conversation and know that
27:05
there's a sisterhood. So it's, it's a, it's we've had
27:11
a ball. And and I, I have to say, Jane
27:13
saved me. Yeah, I have friendships.
27:14
I mean, I'm not kidding. There are times I think I was
27:16
going to jump off a mountain and she was there, you know, because
27:19
I had, I think I had more symptoms than Jane.
27:23
I still have, I still have a belly.
27:25
I still, I named her. I named my belly once.
27:27
Once it came, I was like, and I I had done more sit ups than
27:30
Jane, I think at one time, but somehow I got a belly.
27:32
I was like, what's just happening?
27:33
I call her Betty the bitch. Betty the bitch.
27:35
Yeah, but she's she's better now.
27:37
She's better now. Yeah, it it is kind of funny
27:40
because I, I think as as we've been writing and doing this and
27:45
using our own experiences, I don't, I don't we're, we're very
27:50
different in what we've experienced, you know?
27:54
Yeah, we, we. Definitely.
27:55
And we all are, you know, we're all individual.
27:57
If you, if you talk to enough women who've been pregnant,
28:01
they're all going to tell you different stories.
28:02
If you have people who have migraines, they're all going to
28:05
have different experiences and we certainly all have different
28:08
relationships and you know, what are different jobs, different
28:11
friends, But and menopause is individual and you know, it
28:15
should be made into a very positive experience if we get
28:19
the right support, information and treatment as well.
28:22
So what you're doing is part of that help, which is wonderful.
28:27
So I'm very grateful for you to share your what you're doing.
28:31
So, but before we end, I always ask for three take home tips.
28:34
So 1 1/2 each is going to be hard.
28:35
So I will allow you to have two each because I'm feeling quite
28:38
kind today. So if you wouldn't mind just
28:42
four reasons or so, 2 each why people should watch the YouTube
28:48
and and what you hope they get out of it.
28:51
So do you want to go first, Dane?
28:53
Yeah, I'll go first laugh. I mean, you know, without a
28:58
sense of humour it's it's hard to get through anything.
29:02
So, Sherry, you want to take a second one?
29:05
I would say friendship, misery loves company.
29:09
I'm misery, but past that. But past that, I mean, we, we,
29:14
Jane and I have been through tragedies together.
29:16
We go through nonsense together. We've gone through, you know,
29:21
raising children and all of those things without that
29:24
friend. You know, there's a sisterhood
29:26
there. There's billions of women.
29:28
And I think that sisterhood is the bond it.
29:31
Is. Sherry, give me a third one.
29:36
Well, I think my third for me would be a really good chocolate
29:39
martini. No, no.
29:42
I I agree. I agree with that.
29:46
Although Doctor Nismo, I know you don't drink, but we do
29:50
obviously never underestimate the creative power of a woman.
29:55
I mean, we give birth, we raise families, we work, we nurture
30:02
our parents even as they're getting old and then even out of
30:06
this world. And I really believe this, and I
30:10
know my partner does. Sherry, we are thriving and
30:13
creating even more in our third act.
30:16
And Sherry, you want to end it? Well, I think that what women
30:20
should take away from us and our show, the third act is that
30:24
menopause was the catalyst that made us have this new whole
30:29
chapter. I know it's menopause is the
30:31
catalyst. Which is wonderful.
30:33
So it's the third act for you as well.
30:36
And I think that is the, I mean, I didn't start my menopause work
30:39
until I was a perimenopausal woman.
30:41
So it's not too late to do something.
30:43
But having that support, that camaraderie, that friendship is
30:47
just so wonderful. So I'm really excited to keep
30:50
watching the episodes and keep doing the great work.
30:53
So thank you so much for your time.
30:55
Thank you you. Guys.
30:57
Probably hopefully already saw one, but there's no problem
30:59
watching a couple or three at a time because as I said, it's
31:02
like 2 to 5 minutes so. Yeah, yeah.
31:05
And we have lots of friends that are having watch parties where
31:07
there are five of them and they have all their friends come over
31:09
because they want to watch them in a row and and they just laugh
31:12
and cry and have a ball so. Fantastic.
31:17
Thank you for your time. You can find out more about
31:20
Newson Health Group by visiting www.newsonhealth.co.uk and you
31:27
can download the free Balance app on the app.
31:29
Store or Google Play?