Welcome to the Hotflash inc free weekend newsletter, where we try and figure out this thing called peri/menopause, support each other and take personal responsibility for how we navigate it.
• This week marked the circulation of a study presented as new, indicating that the antihistamine Zyrtec might be a good non-hormonal treatment for hot flashes. Except it was published in 2003. Also people in the comments got mad (because it wasn’t about HrT).
• Watch this Instagram Reel explanation of bioidentical hormones and then this one, and tell me how anyone is supposed to know what to believe if these two doctors and hormone specialists can be so far apart?
• Britain’s Menopause Doctor, Louise Newson, takes to Instagram to talk about hormone therapy for postpartum depression. Over in the US, ob-gyn and maternal fetal medicine specialist Dr Shannon M Clark calls in two perinatal psychiatrists to counter.
GUIDELINES GALORE
UK: The draft new NICE guidelines to help doctors with menopause treatment are out, and everyone seems to be cranky that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – one of the few non-hormonal, evidence-based mental health methods to be recommended by guiding bodies – has been cited for helping with hot flashes, night sweats and sleep in general. The document also addresses the risks of hormone therapy and claims that it prevents diseases and boosts longevity: “The draft guideline highlights that, while it is important that people know about the risks associated with HRT, it is also important they are made aware it is unlikely to increase or decrease their overall life expectancy.” Checking out the side of social media that’s an echo chamber on this, and you’d think they want one guideline and for that guideline to say is ALL HORMONE THERAPY ALL THE TIME. The draft guidance is open to public consultation until January 5.
INTERNATIONAL: The International Menopause Society is also updating its guidelines, or rather, their 2016 recommendation on women’s health and hormone therapy. They have two surveys being conducted with the assistance of Monash University: women between 45 and 65 and health care practitioners.
policy + protection
UNITED STATES: Efforts by journalist women’s health advocate Maria Shriver led to First Lady Jill Biden leading a White House initiative to boost research into women’s health, with a specific shoutout for menopause in her memorandum marking the launch this week. “Every woman I know has a story about leaving her doctor’s office with more questions than answers,” she wrote..
AUSTRALIA: The Senate has embarked on a new inquiry aimed at providing guidance for the federal government on how to handle menopause from a policy perspective. The committee will look at economics, including the impact on productivity, career progression and retirement planning, how it impacts physical and mental health, how to improve access to services, make them more affordable and improve awareness among practitioners and in the workplace.
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bookshelf
Goodnight Night Sweats by Haut Flasch and Mina Pauze (aka author Brenda Bowen and illustrator Jessie Hartland) is billed as “a laugh-out-loud adult parody of Goodnight Moon”. Due out March 26.
Noted Goop antagonist and debunker Dr Jen Gunter’s new book Blood: The Science, Medicine and Mythology of Menstruation comes out January 23.
I just picked up my advance copy: it’s huge. Stay tuned.
peri power tool
I’m not sure I’ve ever mentioned this app, which is crazy, because I’ve been using it for more than a decade and it’s probably helped me more than anything else. AND IT’S FREE. Essentially offering a range of binaural beats, Brainwave helps with everything from anger reduction to getting to sleep (or back to sleep), anxiety and depression reduction to focus. (I’m using the Gamma-40 Focus to write, right now!) I told one of my friends about it a few weeks about it and she has thanked me three times for the good sleeps that ensued.
I could not recommend it more.
what menopause means to me
“You can spend a lot more money not being honest with yourself about what you really need (a break, HrT, regular exercise, therapy, gut healing, the right doctor who can pull it all together for you but maybe isn’t covered by insurance) than just paying for what you really need.”
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Hotflash inc podcast: big week
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read, watch, click, follow, listen + like
• INSPO: Maria Shriver on what she told a worried friend when she was going through a tough personal time: “I’m going to pull myself out of the darkness. I’m going to get to my own open field. It may take me some time, but I’ll get there. I can see it and envision it. And when I envision something, I know I’ll make it happen. I don’t care how long it takes or how hard it is. I know I’ll find my way.” Maria Shriver’s Sunday Paper
• FASCINATING: The Role of Hormonal Changes in Addiction Relapse During Menopause Menopause Goddess
• AGEISM: Remember US supermodel Kim Alexis? She’s not f***ing around with aging anymore – and she doesn’t care if that makes you uncomfortable. Instagram
“Menopause is not a disease or disorder, but a normal part of aging.”
National Institutes of Health
• PODCASTS: Like many of us, I’ve been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and Hashimotos’s, but I’ve been feeling heaps better after focusing on gut healing (which healed a lot of other things too). Moving forward, I want to know exactly what’s going on in my body – not rely on what people tell me is going on – and support myself as much as possible, so I’m doing a lot of learning. That’s why I spent several hours this weekend exploring the bioenergetic view of thyroid health on this multi-part podcast series. It’s a lot different than what we hear from doctors in the office and online. I love these two Ray Peat geeks. The Energy Balance Podcast
• THE BASICS: How to tell if it’s perimenopause POOSH
• TV: Drew Barrymore and Gabrielle Union talking about being lost in perimenopause is very relatable. The Drew Barrymore Show
• SLIDESHOW: How diet fends off neurological disorders Medscape
• RULES TO FOLLOW: Rapid Transformational Therapy founder (and new Dubai resident) Marisa Peer’s 5 Things to Do in Your 40s is the only list you need The Proage Women
Editor’s note
Apologies for the radio silence. Trying to catch up in my life after being felled by a nasty viral respiratory infection. Is there anything better than the rise after the fall?
Back with a good new science roundup next week.
I always love your deep-dives. The stuff on social media is scary especially when big accounts make sweeping over-generalizations and misinform. One of my pet peeves is people flashing charts without any type of citations. Where do the numbers come from? Anyway, always grateful for your deep dives.
I am very interested in the Brainwave app. And I can’t find the free version in the App Store. Do you have a link or more specific information?
Thanks for the very informative newsletter. I’ve already shared with one friend and have a couple more who I think would be interested.
I hope your recovery continues to go well.