#21 - Whales get it, why don't we?

#21 - Whales get it, why don't we?

Of the roughly 6,000 mammal species on earth, only a handful go through menopause the way we do (where fertility ends and life keeps going for years, even decades). Humans, five kinds of whale and, very recently, one group of wild chimpanzees in Uganda. That's the whole club. This episode is about what those animals can teach us about our own midlife and why the science quietly insists that menopause isn't your body giving up but instead it's your body being promoted. Huge thanks to Adrienne for sending me down this rabbit hole. I will never look at a pod of orcas the same way again. In this episode: * Which animals actually go through menopause and which famous ones (looking at you, elephants) surprisingly don't * Whether whales and chimps have a "perimenopause," and how scientists measured the exact same hormones your doctor tests in you * The four-and-a-half-times statistic that shows just how much a family depends on its grandmother * Why menopause evolved, the grandmother hypothesis and the smarter idea underneath it that most people miss * Do these animals have symptoms? The honest answer, and what actually changes for them * The reframe I can't stop thinking about: in every one of these species, the female who stops reproducing becomes the longest-living, highest-status member of her whole world Send it to a woman in your life who needs to hear that midlife is a promotion, not a demotion. That's the whole point of this show. Come find me on Instagram @project_me_us [https://instagram.com/project_me_us], and if you've got an episode idea that sends me down a rabbit hole the way Adrienne did. I want to hear it. New here? Perimenopause, Unfiltered is where we talk about perimenopause and menopause like real people, not like a pharmaceutical pamphlet. Subscribe so you will get an email when the next one is live.

#20 - When blood sugar meets perimenopause - with Melissa Slemp

Melissa Slemp has lived with type 1 diabetes for over 40 years. For most of that time, no one ever connected her blood sugar chaos to her hormones. Melissa is the author of Highs, Lows, and Hormones, host of the podcast Type 1 in Midlife and the founder of Abundant Health with Melissa, where she works with women navigating perimenopause and menopause alongside Type 1 Diabetes. We talk about what happens when two massive, under-researched areas of women's health (diabetes and menopause) collide and why almost nobody is trained to treat them together. * Melissa's 40+ years with type 1 diabetes and why it took her decades to realize perimenopause was driving her blood sugar swings; * The gap between endocrinology and hormone therapy and why so many doctors have no framework for the overlap; * How estrogen and progesterone actually affect insulin sensitivity, phase by phase, and why this matters even if you don't have diabetes; * What changed for Melissa once hormone therapy entered the picture (glucose needs, energy, sleep, the whole picture); * Why "control" is the wrong word for managing blood sugar and what shifting to "influence" does for your mindset; * The biggest myth still keeping women from hormone therapy; * Why symptom tracking might be the single most useful thing you're not doing; * What postmenopause actually looks like once things settle. Book: Highs, Lows, and Hormones [https://www.abundanthealthwithmelissa.com/book] Podcast: Type 1 in Midlife [https://www.abundanthealthwithmelissa.com/podcast] Coaching: Abundant Health with Melissa [https://www.abundanthealthwithmelissa.com/] ---- Connect with Sascha: Instagram: ⁠@project_me_us⁠ [http://instagram.com/project_me_us] or check my website: ⁠myproject-me.com⁠ [www.myproject-me.com] Enjoyed this episode? Please leave a review. It helps other women find this show. And share this episode with one woman in your life who needs to hear about this. Free resource: Download the perimenopause self-check worksheet at ⁠myproject-me.com⁠ [http://myproject-me.com]. Map your symptoms, identify your patterns, and know exactly what to bring to your next appointment.

#19 - Walk in ready, part 3 of 3: The truth about HRT

In 2002 a study made global headlines: "HRT causes breast cancer". Doctors stopped prescribing it overnight, women stopped asking for it. And an entire generation made decisions about their health based on headlines that fundamentally misrepresented what that study actually found. That study is still shaping the conversation in doctor's offices today. In this episode Sascha breaks down exactly what the WHI study found, what was wrong with it, and where the current scientific consensus sits. Because fear based on a 2002 headline is keeping too many women from having a conversation they deserve to have. In this episode: * What the Women's Health Initiative study actually was, who was in it, and what it was designed to find * Why the average age of 63 in the study matters enormously for how we interpret the results * The difference between synthetic hormones and body identical hormones * The difference between oral and transdermal HRT and why delivery method matters * The timing hypothesis and the window of opportunity * What the E3N study found about body identical progesterone and breast cancer risk * The actual increased breast cancer risk in the study and what the numbers really mean * The current position of major international menopause societies on HRT * What to know before your next HRT conversation Ready to have this conversation with your doctor?Knowing the research is the foundation. Knowing how to talk about it in the room is what changes the outcome. The Menopause Briefing is a one hour course that gives you the full language toolkit, the pushback scenarios, and the guided practice to walk into your next appointment prepared. Including the exact phrases for when your doctor expresses hesitation about HRT. Find it at myproject-me.com. [https://www.myproject-me.com/the-menopause-briefing] Free resource:Download the perimenopause self-check worksheet at myproject-me.com [⁠www.myproject-me.com⁠]. Map your symptoms, identify your patterns, and know exactly what to bring to your next appointment. Connect with Sascha:Instagram: @project_me_us [https://www.instagram.com/project_me_us/]Website: www.myproject-me.com [http://www.myproject-me.com] Enjoyed this episode?Please leave a review. It helps other women find this show. And if you know a woman who is scared of HRT, who has been told it is too dangerous or who has never felt confident enough to ask about it, send her this episode today. It might be the thing that changes everything for her. This was the final episode of Walk In Ready.Thank you for listening to all three. If this series resonated with you, the best thing you can do is share it with one woman who needs to hear it. And if you are ready to take everything we covered and turn it into a complete preparation toolkit for your next appointment, The Menopause Briefing is waiting for you at www.myproject-me.com [https://www.myproject-me.com/the-menopause-briefing].

#18 - Walk in ready, part 2 of 3: The language of self-advocacy

You did the research. You walked into the appointment and you still left without what you needed. That is called the appointment gap. And it is happening to women everywhere. In this episode Sascha breaks down exactly why perimenopause appointments go wrong even for well prepared, well informed women. Because there are three specific, well documented forces working against them in that room. And nobody talks about them. In this episode: * Why the average woman waits seven years for a correct perimenopause diagnosis * The authority bias and why it overrides your knowledge in the room * Why doctors interrupt patients within eleven seconds of them beginning to speak, and what that means for your appointment * How the cognitive symptoms of perimenopause make self-advocacy harder at exactly the moment you need it most * Why most doctors have had less than two hours of menopause training in their entire medical career * What actually changes the outcome of a perimenopause appointment Ready to close the appointment gap before your next visit?"The Menopause Briefing" is a one hour course that gives you the knowledge, the tools, and the exact language to walk into your next doctor's appointment prepared. And to hold your ground when things do not go the way you hoped. Seven worksheets including a doctor visit prep packet you physically bring into the room.Find it at myproject-me.com [https://www.myproject-me.com/the-menopause-briefing] Free resource:Download the perimenopause self-check worksheet at myproject-me.com [http://www.myproject-me.com]. Map your symptoms, identify your patterns, and know exactly what to bring to your next appointment. Connect with Sascha:Instagram: @project_me_us [https://www.instagram.com/project_me_us/]Website: myproject-me.com [http://www.myproject-me.com] Enjoyed this episode?Please leave a review. It helps other women find this show. And share this episode with one woman in your life who has ever left a doctor's appointment feeling dismissed, small, or angry at herself. She needs to hear this. Next episode:Walk in ready, part 2 of 3. The language of self-advocacy. Why what you say matters more than what you know in that appointment.

#17 - Walk in ready, part 1 of 3: The appointment gap. Why you leave without what you need and what to do about it.

You did the research. You walked into the appointment and you still left without what you needed. That is not a you problem. It is the appointment gap and it is happening to women everywhere. In this episode Sascha breaks down exactly why perimenopause appointments go wrong even for well prepared, well informed women. Because there are three specific, well documented forces working against them in that room. In this episode: * Why the average woman waits seven years for a correct perimenopause diagnosis * The authority bias and why it overrides your knowledge in the room * Why doctors interrupt patients within eleven seconds of them beginning to speak, and what that means for your appointment * How the cognitive symptoms of perimenopause make self-advocacy harder at exactly the moment you need it most * Why most doctors have had less than two hours of menopause training in their entire medical career * What actually changes the outcome of a perimenopause appointment Ready to close the appointment gap before your next visit?"The Menopause Briefing" is a one hour course that gives you the knowledge, the tools, and the exact language to walk into your next doctor's appointment prepared. And to hold your ground when things do not go the way you hoped. Seven worksheets including a doctor visit prep packet you physically bring into the room.Find it at myproject-me.com [https://www.myproject-me.com/the-menopause-briefing] Free resource:Download the perimenopause self-check worksheet at myproject-me.com [http://myproject-me.com]. Map your symptoms, identify your patterns, and know exactly what to bring to your next appointment. Connect with Sascha:Instagram: @project_me_us [http://instagram.com/project_me_us]Website: myproject-me.com [www.myproject-me.com] Enjoyed this episode?Please leave a review. It helps other women find this show. And share this episode with one woman in your life who has ever left a doctor's appointment feeling dismissed, small or angry at herself. She needs to hear this. Next episode:Walk In Ready, part 2 of 3. The language of self-advocacy. Why what you say matters more than what you know in that appointment.