Dr Louise Newson: Anxiety! Joint pain! The perimenopause symptoms you’re ignoring
5/21/202657 min
One in six women arriving at Dr Louise Newson's menopause clinic have suicidal thoughts. 92% see those thoughts reduce with natural hormones, so why are women still being prescribed antidepressants instead?
In this chat with Fearne, Louise explains why women are being misdiagnosed with depression or anxiety when the root cause is hormonal. Fearne admits she's the woman with her head in the sand about perimenopause, so Louise walks her through what the many (many!) different symptoms could look like, and how to talk to a GP about how you’re feeling mentally and physically.
Plus, is there any truth to the myth that HRT causes breast cancer? Why is testosterone the most misunderstood hormone in women's health? And would the contraceptive pill be approved if it was created today...?
Louise’s new book, The Power of Hormones, is out now.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsFearne Cotton· Host0:00
[upbeat music] Hello, and massive welcome to Happy Place with me, Fern Cotton. This is the show that empowers you with knowledge so you can make the decisions that are right for you. Today I'm chatting to Louise Newson.
Louise Newson· Guest0:14
If we're getting any symptoms, the first thing as women we should do is think, "Right, could it be my hormones, and could topping up my hormones in a very natural way help?" They affect every cell in our body, so that means every organ. So you could literally list going from your head down, literally obviously so many functions in the brain. Palpitations very common. Muscle and joint pains really, really common. A lot of people in their 40s get diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome. Weak bladder, all of that can be related to hormones as well. Restless legs. You know, so many women are having these symptoms and just putting up with them.
Fearne Cotton· Host0:48
Hey, how are you all? I hope you are well. Look, this is a chat that I've needed to have for a very long time. Hands up any women that are listening right now that are of a certain age that have got their heads buried firmly in the sand when it comes to perimenopause and menopause, because that is me. I am in complete denial. Whenever anyone mentions the menopause or perimenopause, I just think, "Oh my God, stop talking about it. I, I can't think about it. I don't wanna think about it." And mainly that's because I've been so confused as to what the solutions are. And it shouldn't even be a solution. It should be like, how do I cope with this? What can I marry