Janice Turner on the Menopause Industry

@Hagiography You don't seem to be calling for the same scrutiny of isoflavones (risks and benefits) as you are for HRT..Why is that? You are doing exactly what people on HRT are doing - managing symptoms. I don't think you should use HRT as you are managing your symptoms so it makes no sense for you. One could argue that you are also medicalising the menopause using isoflavones which convert to Phytoestrogen in the body.

Well I did start to ge some disturbed sleep
That stopped when I cut the sugar

That was the end of any symptoms for me

Not sure about the first ingredient, but one of the main ingredients is soy bean extract, which contains 40% isoflavones.OP, are you aware that all these tablets might be doing is increasing your estrogen...... like low dose HRT would do, just in a different way. Except, HRT would probably be far more effective and cheaper for you if you stretched out those doses. In some cases soy might lower a women's estrogen.

*I read a book on nutrition for menopause ('happy menopause' iirc) ; here is the distilled essence:

drink water lots

eat protein lots (this helps with adrenal stuff that is affected by meno)

eat veg/fruit lots

less sugar

less refined carbs and carbs*

So....basically try to eat healthily? I'm sure if someone's obese or is just eating far too much sugar and tran fats, this advice would be beneficial anyway.....but I'm doubitng if this would cut the severe symptoms that many averagely healthy women report.

I honestly could not hold down my job without HRT. the combo of brain-fog, insomnia, migraines, vertigo, worsening allergies and IBS type symptoms I suffered with would make it impossible to attend every day. I was a shell of my former self...

@Hagiography Do you not see the Vogel pills as a type of intervention? And part of a marketing strategy?

@Hagiography that is such a useful post - thank you

Making me think I should strap my 4 yr old back on in the sling....!

OT. The weight vests that are more flexibly designed than the overhead ones (IYSWIM) and are supposed to be discreet enough to wear for most of the day and underneath your other clothing.

www.hyperwear.com/product/hyper-pro-weight-vest/

www.hyperwear.com/blog/weight-vest-for-osteoporosis/

You will see that that style of weight vest/jacket is very different to the ones for workout sessions that tend to be quite high and short and not suited to a woman's usual centre of gravity.

I do find it interesting to have another perspective as HRT is being seen as the be all and end all - it doesn't suit everyone, and not everyone can take it. However my doctor has just written me off - no mention of nutrition or other therapies that might help. I feel very abandoned, and even private menopause clinics put so much emphasis on HRT. It's not a miracle.

If they work for you, that's fine.

There are some hypermobile people who use them and they're difficult at the end of a joint and can further extend people's hypermobility and ligaments without conferring a degree of control (which is what some hypermobile people need, depending upon their categorisation and where they're hypermobile).

Sometimes, people need an individualised assessment and they're very difficult to obtain from a knowledgeable source.

Oh no should I ditch my ankle weights?! Not used much. Technically wrist ones!

Courtesy of my own stupidity in thinking that I can type a post directly into MN, I've just lost a post on axial weight distribution (eg, ankle weights), degrees of hypermobility, and weighted vest design and the female form plus the general lack of knowledge about whether people have compression fractures that would contraindicate some weight jackets etc.

I'll see if I can reconstruct it later.

@EmbarrassingHadrosaurus yes I would be interested too. I have arthritis in shoulder so have not used a weighted vest for that reason. I read somewhere that ankle weights are a bad idea too but can't remember where or why. I think it was something to do with distribution.

What a load of old cobblers. Life for women has changed immeasurably in the past 40 years. It's all very well to go in about it being the elixir of youth but for many women including me it was a life saver. I've never been in such a bad way in my life until perimenopause struck, bleeding so heavy that meant I couldn't leave the house, and I just felt SO UNWELL and not myself.

Back then a baby when a woman was in her 40's was quite unusual now it's commonplace. Menopause was hard enough for me with a couple of (fairly well behaved) teenagers, I can't begin to imagine what it would be like with a couple of pre-schoolers and a full time job.

Please do!

We've introduced weights for pe at school (send - many have hypermobility and fitness issues.) I asked the OT if light ankle weights might also be an idea and she was v enthusiastic.

I could write another [merail] about weighted vests, the suitability of them for women (appropriate design for the female form in re: where you place the weights), and how straightforward it is to don a vest depending on a range of issues (pregnancy, shoulder problems, arthritis in affected joints), how much they break down the skin depending on duration of wear time etc.

I think some people wear a weighted vest to walk for osteoporosis. Strength training is difficult when you have arthritis. I swim regularly but that is not weight bearing enough - you can use paddles to create resistance but it ain't that much.

estrogenmatters.com/

From my point of view Women should be encouraged to continue to think about strength over weight/ slimness etc their whole lives. (And Pilates.) it needs to start young.

This is another good quote about the pharmaceutical industry's race for osteoporosis:

Embarrassing not a merail at all.

Really useful advice. Women should be doing weights their whole lives then really.

I'm v slight, hypermobile, hypothyroid and definitely in peri. Horrific symptoms. V worried about bones as have also been on a bit too much thyroxine recently. I'm getting all the oestrogen I can and if needed testosterone, and going to start weight training.

My saving is that I did a high impact martial art from late 20s to late 30s 🤞 and used to cycle a lot.