AMA with Kate Muir about her book: Everything you need to know about the Menopause - Thursday 12pm

[JuliaMumsnet]

Hello,

We’re delighted to announce that Kate Muir, author of Everything you need to know about the menopause (but were too afraid to ask) is joining us for an Ask Me Anything on Thursday from 12 to 1pm. Kate is also a film-maker and you may remember her name from Channel 4’s Davina McCall: Sex, Myths and the Menopause last year.

Kate will be joining us - live from MNHQ! - on Thursday 3rd February to answer all your questions on the menopause

Here’s a long blurb of Kate’s book: Everything You Need to Know About the Menopause (and were too afraid to ask) is the thinking woman’s guide to the menopause, bringing you answers to all those questions that have been hidden behind a veneer of misplaced shame, bad science and centuries of patriarchy.

· What’s the perimenopause and when will it strike? (It’s sooner than you think)
· What’s happening to my body – and my mind?
· Why can’t I stop thinking about sex in perimenopause?
· How do I get my sex drive back after menopause?
· How do I look after my body and brain when my hormones disappear?

Muir draws on interviews with the leading medical experts in the field, interlaced with her own tumultuous journey through the menopause and the personal stories of women from all walks of life, sharing their varied experiences and hard-earned wisdom.

Muir also questions why the current medical establishment is getting the menopause so wrong, and why it’s essential that we understand the biology of our own bodies during this critical period that will define the latter half of our lives.

Join us on Thursday at 12pm - or post your question here in advance.

Thanks

MNHQ

@MargotEmin

I'm 36 with regular periods, never given birth and no peri symptoms as yet. What is the one thing I can do now to prepare for or mitigate against the symptoms of menopause later down the line?

Not much! But exercise and nutrition are huge, and eventually when you start to get perimenopausal symptoms in your 40s usually, and go on the hormonal rollercoaster, you can track your periods and moods etc on the Balance Menopause app which is free and full of brilliant advice

You're on it!

🤣🤣🤣 God I'm such a nob!

@pinkrocker

Dr Louise Newson suggests that "we all need to be rebranding the Menopause as a "female hormone deficiency" do you agree? Do you think this gives it a negative connotation? How would you rebrand?

Yes, menopause is a lifelong hormonal deficiency and the most natural way to deal with that - if you don't want to increase your chances of osteoporosis, heart disease and diabetes - is to replace your hormones. So I agree with Louise. And she did fact-check my book...

@nursebuttercup This is not a new NICE guideline - this is just an ill informed GP practice. Why don't you suggest they take the free Confidence in the Menopause further education course which is provided free by Fourteenfish and The Menopause Charity

@Toanewstart22

Any downsides to testosterone?

Testosterone is a pretty safe hormone - so long as you take a sensible amount, as prescribed, you won't get hairy or grow a moustache. We're just replacing the same amount of testosterone we had in our forties. Testosterone is the hormone women make most of - I've a whole section in my book on this - although we make about a tenth of what men do. Many experts including the British Menopause Society consider testosterone to be the third missing hormone after menopause, along with estrogen and progesterone. Also it just gives you back your oomph...

@BigButtons

I am 54 and have been on the gel/ utro combo for 2 years now. The night sweats aren’t controlled by this. Up to 4 pumps now. The lack of sleep is making me exhausted and miserable. Are there any studies on the effectiveness of medication/ relaxation on the reduction of night sweats? Don’t know what else to do.

I've been looking into this for women who cant take HRT after some breast cancers and meditation is effective with bringing down night sweats. My dentist plugs in her Hindu mediation music when she wakes in the night and meditates herself back to a deep sleep. Cognitive behavioural therapy CBT which you can also do online halved night sweats for a group of Welsh women post cancer in one study.

I have just been prescribed elleste duet 1mg but my mum and Nan both had breast cancer. Is the risk significant enough for me to be worried

@MrsOrMiss

Hi Kate, My periods stopped about 8 years ago when I was 48. I was living overseas and couldn't get an answer really if it was the menopause- lack of bouncing baby was a huge clue I think - and ultimately didn't get a confirmation. I'm now living in the UK again, and have had no libido for the past 5 years. Would seeing the Dr be worthwhile? I had an appointment about 2 years ago, then Covid cancelled it.

Thanks

Hi sounds like you've been in menopause for eight years, so it's worth seeing the doctor to ask for body-identical HRT if you want it, and also ask about testosterone for libido (it's in the NICE 2015 guidelines for the NHS).

@Newgirls

Thanks for doing this kate!

Do you think HRT will be advised as a preventative soon? For women with family history of osteo, dementia etc?

My favourite sort of question! Why is the mainstream medical establishment so blind to the long-term health advantages of HRT? One in two women get osteoporosis - and they don't need to as HRT keeps bones strong. Why do we leave women to fall apart on Zimmer frames? I think this will comes from women up rather than the NHS down as we try to protect our long term health - bones, brains and bodies. Also estrogen has other unexpected effects - seems to help with macular degeneration and cataracts. Just wish I'd known all this years ago when my mum had Alzheimer's and cataracts. Makes me so frustrated.

@iCouldSleepForAYear

Here's a silly question: Can you start perimenopause even if your periods are still regular? I've had a bunch of symptoms for over a year that I could have sworn added up to perimenopause, but the GP and gynae tell me it's not that.

Yes you can start perimenopause if your periods are still regular. The symptoms are telling you the truth about what your hormones are doing so maybe download the Balance app and go in with a symptom list to your GP. When I was perimenopausal and still with periods I started getting heart palpitations in the night and I'd wake up thinking I was having a heart attack. Had an ECG on the NHS and was fine - only found out when I did my book that 11% of peri and menopausal women get heart palpitations. They went away forever as soon as I started HRT.

Ive just started HRT after what felt like a really sudden onset of various symptoms. The worst one is itching all over, but mainly feet, legs, vulva... comes on worst at night and combined with hot flushes, restlessness, insomnia etc my sleep is really screwed up. Would stronger HRT help or anything else I could do?

@peelpeelthebanana

Does "everything" include information for women who can't take HRT due to cancer history and/or women who have had a surgical menopause? I find we are generally a side note.

Hello, it's so important to discuss what you can do after breast cancer or surgical menopause, and I've a chapter in the book on alternative remedies (what's good, what's rubbish) and another chapter on some women who are taking HRT again after breast cancer, with some expert advice from oncologists. One thing really worth bearing in mind is exercising for 20 mins a day reduces the chances of breast cancer returning by 55 per cent. Also women who can't tolerate HRT can usually use topical vaginal estrogen to stop their vulva becoming dry and uncomfortable.

@Clambering

Hi Kate,

I've been through the menopause (periods stopped about 5 years ago, I'm now 53) and I had relatively few symptoms. But I'm now getting pains in my joints - wrists, elbows, ankles mostly. Is this menopause-related? General aging? And do you have advice about what I should do?

I was in a prison yesterday interviewing a menopausal warder who had stiff, painful joints and had to walk 27,000 steps a day in her job. She started HRT a week ago and her joints don't hurt any more and she has lots of energy. Kind of a miracle. Estrogen is the oil in your joints and worth asking your doctor about body-identical, transdermal HRT (gel or patch). Good luck!

@TinyTear

I realise i wrote a comment, started and posted without a question.

I take my utrogestan in the morning when i wake up and also put my oestrogel in the morning after a shower.

is this ok or is it really more effective in the evening?

I am exhausted and sleepy by 9pm!!

Progesterone tends to relax you and make you sleepy so I take mine in the evening. Oestrogel in the morning and evening. Hope that works for you!

@Cuck00soup

Is there any point in looking at taking HRT 6 years in?

Also, as someone given a diagnosis of anxiety & depression and prescribed anti/depressants, when I was peri menopausal, despite never having had anxiety previously, do you think more should be done so that GPs consider the menopause first?

This makes me so angry. In one study 66 per cent of women who went in with menopausal low mood were offered anti-depressants instead of HRT. So it's really worth trying to ask for HRT. Estrogen and progesterone (and testosterone) can make a huge difference to mood - and the NICE guidelines say HRT should be tried first before anti-depressants. Go ask!

Does menopause increase your risk of bacterial vaginosis? I’ve had/got it for the first time.

I don’t get hot sweats but do have insomnia, weight gain, low libido, vaginal dryness - would HRT help? Can you have testosterone without HRT?

@HappyMackerel

Your book sounds great, have ordered it. What's the most surprising/interesting thing you learnt when researching it?

And if I'm allowed one more - do you know much about how women in other cultures and places around deal with and view menopause? I'm so interested in this!

Thanks for buying it and joining the menopause revolution. I think the fact that mattered most to me was finding out that taking transdermal estrogen (in a study of 400,000 Americans) reduced your chances of getting Alzheimer's by 73%. My mum died of Alzheimer's, so I know what it's like. I like the way other cultures characterise the menopause - in China it's called the Second Spring, and I like the idea (once you've vanquished the symptoms) of the menopause being a portal to a second, wilder life.

@Mercurial123

What are alternatives to HRT if you are unable to take it? I have a gene mutation and bc at an early age so it's not possible for me.

Again, regular exercise reduces breast cancer recurrence by 55 per cent, and there is new research into Neurokynin B receptors, which can help with blocking hot flushes in the brain - due out 2023. Some small doses of anti-depressants lower hot flushes, and for some women the blood pressure medication clonidine helps. Meditation brilliant for anxiety, and nutrition huge. One study shows half a cup of soy beans a day lowers hot flushes due to the phytoestrogens

@DoraSpenlow

Sorry, won't be able to join tomorrow.

Am I too old for HRT?

I am 68, had my first hot flush in 1999. They were tailing off until I had a compete hysterectomy 5 years ago and they came back with a vengence. I am usually OK during the day but I can tell when it's 6 pm without looking at the clock because then they start. Rushes of terrible anxiety followed by the heat, over and over again. I am lucky that I don't sweat, just get so hot. If only my DH could get them we would never need the heating on. This lasts until about 9am the following morning.

I have weeks of only about 2-3 hours sleep a night and am beyond exhaused. Absolutely no libido and my vagina has shrunk so much it makes sex excrutiating.

In the early days I was put off HRT by the reports of breast cancer, but have tried every alternative medicine/therapy going.

When I decided that enough was enough my GP would not prescribe HRT because of mine and family health issues. One locum put me on a very low dose (10mg per week, yes week) of Citalopram and this made an amazing difference much to my surprise. The rushes of anxiety stopped, which I expected but also the hot flushes which I didn't. And I could sleep! I was on these for about a year then another GP stopped them because he said I was becoming addicted.

So, is it too late for me? I'm getting to the stage where i feel any risk would be worth it just to get some sort of a proper life back for whatever time I have left.

Very grateful for any advice. (Sorry for the essay).

Hello here's a story which may help. My friend Dorothy Byrne who commissioned the Channel 4 menopause programme is 69, and decided to try HRT. They started her off on progesterone and one pump of estrogen slowly to acclimatise, and then she went up to two pumps. She rang me after a week and said: 'I've slept through the night for the first time in 10 years". I also interview a couple of 80-year-olds still on HRT in the book. So it's never too late

Thanks very much for your erudite and brilliant questions - sorry I didn't get to answer them all. I've left five copies of my book at Mumsnet Towers to be sent out. If you'd like one, post here and Mumsnet will be in touch with the lucky winners. And for more info and menopause revolution follow me on Twitter and Instagram @menoscandal.

Hi all, Thanks to all of you who joined in and apologies if your question didn't get answered. As Kate said we've 5 copies of Everything you need to know about the Menopause here at Mumsnet Towers. Post if you'd like one and we'll be in touch direct to get your deets.

Thanks. And I'd love a copy of the book

@JustineMumsnet

Hi all, Thanks to all of you who joined in and apologies if your question didn't get answered. As Kate said we've 5 copies of Everything you need to know about the Menopause here at Mumsnet Towers. Post if you'd like one and we'll be in touch direct to get your deets.

Don't know if I should have quoted. Thanks for everything and I'd love a copy of the book