Episode Transcript
Podcasthon 2025: The Menopause Foundation of Canada
Janet
We've been very misled to think that menopause is about the end of our reproductive life. This is a profound hormonal shift that will affect almost every part of your body, and it is and should be seen as an important health transition that we need to understand, and we need to be able to manage appropriately so that we can thrive and live our best life.
Mikelle
Welcome to this is perimenopause, the podcast where we delve into the transformative journey of perimenopause and beyond. I'm one of your hosts, Mikelle.
Michelle
And I'm your other host, Michelle. And we know firsthand how confusing, overwhelming, and downright lonely this phase of life
Mikelle
can be. Join us as we share real life stories and expert advice to help you navigate this journey and advocate for your best health.
Michelle
We used to think menopause signaled an end, but really, it's just the beginning.
Mikelle
Today, we wanna take a moment to thank our sponsor who's helping make this podcast possible, and we're genuinely excited to share this with you. Alright. Let's get real about GSM, those genital urinary symptoms that can hit you like a truck in perimenopause. We're talking vaginas that feel like the Sahara Desert, the kind of itching that makes you want to crawl out of your skin, and burning that turns basic activities into actual torture. When it hit me, I was literally questioning my sanity.
Michelle
Same. Same. I had to break up with my spin bike because my Volvo was basically staging revolt. But then IRIS came into my life and, can I say, game changer? And, oh my god, they're lubricant? Wow.
Mikelle
Right. Thank you, Dolores Fernandez. She's the amazing naturopath who created these products without the nasty additives that can turn your bits into a five alarm fire.
Michelle
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Mikelle
Because life's too short for an angry vulva and vagina.
Today, we're recording a special episode for Podcasthon 2025, a global initiative where over a thousand podcasters unite to spotlight causes that matter. An organization that really matters to us is the Menopause Foundation of Canada, a nonprofit whose work has sparked a national conversation and is driving real change in how society views and supports women through menopause. Our conversation with the President and Co-Founder, Janet Ko, highlights the toll unmanaged menopause symptoms take on women and society and why changing the menopause narrative should be everyone's priority. If this cause resonates with you, we encourage you to check out their website and keep hanging out with us. Together, we can use our voices to make a difference.
Janet, welcome. We're so excited to have you with us today. To start, we know a little bit about your menopausal journey from Trish when we had her on the show. And, we'd like to get a little more detail about that and understand your journey, your background, and what prompted you to cofound the Menopause Foundation of Canada.
Janet
Well, thank you. I'm delighted to be here and to join you to have this conversation. I like to describe my menopause journey as being one of, being blindsided by menopause. So I was somebody who actually really looked forward to menopause because I just, you know, no more periods. It's going to be great.
Woo hoo.
Janet
And at the height of my professional career, I started to have these symptoms that I had no idea were part of the menopause transition because I had never heard of the word perimenopause. So I started to have things like brain fog, joint pain, body aches. I could not sleep. I was waking up multiple times at night. I had heart palpitations that scared me so much, I ended up in the emergency room thinking I was having a heart attack. And every health care professional I saw said that I was a very healthy woman, but I did not feel healthy. I felt quite ill. And I was so afraid that I was going to have a heart attack that I actually kept, like, a bottle of baby aspirin on my nightstand because I had been told, you know, if you're having a heart attack, this might help you.
Mikelle
Mhmm. Yeah.
Janet
So my understanding of menopause really came by looking in the rear view mirror. Once I reached menopause and I started to have hot flashes, I thought, okay. Now I'm getting close to menopause. I never connected the perimenopause until I was well into menopause and started to learn. So my knowledge came by looking, you know, through the rear view mirror. And once I actually for me, it was a long and winding path to finding health and wellness. Once I started taking hormone therapy and within a week felt better and began this journey of of just recognizing and understanding what an injustice it is to women that they do not understand the changes that are happening to their body, that the health care community lacks the confidence and the knowledge knowledge to provide care and treatment, and that society really trivializes what women are experiencing at this stage of life.
Michelle
So true. Correct me if I'm wrong. Do you not you come from a pharmaceutical background as well?
Janet
Yeah. I I've worked in health care related sectors. I was a senior vice president. And at the age of forty eight, I walked away from my career at that level, thinking that I was burnt out. But the reality was that I was really struggling with these symptoms of perimenopause that I was not treating. So once once I got the treatment and started to feel better, you you realize that it was very unnecessary. And, certainly, the trajectory of my career and my quality of life would have been very different if I had understood and known and was able to connect the dots.
Michelle
It's like we're gaslighting ourselves during this phase. Like, be we're like, no. I'm just I'm just stressed out. Oh, I just can't handle this. I just and, so I think it's so important what you're doing and the work that you're doing to help bring awareness to women and, just make it easier for the people coming up behind us. What has been the most important intervention or change that you've made? I guess HRT, I'm gonna I'm gonna guess. But is there anything else that you've made? Any other interventions or changes you've made to support your menopause journey?
Janet
Well, I don't think it's one thing. I mean, for me, clearly, the menopause hormone therapy was a game changer. And I think it's a real, tragedy that we are still afraid to take it, that women are still confused about it, and that doctors actually lack the confidence to provide this treatment to the millions of women who would truly benefit from receiving the gold standard, evidence based, treatment of choice to manage, the bulk of, you know, the menopausal symptoms that women experience. So for me, that was certainly a game changer. But I think the reality is that I would see myself as being like many women where I did not prioritize my health throughout my life. And I think many women put their own health last. So whether that is regular exercise, you know, taking care of what you're eating, all of those things are critically important when you reach menopause. So it it's a big opportunity to maybe for the first time in your life, start to really reflect on how much energy you're investing into making sure that you are healthy. And, that's what I've been trying to do, and it's not easy. And it's not easy when women are not feeling good. So, you know, we tell women, well, you you should be, you know, having good sleep hygiene and you should be moving more and eating better. But if you are really struggling with some of these symptoms, you do not have the energy, you know, to actually take those steps. So sometimes we need to make sure that we're getting treatment that might help us to fall asleep at night, that might make those hot flashes go away. And there's so many phenomenal options that are available to us now that are hormonal and nonhormonal. So many, many things that people can do.
Mikelle
Was it hard for you to get hormone therapy? I'm just I'm curious. I'm conducting my own little personal study on this.
Janet
Well, I think I'm I was very typical. I mean, this is going back, you know, for me, a decade of a decade ago where there was really no information about perimenopause. There was all that, those years of confusion. Then, of course, there was my own personal level of fear once I understood that this was menopause. Well, I wouldn't take that. I'm just going to tough it out. I'm going to push through Believing all the myths. The myth that, well, this is going to be short lived. We've been very misled to think that menopause is about the end of our reproductive life. You know, period changes and the end of your childbearing years. This is a profound hormonal shift that will affect almost every part of your body, and it is and should be seen as an important health transition. It is a life transition. It is an important health transition that we need to understand, and we need to be able to manage appropriately so that we can thrive and live our best life.
Michelle
I think that leads really, great into the next question. For our listeners who aren't familiar with the Menopause Foundation of Canada, can you tell us a little bit about the organization and what you're doing?
Janet
So the Menopause Foundation of Canada is a national nonprofit advocacy organization that was created to raise awareness of the impact of menopause on women and society. We were founded in twenty twenty two. We have three clear goals. The first one is to close the menopause knowledge gap. We believe it is critical that women understand what is going to happen to their bodies when they get to this stage of life. The second one is to improve access to menopause care and treatment. We currently are being denied access to care and treatment because we have a health care community and professionals who do not have the education, training, or the confidence to provide the care that women need. And our third priority is to create menopause inclusive workplaces. So that's what we're focused on doing. We've, really approached our work almost as a thought leadership exercise where we recognize that to ensure that menopause was seen as something that warranted attention from the public, from government, from workplaces. We needed to have evidence and data. So we've launched two landmark reports, which have garnered, I think it's almost a billion media impressions and hundreds of stories and have really helped to start a national conversation and to drive real concrete change. So that's that's what we're focused on and what we're trying to do.
Michelle
Just not to sidebar too much, but I was my dad has the news on in the house, like, twenty four seven. And I happened to walk past the, I was taking the dog out, and something the federal there was someone from the federal government and the government of Manitoba on today talking about menopause care. Do you did you see that? Do you know what that's about?
Janet
I didn't see that, but I'm I'm very excited that there is some movement across the country where we are seeing some change. Manitoba, of course, had a a a menopause billing code that they've introduced. In BC, they're looking at, funding not just birth control, but menopause hormone therapy. There's some movement in Ontario looking at fee codes, also looking at, menopause standards. There was a statement read in the Senate of Canada talking about menopause. This was a first for our country, but we are lagging behind. So the UK, Australia now has made some important announcements. Canada, I think, has a great opportunity to lead the way. I think our workplaces are showing that we can lead the way, but we need more concrete action to affect change, particularly on the health care front.
Mikelle
What advice would you have for for us and for for our listeners? What what can what can we do to help affect this change?
Janet
Well, I think I think it's actually happening. I mean, what what you what you are doing to, create this podcast, to spread the word, to talk about menopause, to get women to understand that this is a significant stage of life, and to help change the narrative. I mean, I one of my big passions is that we need to change the narrative on menopause from something that has been overwhelmingly viewed as negative, as this taboo topic, to something that women actually look forward to and celebrate. Many, many women report feeling at their best when they reach their menopausal years. They are more confident. They have more wisdom, more experience. They have tremendous energy. They start new initiatives. It's pretty phenomenal what women can achieve. You cannot get there, though, if you are a person who is really struggling with these unmanaged symptoms, which is why we need to stop trivializing menopause and what each woman may experience. So I think it's really important that we understand what menopause is, an important health transition, that some people can have many, many challenges going through it. And that just because it's natural does not mean that you may not need some support to to manage that successfully and to thrive. So I I think that's the biggest thing that we can do is to really close that knowledge gap.
Mikelle
Yeah. Such a great answer. Thank you. Can we talk a little bit about menopause inclusive workplaces? And I know from our conversation with Trish that when the two of you were discussing your priorities, there was a bit of back and forth on menopause inclusive workplaces and how to approach that. Could you tell us a little bit about that?
Janet
Mhmm. Well, we're very excited about the work with that we've done to create menopause inclusive workplaces. So our report in twenty twenty three, menopause
Mikelle
Amazing report. So good.
Janet
You know, really quantified for the first time the staggering economic impact of these unmanaged symptoms to the Canadian economy. We did have conversation prior to doing that work, where we really considered, would this be beneficial? We know that women are disproportionately negatively impacted by ageism, and that happens in the workplace. You know, men develop gravitas with their gray hair, and women are not always viewed that way. So we were concerned about further stigmatizing women by talking about menopause in the workplace when the narrative around it is so negative, when the narrative is related to decline. And we decided that we really did need to take that on because we knew from our own personal experience and from talking to hundreds of women that it was having an impact on their ability to work. And that if we didn't talk about it, we would never see change because we actually believe that changing the health care system is going to take time, and it is going to be a longer journey. But changing the workplace is very possible. And the reason for that is because workplaces cannot afford to lose the incredible talent, capability, energy of women in the prime of their working lives. And that has been the reality. Workplaces have really stepped up.
Mikelle
Can you give us some examples of some of the things that, you know, menopause inclusive workplaces are doing?
Janet
Well, you know, I think it's really important to, to frame this appropriately. The workplace is not there to solve any individual's health concerns. My manager is not there to solve my menopause challenges. Great organizations focus on talent management. And what do they want? They want to achieve high performance, high performing teams. And a great organization and a great manager wants to remove any barriers to an employee achieving success and being as productive as they can be. So when you frame menopause in that way, what you're trying to do in an organization is to break the taboo of menopause to change the culture and communication so women will feel comfortable and confident that if perhaps they are struggling with hot flashes, they may be able to go to their manager or talk to their team about a challenge that they're having making it to work at eight o'clock in the morning as an example. And there may be something that your boss might be able to do for you, which is say, well, we have flexible work hours, and we can change that for you. That's just one small example. But I would say the biggest things that organizations are doing, they are changing the culture and the communication. They are having education and awareness sessions. They are breaking the taboo. Organizations are recognizing that they need to look at their policies. They need to look at their benefits plans. They're ensuring that they're examining their benefits. Are they covering menopause hormone therapy? Are they covering the new nonhormonal treatment options? Are they looking at mental health and making sure that they're covering cognitive behavioral therapy, pelvic floor physiotherapy, all the things that are beneficial to to women at this stage of life.
Mikelle
Yep. Because I would say, you know, certainly, it's been my experience and anyone we know who's struggled with symptoms in the context of their work, we don't want time off. We wanna feel better. Right? So if you can do anything as an employer to help, right, your talent, as you say, find a medical provider, a solution, cover medications that will help, that is exactly what is needed.
Janet
I think one of the biggest things that the workplace is doing right now is helping to close the knowledge gap. When you do an education session in your workplace, you have people there in their twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, and beyond. And, there are many women, I've done these, and I have many women coming up to me afterwards saying, I had no idea. I learned so much. I think I'm in perimenopause. I didn't know that heart palpitation be part of this experience. And that closing of the knowledge gap means that you're going to have individuals who will then take action. They will go, oh, I I I can see myself. I can see these things. I'm gonna do something about it. And that's what workplaces want. And, of course, it's about creating environments of greater inclusivity and support and empathy. We've normalized this with pregnancy, with mental health. This is just another stage of life that quite frankly we've we've ignored and overlooked. And, that's not going to happen anymore. You cannot ignore one quarter of the workforce. And the fastest growing cohort of working women are between the ages of forty five and fifty five. So organizations have really stepped up because they understand that the success of their companies rely on having women perform at their best at this stage of life.
Michelle
Interesting things. You talk about closing the knowledge gap and women saying I didn't know, but it's not just the women. Men are going to these sessions, and they're learning. And they're from what we've heard from our guests, they're, like, almost more fascinated by this stage of life and receptive and interested and supportive. So I think it's, it's great to be having these conversations in the workplace for sure.
Janet
And men need to be part of the conversation. Men are managers, leaders, they're partners, they're in our lives. You know, if we think women are confused about menopause, it's no wonder that men don't understand it. So, we are all learning and breaking the myths of menopause. We have all been taught to think that this is just about the end of our reproductive lives. And that's just not the truth. We've all been taught to think that this is going to happen when you're somehow older. That it will be, if you're experiencing any symptoms, it will be short lived. That, you know, once you reach menopause, well, you're done. You're through it. And that's not the case. You know, the reality is many, many women experience symptoms several years after they reach menopause. Hot flashes can persist for forty percent of women when they're in their, sixties, some in their seventies and beyond. And we're at increased risk for heart disease, osteoporosis in the genital urinary menopause.
Michelle
Well, it's funny. We talk about education. My son is studying for a biology test last night, and he's like, how do you like, it's ovulation, mom. Ugh. And he's like and he's asking me luteal and follicular. And and I said, and and how far are you, like, where does it take this? He's like, just a pregnancy. I'm like, oh my gosh. Put a footnote at the bottom of whatever answer and say, we need to continue our education about reproductive, like, life beyond beyond pregnancy, please. And he's like, I am not doing that. But but we need to start we need to start somewhere. Right? Like, it's just it's crazy. It starts way back then.
Mikelle
You mentioned myths, Janet, and menopause is having a moment. It's certainly come online in a big way in the last almost five years, I would say. And there's a lot of great things happening, a lot of great education happening, but there are also a lot of, myths persisting, new myths coming out, misinformation happening. And the space online in particular is becoming very polarized, in terms of a right way and wrong way and and so on and so forth. Can you talk to us a little bit about your views on, the growing amount of conflicting, I'll say, information that is out there?
Janet
Well, I think menopause is not just having a moment. It is truly a movement. It is a movement of people in Canada and across the world who are demanding better care, better support, changing the narrative and the conversation around this and women are driving that. So, I've heard people say, and I think it's true, that in any movement, when there is some tension or some dissent, the movement is winning. So, I look at this optimistically that we have many people who are trying to get information out there and there is some tension, but that means that we're making progress. Progress is not always in a simple upward line. It can be quite messy. And there will be moments where it's messy, but we have to look overall at where we're at. And certainly, if I just look back three, four, five years, we are in a significantly better place than we were. We just need to encourage people to make sure they're looking at evidence based sources of information. There's the Menopause Society, formerly the North American Menopause Society, the Menopause Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Menopause Society, International Menopause Society. You know, really look for those credible sources of information. Consider if somebody is selling you a product or a service, what lens are they providing you the information that they're sharing with. So I I do see that we're in a movement that there might be some tension, but overall, that means we're moving forward, and that is a good thing.
Michelle
It is. You do, bring up a good point, though, that tension between having this conversation and just turning this into a marketing opportunity. And, you know, a lot of these women already feel vulnerable, and they're desperate for an answer. They're desperate for a solution. So I think that is great advice that they look for evidence based information and with the lens of what are where is this information coming from? Sorry. Because, yeah, it could, you know, a lot of people could take advantage.
Janet
Well, I think that is the the challenge right now. We know that women are still struggling. There is the menosphere, and there's people who are looking at this information all the time. But the overwhelming majority of women are still in the dark, still, unprepared for this stage of life, very confused. They are going to their health care providers as their number one source of a place to get information and support, and they're being turned away. They're not receiving help they need. It's not the fault of the health care provider. They've received very little to no information or training, and they really lack the confidence to treat. And then there's still so many myths in society about the treatment modalities that are available and whether they are safe or not. So we need to look very broadly at the reality that millions and millions of women are still confused, still not getting the care that they need, and that needs to be our focus.
Michelle
I love that. Wondering, what do you think is next for the Menopause Foundation of Canada?
Janet
The Menopause Foundation of Canada has a number of plans for the year. So we're very focused on closing that knowledge gap. We're going to be launching some national webinars that will be available for free, working with Canadian leaders and experts. We've got incredible menopause specialists in our country who have dedicated their lives to studying this, to researching it, and also to providing day to day care to Canadian women. So we're looking at closing the knowledge gap. We have exciting plans for our menopause works here campaign. So many incredible companies have already joined like Sun Life, BMO, L'Oreal Canada. We just had, Microsoft, IKEA, Metrolinx. Many organizations are joining the campaign and starting that journey to becoming menopause inclusive. So, we're very excited about our efforts there and what's happening. And then, in terms of improving access to menopause care and treatment, we're meeting with government. We're going to be mobilizing women and really pressing to make sure that there is concrete change. And that means we need to get doctors educated and trained. All healthcare providers. You should be able to go to a cardiologist, to somebody in Emerge who understands menopause. Because the reality is, as you know, women are seeing multiple care providers and they're not getting the help they need because people don't understand it.
Michelle
Or even within that profession, they're getting conflicting advice. Like, it's not just happening online. You might go to your, family doctor and get be told yes, HRT, and then go to your cardiologist to be told no or your oncologist to be told no, hard no. So there's a lot of, conflicting advice there as well.
Janet
There's a lot of conflicting advice and what we hear from women all the time is that they're still being offered an antidepressant, which is not first line therapy for treating hot flashes.
Michelle
Or birth control.
Janet
Exactly. Women are still not receiving the evidence based care that they need, but they are being treated. So, you know, we talk about we don't want to overmedicalize menopause. Women are being medicalized. They're getting antidepressants, antianxiety. They're getting sleeping pills. They're going to multiple care providers until they, you know, either give up or they are then forced to go the private pay route, which, let's face it, millions and millions of women in our country cannot afford to do that. So, we have a significant challenge and we have to press forward and make sure that everybody can access menopause care and treatment when they need it. That is a human right. It should not be this difficult to access care.
Mikelle
Absolutely. Yep. Well said. Janet, is there anything else you'd like us to cover, talk about? One of our last questions was going to be, what's the one thing you want every woman to know about perimenopause?
Janet
Oh, that was the last question?
Michelle
But we we can save it.
Mikelle
We we're happy to chat with you for as long as we can have you.
Janet
Well, I, you know, I think what I would want every woman to know is that they should be looking forward to menopause as an important life transition where they will experience and have greater wisdom, greater freedom, and opportunities to live a really full life, they should expect and deserve to feel healthy during this stage of life. And if they aren't, they really need to press ahead to make sure that they're finding health care providers and supporters that can give them what they need.
Michelle
You and Trish can just this is a sidebar question, but you both were you both in menopause when you started the Menopause Foundation?
Janet
Yes.
Michelle
Yeah. Interesting. And look at what like, just to think about what you guys have accomplished so quickly, because it's only been around for three
Janet
Since twenty twenty two. I mean, it it was an idea that we had going back to probably twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen. But, you know, you have to remember when you go back a decade when we were in our perimenopausal years, there was no information. Nothing. You know, I, I remember reading a, a Suzanne Somers book.
Michelle
Oh my God, I read it too.
Janet
That was something I could find. And I know that, you know, she has a complex history when it comes to menopause because of the bioidentical hormones that she pushed and a lot of misinformation. But I do have to say, reading her book was one of the first times where I felt, oh, maybe I can do something about this. Yeah. And that is important that women understand that you do not have to accept struggling through this in silence. You do not have to accept years of not sleeping, years of feeling like, you're not yourself. Because remember, many women do not talk about symptoms. Many women do not talk about these severe menopausal symptoms. We just say things like, I don't feel like myself. I don't feel great. I'm exhausted. I'm burnt out. Where did I go? You know? We talk we talk about our lives in a very different way. So we it's it's really important that we close that knowledge gap for women so they understand that perimenopause can last anywhere from two to ten years.
Mikelle
Mhmm.
Janet
And it will be a bit of a roller coaster in terms of your hormones and what's happening to your body. And there are many, many things you can do to help yourself during that time. You know, for myself, I wish I had been offered hormone therapy or understood it or even knew that I was going through it because I know that would have been extremely helpful to me at that stage of life.
Michelle
It was life changing for me as well for sure.
Mikelle
Yeah. Same. Yeah. Same. Absolutely. And it took me a while to convince someone that I really did need it.
Janet
Well, and this is an important message that unlike other times of our life, when it comes to your perimenopause and menopausal years, you will need to arm yourself with knowledge and information so that you can really have high quality conversations Mhmm. With your health care provider and others. You may actually know more information than that health care provider does. And that's okay because we're all in this together. There's a reason why we're in the situation we're in, and we can move forward together with respect and support. But if you are not getting the help that you need, please take action. Do not accept feeling lesser than yourself, living a life of, you know, poor health where you have low energy. You know, really take the time to get the help that you need and and press forward. And that's why we need the social change as well because let's face it. There are millions of women who do not have the ability that are working two or three jobs, who do not have the ability or the luxury to keep trying, you know, they might, at a moment, go to a walk in clinic. And if that health care provider says, as I observed with one health care care provider in a walk in clinic, I'm not a fan of hormone therapy. Well, what happens to that individual? She's not being offered any options to address her symptoms other than don't worry. This is natural, and you'll get through it. We're through with that.
Michelle
It's not acceptable.
Janet
It's not acceptable, and Gen x will be the last generation of women to be in the dark about menopause. And, hopefully, working together, we will be the last generation to hear all of the negative stereo types about what it means to be at this stage of life. This is a great stage of life, and we have so much to give. We're really in our prime. We use that language deliberately and with thought. And we all need to start, challenging when the narrative gets very negative, because that's not the reality. And that's what's kept us quiet, I believe. We don't see ourselves in those negative stereotypes. Mhmm. We don't want to be associated with them, which I think is why so many women have been silent.
Michelle
That's really powerful, Janet. Thank you.
Mikelle
Yeah. Fantastic. Thank you. Thank you. Where can our listeners find you? We'll put all of this in the show notes.
Janet
Menopause foundation, canada. Ca. We've got tremendous resources there. They're all free. You can download our free symptom tracker. We've got resources to help you before you visit your healthcare practitioner. We've got resources for partners. How can your partner be helpful during this time? So we link to all kinds of evidence based resources as well so that you have the latest information, the position statements on hormonal and non hormonal therapy options. So I really encourage everyone to visit the Menopause Foundation of Canada. And, of course, we're on Instagram and LinkedIn and everywhere, and I know you'll put that in the show notes. So thank you for doing that.
Mikelle
Absolutely. Thank you so much, Janet. This has been fantastic, and, we can't wait to introduce you to our listeners.
Janet
Oh, thank you for the work that you're doing because I get excited when I chat with people like you, people in the workplace who are having the conversation because it is everybody pressing this forward. You know? Everybody is making this happen.
Mikelle
Absolutely. Absolutely. And I we we talk often in our work and with our listeners and followers. We ask we encourage them to take it beyond just the fact that they deserve to feel their best and thrive in this time of life. We believe we also each have a responsibility to advocate for better and to push for better for ourselves because that's one of the fastest paths to making this better for everyone and so that generations following us don't have to struggle the way we did to get the care and support we deserve.
Janet
And I think as as women, we also have a responsibility to recognize that everybody's journey may be different. So we need to be very supportive of one another. You may not have suffered through symptoms, so you may not understand why someone else feels so passionately about the need for change. We we shouldn't be dismissive of each person's path. You know, the individual who says, I actually need hormone therapy and I want that versus the person who says, I would never touch any medical intervention, and I am only going to go, a natural route. Everybody's journey and options are valid. We just want people to make those choices based on a lot of evidence and information and then do what's right for you.
