The Truth About Menopause & What Every Woman Needs to Know about Midlife with Katie Taylor

takeaways

1. Katie Taylor describes being misdiagnosed for around four years with symptoms including brain fog, anxiety, insomnia, aching joints, heart palpitations and depression before a gynaecologist identified perimenopause and low oestrogen.

2. She explains that perimenopause can begin up to 10 years before menopause, that menopause is technically one day (12 months after your last period), and that symptoms have expanded from a listed 34 to around 50, including vaginal dryness, tinnitus, itchy skin and frozen shoulder.

3. The conversation covers the flawed early-2000s Women's Health Initiative study, the resulting fearmongering around HRT and breast cancer, and how many findings have since been reconsidered, with patches, sprays and gels now often discussed over pills.

4. Katie shares her #MakeMenopauseMatter campaign work with Diane Dansey-Brink, including getting menopause onto the English school curriculum and into GP medical training, plus pushing for workplace menopause policies.

5. They discuss practical workplace and lifestyle points raised in her book Midlife Matters, such as resistance training for bone density, stress reduction, desk fans and temperature adjustments, and the role of gut health and testosterone.

6. Katie outlines first steps she describes for listeners: using a symptom checker, taking someone to GP appointments, referencing NICE guidance on HRT, and asking to be referred to a menopause or women's health specialist.

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