About this episode

Dr. Fiona Lovely interviews Dr. Louann Brizendine about the transformative phase after menopause and the importance of hormone therapy.

In this episode of Not Your Mother's Menopause Podcast, Dr. Fiona Lovely sits down with Dr. Louann Brizendine, the renowned neuropsychiatrist and author of the groundbreaking book The Upgrade (released in 2022). Dr. Brizendine, who founded the first U.S. clinic focused on women's mood and hormone-related brain function, brings her decades of expertise to a conversation that reframes everything women have been told about life after fertility. The episode challenges the narrative that menopause marks an ending. Instead, Dr. Brizendine introduces listeners to the Upgrade—the wisdom phase that emerges after the hormonal chaos of perimenopause settles. She explains how the transition, formerly known as perimenopause, is a period of significant brain and body shifts, but what follows is a time of clarity, freedom, and renewed purpose. Women often feel joyless and irritable during the transition, but Dr. Brizendine offers hope, sharing that the happiness quotient actually increases with each decade of life. Listeners will learn practical brain and body hacks, including how to support the vagus nerve for better heart-brain communication and the importance of hormone therapy timing for…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Fiona Lovely

Guest: Dr. Louann Brizendine

Topics covered

• menopause
• hormone therapy
• women's health
• brain function
• personal growth
• mood changes

Keywords

• menopause
• perimenopause
• hormone therapy
• brain health
• women's mood
• cognitive decline
• vagus nerve
• happiness quotient

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: U.S. clinic

Books & works: The Upgrade

More episodes of Not Your Mother's Menopause with Dr. Fiona Lovely

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• Ep. 226: Mental Health and Iron, what's the connection with Dr. Fiona Lovely · July 7, 2026 · 30 min
• Ep. 225 - Menopausal Medicine Update with NP Shelby Sheppard · June 30, 2026 · 1h 27m
• Ep. 224 -Patriarchy Stress Disorder and Menopause with Jeffrey Tambor · June 23, 2026 · 1h 17m
• Ep. 223 - Nervous System Regulation for Menopausal Health with Dr Navaz Habib · June 16, 2026 · 1h 19m
• Ep. 222 - Protein, Aminos, and Creatine for Midlife with Liz Baker Plosser · June 9, 2026 · 1h 11m

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