About this episode

This episode explores the role of progesterone in menopause, its effects on anxiety and PMS, and provides insights for women navigating these changes.

You wake up at 3 a.m. with your heart racing, and you cannot figure out why. The anxiety out of nowhere, the PMS that got worse. It may trace back to one hormone that started leaving your body years before your first hot flash. This episode is part of Tamsen Fadal’s series breaking down the topics from her New York Times bestselling book How to Menopause, one conversation at a time. This week it's progesterone. Tamsen starts with a confession: her doctor prescribed it, and it sat in her medicine cabinet so long the pills congealed into a brick. She never took one, because nobody ever told her what progesterone was or why she needed it. So she spent a year struggling with the exact symptoms it would have helped. She's not a doctor. She's a journalist who has lived this, breaking down what the leading menopause doctors she's interviewed have taught her, so you can take it to your own doctor. Inside the episode: - Why progesterone is one of the first hormones to drop, often years before anything else feels off - The brain receptor that explains your 3 a.m. wake-ups - Why it's non-negotiable if you still have your uterus and you're taking estrogen - The straight answer on…

People in this episode

Host: Tamsen Fadal

Topics covered

• progesterone
• menopause
• hormones
• anxiety
• PMS
• health education

Keywords

• progesterone
• menopause
• 3am wake-ups
• anxiety
• PMS
• hormone therapy
• breast cancer
• health education

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: How to Menopause

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