This episode is all about the perimenopause, because those years running up to the menopause can be full of hormonal havoc. In fact, although we use it as a catch-all term, the menopause technically only lasts for one day. It’s that day when it’s been 12 months since your last period. After that, you’re post menopausal. So the perimenopause is when all the fun and games really start and that can be a lot earlier than you might think. In fact, hormonal fluctuations can be going on in the backgrou...
Mar 03, 2022•41 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Is your sex life everything you want it to be? If the answer is a hollow laugh and “What sex life?”, then you’re not unusual. It’s very common for women in midlife and beyond to write themselves off as sexual beings and there can be lots of reasons for that, including loss of body confidence, fatigue, anxiety, vaginal dryness, low libido. No matter the reason, we deserve to have the sex life we want – whatever it may be – which is why I’ve called on the brilliant Dr Claire Macaulay for some prac...
Feb 03, 2022•40 min•Season 3Ep. 10
2021 was pretty challenging for many of us and it’s good to be turning the page and moving into a new year with all the possibilities that this brings us. January is a great time for transformation and new beginnings and that’s what I’m focusing on in this episode: how can we make small changes that can help us to get the most out of life? And I‘ve got the perfect guest to help us with that! Meet Tracy Acock, who’s a life coach and mentor. After a lifetime of cancer nursing, she went back to her...
Jan 06, 2022•37 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Probably the most well-known of the menopausal symptoms, the hot flush has provided endless material for humourists over the years but it’s no fun when it’s happening to you. It can cause huge distress, especially in a professional or social situation or if it’s persistently disrupting your sleep. But help is at hand in this episode with this month’s guest who is just the woman we need to provide us with some practical flush-busting strategies. I’m delighted to introduce the brilliant Dr Melanie...
Dec 02, 2021•39 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Now that November is here, the cold and flu season is well underway and many of you have probably already succumbed to some sort of lurgy by now. And with the spectre of Covid 19 still lurking, supporting our immune system is very much on the agenda right now, which is why I’ve dedicated this episode to foods that can keep you and your family fighting fit and I’ve found the perfect guest for this. Today I’m welcoming herbalist Ed Joy back to the podcast. He’s a specialist in herbal medicine with...
Nov 04, 2021•37 min•Season 3Ep. 7
The theme of this year’s World Menopause Day is bone health, something that really needs to be front of mind for women in mid and later life. Bones contain cells called osteoclasts which dissolve old bone and osteoblasts which build new bone. This regular renewal process helps to keep our bones strong, but bone tissue is reactive and needs impact to grow, which is why resistant forms of exercise are so important. So while the drop in oestrogen post-menopause significantly affects our bone densit...
Oct 18, 2021•41 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Bone health is a very real concern for women in mid and later life, because when they go through the menopause, oestrogen levels drop rapidly and bones lose strength at a much faster rate. There are 3.5 million people living with osteoporosis in the UK today, and 50% of women and 20% of men over 50 will break a bone because of it. Osteoporosis is a condition that causes bones to lose strength and break more easily. However, it’s often referred to as a ‘silent disease’ because of under-diagnosis,...
Oct 18, 2021•37 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Our family doctor is at the heart of the community and the first port of call for health advice, support and treatment for us and our loved ones. But even before the restrictions around the pandemic, that had become more difficult. With appointments often limited to 10 minutes and a one problem: one appointment policy in many surgeries, what does the menopausal women do, if she’s struggling with multiple debilitating symptoms? And how does she make herself heard? I’ve come across so many example...
Oct 07, 2021•38 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Tense, nervous headache anyone? Did you know that during our fertile years, women are 3 times more likely to suffer from headaches than men? Up until puberty and then after the menopause, our propensity for headaches is roughly the same as for men, so those pesky hormones have a lot to answer for. If menstrual migraine is an issue for you, then this episode could be just what you need because I’ve called in the big guns to help us out here. I’m speaking to Professor Anne MacGregor who has spent ...
Sep 02, 2021•40 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Every woman deserves to have a happy menopause – regular listeners will know how important that is to me and that’s the entire inspiration behind this podcast. In this episode we’re going to go a little broader and talk about not just having a happy menopause but how to have a magnificent midlife! This time in a woman’s life can be truly transformational, as the hormones that have driven your decisions, your approach to life and your emotions since puberty, start to subside and there’s headspace...
Sep 02, 2021•37 min•Season 3Ep. 2
September is the perfect time for new beginnings and a different way of doing things. For most of us, things tend to be a little quieter in August, so that we can enjoy a bit of a break and this can be a handy reminder of the importance of work-life balance and getting plenty of free time. So that’s what I’d like to focus on in this episode, because things usually start to crank up again as we move into the autumn and it’s easy to let your good resolutions slide, so that before you know it, the ...
Sep 02, 2021•37 min•Season 3Ep. 1
This episode of The Happy Menopause is all about energy. Have you lost your Va Va Voom? Do you feel tired all the time? Do you blame your age for your lack of energy? If this sounds familiar, then it’s definitely time to take action, because whether you’re 29 or 69, it’s far more likely that your diet and lifestyle are the main culprits and a few simple changes and new habits could make a world of difference to the way you feel, so that’s what we’ll be focusing on today. Registered Nutritional T...
Jul 01, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Do you ever wonder what you came upstairs for, forget where you’ve parked the car or find yourself grappling for the right word that just won’t come? These are all common concerns for women in midlife because brain fog is one of the classic symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. All that hormonal turmoil plays havoc with the oestrogen receptors in your brain and the resulting forgetfulness, poor concentration and focus, plus an overall sense of your brain not firing on all cylinders can be inc...
Jun 03, 2021•39 min•Season 2Ep. 16
In this episode, I’m focusing on the Cinderella of the menopause. In recent years, we’ve become a bit more confident about discussing our menopause – some women will mention their hot flushes without turning a hair and the common mental health symptoms such as anxiety and mood swings have also started to come out of the closet, which is a great thing, but we’re still not quite ready to be open about the vaginal symptoms. So now we’re going to shine the spotlight on vaginal dryness which can be a...
May 06, 2021•33 min•Season 2Ep. 15
We’re the sandwich generation. That group of - let’s face it - mostly women who are caught in the middle between caring for elderly parents and supporting our children, whatever age they might be. That’s a big burden to be carrying and multigenerational needs have grown even more acute during the pandemic, so that a previously heavy load may have now become intensely pressured and stressful. Add that to the perimenopause and menopause, and you have an explosive combination as the physical, menta...
Apr 01, 2021•35 min•Season 2Ep. 14
International Women’s Day is that time of year when we come together to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. This year’s theme is choose to challenge, because with challenge comes change. Today’s guest is a brilliant example of this, because she’s passionate about challenging ageism and redefining the narrative around older women. And she’s certainly set about changing things! I’m speaking to Siobhan Daniels, a 61-year old ex-BBC journalist with a fascina...
Mar 08, 2021•34 min•Season 2Ep. 13
The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is Choose to Challenge and that couldn’t be more relevant to what we’re discussing in this episode, because we’re turning the spotlight on the workplace, which can be a very unfriendly place for women in midlife. So much so that some recent statistics suggested that 1 in 4 women consider leaving their job due to their menopause symptoms. The impact of this female brain drain on businesses can be immense, so it makes complete sense for employers ...
Mar 08, 2021•35 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Skin is a hot topic for most women of any age, but never more so than in midlife, when hormonal changes during the perimenopause can wreak havoc. It can be baffling and infuriating to find yourself grappling with acne in your 40s, especially if it’s never been a problem in the past. And dry skin, ageing skin and wrinkles are all common concerns for women as we transition through the menopause. The skin is a real barometer of your overall health and what’s going on in the body, so it’s not just a...
Mar 04, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 11
This episode is all about periods, because long before you hit menopause day – which is officially 12 months since your last period - you’ll have experienced changes. The hormonal rollercoaster of the perimenopause can cause a lot of period havoc and it may all start sooner than you’d think and last longer than you’d expect. For many women, periods can get closer together and become heavier and more painful, long before they start to get lighter and further apart,. They might stop and start or y...
Feb 04, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 10
New Year is a great opportunity to take stock, so why not make this the moment for you to take positive action to improve your health and wellbeing? Weight management is usually firmly on the agenda in January and it’s a topic I covered last year when I spoke to Dr Zoe Harcombe, so this year I’m looking at it from a different angle. What do you do if, despite all your stringent efforts, you simply can’t lose weight in a sustainable way? There’s nothing more frustrating than that, so I’ve called ...
Jan 07, 2021•38 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Well, 2020 has been quite a year! As we slide into December, it seems a good time to reflect and check in with ourselves. I think everyone has struggled with their own different challenges over the past few months and this second lockdown here in the UK has felt especially difficult as we’ve moved into winter. It wouldn’t be surprising if you were feeling a bit low and anxious, because whatever your situation, we’ve all experienced a lot of uncertainly and disruption in our lives this year. So i...
Dec 03, 2020•37 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Ageing is something that inevitably starts to preoccupy us in midlife, because we all want to be as fit and well as possible as we grow older, and let’s be honest, we’d like to keep looking good too. As my latest guest Susan Saunders remarks, “We all know people who are ageing at different rates. Once you get to midlife, everyone starts to age in a very different way – a small part of that is genetic but a lot of it is down to lifestyle.” Susan has made it her business to compile the very latest...
Nov 05, 2020•33 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Following on from last month’s popular episode How Nutrition Can Help You Manage Your Menopause, I’m shining the spotlight on nutrition again for this World Menopause Day special as we look at the top 10 foods to support a healthy menopause. Get your notebooks ready so you can add them to your shopping list! My usual pattern for the podcast is to interview an expert on a menopause related subject, but I’m flying solo for today’s episode, because it’s all about nutrition, which is my own area of ...
Oct 18, 2020•22 min•Season 2Ep. 6
It’s World Menopause Day and this year’s theme is premature ovarian insufficiency otherwise known as premature menopause. It’s a condition which affects 1 in 100 women under 40, 1 in 1000 under 30, and 1 in 10,000 under 20. This is where the ovaries are unable to produce oestrogen and progesterone and the menopause happens many years before it naturally should. It can be incredibly stressful for the women concerned and requires specialist hormone treatment to negate the health risks of an oestro...
Oct 18, 2020•44 min•Season 2Ep. 5
It’s October at last and my regular listeners will know that my new book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish comes out this month. This book has been burning away inside me for a long time now, as there simply isn't enough information out there to support women during this hugely transitional phase of life. So I've drawn on my clinical expertise as a nutritional therapist and included all the information about diet and lifestyle that you could wish for to empower you to bui...
Oct 01, 2020•36 min•Season 2Ep. 4
September is the perfect time to be thinking about new beginnings and of course midlife can often provide an opportunity for a whole new perspective too. As reproductive hormones subside, you’ll have the headspace to become more aware of yourself and to focus on your own choices, so it can be a time of big change. Many women decide to step away from the corporate world at this time to work independently or start their own business. So if you’re ready to do things differently and are looking for ...
Sep 03, 2020•38 min•Season 2Ep. 3
This interview is Part 2 of my exercise series and is full of brilliant advice from former Team GB rower, medallist and women’s health and fitness coach Baz Moffat on the best ways for women in midlife to exercise. It was actually recorded some months ago, just before lockdown, but much of the advice became irrelevant at that stage because we couldn’t access all those public spaces that we’d discussed. And so we recorded a lockdown special about exercising at home, which is Part 1 of this podcas...
Sep 03, 2020•36 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Welcome to Season 2 of The Happy Menopause podcast. We're kicking off with a fascinating episode which focuses on hair, because dry and thinning hair can be one of the most frustrating symptoms of the menopause. Of course, hot flushes, anxiety and fatigue can have a hugely negative impact on women, but there’s something about hair that is particularly emotive. I think many of us carry our identity as a woman in our hair and thinning hair and poor condition can often exacerbate that loss of confi...
Sep 03, 2020•40 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Summer is here and lockdown is easing in most places so I thought this would be a good time to start thinking about new adventures. Midlife is a time which can be transformational and enormously liberating because the hormones that have driven your decisions, approach and emotions for years start to subside and there’s some space for you to become more aware of yourself and consider life from a different perspective. Lockdown has also offered a period of reflection for lots of us. I’ve spoken to...
Jul 02, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 18
In this episode, we hear from expert nutritional therapist and host of The Happy Menopause podcast, Jackie Lynch, as she explores a nutritional approach to managing stress. It’s been a bruising few months in lockdown and everyone has faced different challenges, which can’t have been easy. Whatever’s been going on with you, the chances are that your stress levels have been going through the roof at times and the combination of stress and menopause is an explosive one. That's why it seems to be a ...
Jun 04, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 17
