Welcome back to The Menopause and Cancer Podcast. Today, I’m joined by someone whose work has made a massive impact on our community — Mr. Vikram Talaulikar, Consultant in Reproductive Medicine and Associate Professor at UCL. He’s helped shape a groundbreaking part of my book: the table outlining the safety of HRT after all types of cancer. 

In this episode, we explore what it’s really like to come off HRT after a cancer diagnosis — something some describe as a huge worry. We also hear from Rachel and Jo, two fab women from our community who share their experiences with you. You can find Rachel here https://midlifeinterrupted.com/ and Jo here https://www.instagram.com/jomenneernutrition/?hl=en 

We talk about:

• Why stopping HRT can feel so traumatic
• Whether it’s safer to stop suddenly or wean off slowly
• What non-hormonal options are available — from medications to CBT and complementary therapies
• How we can better support survivors facing this experience

We also talk about the survey I’ve launched with Mr. Talaulikar and Dr. Basel Watter, which is helping us better understand the experiences of people who navigate menopause. If that’s you, please take part. 

The link is here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=8y1ywoOIqkup1ZOI4kKt2B5ITslOQvhElyTxa010jzlUNTdRRFNaRkJBWkk1UzNOTDRaMUE3RDdaTiQlQCN0PWcu 

And I’ll be sharing a few powerful stories from members of our community who know this pain firsthand.

If you're a healthcare professional, Navigating Menopause After Cancer may be a really valuable resource for your practice — and yes, every chapter is fully referenced: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Navigating-Menopause-After-Cancer-comprehensive/dp/1068499907

Episode Highlights:

00:00 Intro

03:45 HRT Post-Cancer 

11:23 Stopping HRT Gradually or Suddenly

16:56 Exploring Non-Hormonal Treatment Options

19:18 Navigating Post-Menopause Cancer Challenges

21:45 Rachel’s story

23:40 Jo’s Story

Connect with us:

For more information and resources visit our website: www.menopauseandcancer.org

Or follow us on Instagram @menopause_and_cancer

Join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/menopauseandcancerchathub