Hopeful Hints

Hair loss in women is treatable but only what gets tested gets treated. And most women are tested for almost nothing.

In this series finale, Dr. Tara Harding, DNP, FNP-C covers the complete picture: the lab workup that should accompany a hair loss evaluation, why 'in range' is not the same as 'optimal,' every treatment option available for female hair loss, and how the most advanced personalized testing at Simply You Wellness is changing outcomes for women who have been told they have tried everything.

She also covers what Parts 1 and 2 were building toward: how to advocate for yourself at your next appointment, what a root-cause provider looks like, and a direct message to every woman who has been dismissed and every hairdresser who has watched it happen.

In this episode:

If you have spent months being told your labs are fine. This is the last episode you listen to, before you find the provider who will actually look for the answer.

Disclaimer: Dr. Tara Harding is a Doctor of Nursing Practice and licensed Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-C). This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment tailored to your individual needs. 

There are more than a dozen documented, treatable root causes of hair loss in women. Most women are evaluated for one or two of them and sent home with a biotin supplement.

In this episode, Dr. Tara Harding, DNP, FNP-C maps every single root cause of female hair loss in plain clinical language so that women and hairdressers understand not just what is causing hair loss, but why. Mechanism, not just name.

This is the episode to share with the woman who has been told her hair loss is just stress. The one whose labs came back normal. The one who has been losing more hair since starting a GLP-1 medication and cannot get a straight answer about why.

Covered in this episode: 

Every woman who has ever been dismissed deserves this episode.

Disclaimer: Dr. Tara Harding is a Doctor of Nursing Practice and licensed Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-C). This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment tailored to your individual needs. 

If your hair is falling out and you have been told your labs are normal, this episode is for you.

Dr. Tara Harding, DNP, FNP-C opens the 'Why Is My Hair Falling Out?' series with the conversation that rarely happens in a doctor's office: why hair loss in women is one of the most dismissed symptoms in medicine, and why the person most likely to notice it first is your hairdresser.

Women's hair loss including female pattern hair loss, diffuse thinning, and sudden shedding affects the majority of women at some point in their lives. Yet 72% of women say hair shedding is their biggest unmet hair care need. The system is not meeting this moment.

In this episode:

This series was built for women who want real answers, and the hairdressers who often see the problem first.

Disclaimer: Dr. Tara Harding is a Doctor of Nursing Practice and licensed Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-C). This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment tailored to your individual needs. 

POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) is one of the most underdiagnosed conditions affecting women today. It doesn't show up on standard tests, it mimics anxiety, and it's dismissed constantly. But it's real, it's systemic, and it's treatable. In this episode,

Dr. Tara Harding, DNP, FNP-c breaks down the four types of POTS, the diagnostic tools practitioners actually use, its connection to Long COVID and co-occurring conditions like MCAS and hypermobility, and the proven management strategies that get results.

Whether you're newly diagnosed or still searching for answers, this episode gives you the language and the framework to advocate for yourself.

Disclaimer: Dr. Tara Harding is a Doctor of Nursing Practice and licensed Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-C). This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment tailored to your individual needs. 

If you've been feeling scattered, forgetful, emotionally raw, and completely unlike yourself and you're in your 40s or 50s, this episode will change how you understand what's happening in your brain.

Dr. Tara Harding, DNP, FNP-C explores the science behind the estrogen-dopamine connection and explains why perimenopause doesn't cause ADHD, but frequently unmasks it in women who spent decades building coping strategies that no longer work.

She breaks down the three distinct groups of women navigating this hormonal shift and explains why receiving a late-in-life diagnosis often brings equal parts grief and relief.

This is the episode for the woman who was told she was fine and knew she wasn't.

Disclaimer: Dr. Tara Harding is a Doctor of Nursing Practice and licensed Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-C). This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment tailored to your individual needs. 

If you suffer from pelvic pain that no one can figure out and nothing has worked this episode might be the one that changes everything.

Today's guest is Dr. Brooke Spencer is a board-certified interventional radiologist, Fellowship of the Society of Interventional Radiology honoree, and the Medical Director and CEO of Minimally Invasive Procedure Specialists (MIPS) in Denver, Colorado. With over 7,000 venous interventions under her belt, Dr. Spencer has dedicated her career to uncovering the vascular causes of chronic pelvic pain causes that most providers, including well-trained ones, are simply not trained to see.

In this episode, we go deep on pelvic venous disorders, pelvic congestion syndrome, and why women continue to be misdiagnosed for years before anyone orders the right imaging, interpreted by the right person, for the right reasons.

In this episode, we cover:

Recent Research Publications Discussed by Dr. Brooke:

https://safire.health/
https://mipscenter.com/

Disclaimer: Dr. Tara Harding is a Doctor of Nursing Practice and licensed Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-C). This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment tailored to your individual needs. 

If you've been on antibiotics two, three, four times in the last year for recurrent UTIs and no one has ever asked about your hormone levels, this episode is the conversation you've been waiting for.

Dr. Tara Harding, DNP, FNP-C breaks down why recurrent UTIs are often a hormone problem, not a hygiene problem, and what the FDA's February 2026 removal of the black box warning from vaginal hormones means for every woman who was told these treatments were dangerous.

We cover the hormonal root of recurrent UTIs, why Genitourinary Syndrome (GSM and GSL) affects women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s not just those in menopause. The role of testosterone in women's urinary and sexual health, and why your birth control or acne medication may be the source of the problem you've been trying to solve for years.

You'll leave this episode with three specific questions to bring to your next provider appointment and a clearer picture of what optimal hormonal care actually looks like.

Disclaimer: Dr. Tara Harding is a Doctor of Nursing Practice and licensed Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-C). This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment tailored to your individual needs. 

If you’ve been told your pain is “normal” or your labs look fine  but you know something is wrong, this episode is for you.

Dr. Tara Harding, DNP, FNP-C breaks down the truth about endometriosis, why it takes 9–11 years to diagnose, and how it impacts your hormones, gut, brain, and fertility.

This is not just a period problem, it’s a full-body condition that is often missed, dismissed, and misunderstood.

If you’re dealing with painful periods, bloating, infertility, fatigue, or symptoms no one can explain, this episode will help you start connecting the dots and advocate for real answers.

Disclaimer: Dr. Tara Harding is a Doctor of Nursing Practice and licensed Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-C). This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment tailored to your individual needs. 

Have you been told your anxiety or depression is "all in your head" or strictly a psychiatric issue? You are not alone and you might have been misdiagnosed.

In this episode of Hopeful Hints, Dr. Tara Harding DNP, FNP-C reveals the hidden connection between your mental health and your hormones. We’re breaking down the 6 specific hormonal imbalances that silently mimic anxiety and depression, including hidden thyroid issues, estrogen dominance, and cortisol spikes.

Tune in to discover how to track your symptom patterns, ask your doctor for the right tests, and finally get the answers you deserve.

This episode is for any woman who feels dismissed, told her labs are “normal,” or suspects her anxiety or depression may actually be rooted in hormone imbalance.

Disclaimer: Dr. Tara Harding is a Doctor of Nursing Practice and licensed Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-C). This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment tailored to your individual needs. 

If you’re eating less, working out more, and the scale still won’t budge, this episode is for you. Weight gain after 30 isn’t about willpower or “calories in, calories out.” It’s about hormones.

In this episode of Hopeful Hints, Dr. Tara Harding, DNP, FNP-C breaks down why traditional weight loss advice fails women in their 30s and 40s. She explains how estrogen decline, progesterone imbalance, insulin resistance, thyroid dysfunction, cortisol dysregulation, and muscle loss change your metabolism — and why eating less can actually make weight loss harder.

You’ll learn why intermittent fasting and intense cardio stop working, how chronic stress and under-eating slow your thyroid, and why insulin is the real driver behind stubborn belly fat. Dr. Tara shares a root-cause approach to women’s weight loss, including hormone optimization, strength training, metabolic testing, and sustainable strategies that support long-term fat loss without wrecking your body.

If you’re struggling with weight gain, perimenopause symptoms, belly fat, fatigue, or hormone imbalance, this episode will help you understand what’s really happening — and what actually works.

Share this episode with a friend who feels stuck in her weight loss journey, with a woman who deserves answers not blame.

Disclaimer: Dr. Tara Harding is a Doctor of Nursing Practice and licensed Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-C). This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment tailored to your individual needs.