This episode starts on a Sydney oval before sunrise.

Kate reflects on her weekly Wednesday run, the quiet rituals of turning up, the characters who share the track, the sociology of shared spaces, and the reminder that the ability to move your body is never something to take for granted.

From there, the conversation moves into medicine.

After watching The Pitt, Kate unpacks a common myth about morphine in palliative care, the persistent idea that opioids given at the end of life hasten death. Drawing on her experience in palliative care pharmacy, she explains how opioids are actually used to relieve pain and breathlessness, why addiction is not the issue people think it is, and how careful dosing can restore comfort and dignity for patients.

Finally, with winter approaching, Kate walks through the 2026 influenza vaccine rollout in Australia, explaining why flu vaccines change every year, why all vaccines are now trivalent, and how the different options (Influvac, Flucelvax, Fluzone High-Dose and FluMist) work.

Along the way, she explores the idea that healthcare decisions rarely affect just one person — whether it’s medication myths, palliative care, or vaccination, we’re all part of a much bigger chain.

Evidence-based medicine, midlife health, and a few observations from running laps in the dark.

Whether you are in perimenopause, approaching menopause, or simply trying to understand your hormones, I've got you.

Read more about this episode at Medication Clarity Clinic, Kate's own medication education and telehealth consulting site: https://medicationclarity.com.au

Follow Kate for more no-nonsense health education at @prescribeorpass on Instagram, Tiktok and Facebook. 

In this special field-trip episode of On the Mones, pharmacist Kate Thomas heads to the Mind, Body, Spirit Festival in Sydney to explore one of the most fascinating corners of the modern wellness economy.

Between handmade pottery and beeswax candles are stalls offering EMF harmonisers, orgone energy devices, pet psychics, structured frequency water, cannabinoid oils and crystal healing.

Some of it is beautiful. Some of it is harmless fun. And some of it makes some very ambitious claims about biology and physics.

In Episode 15, Kate wanders the aisles and asks the question she always asks: Prescribe or Pass?

Along the way she unpacks:

• The strange history of orgone energy and why scientists rejected it
• Why structured water cannot store molecular memory
• What rouleaux formation actually means in real haematology
• The science behind beta-caryophyllene and CB2 receptors
• Why the endocannabinoid system, a very real biological system, is so often misunderstood in wellness marketing

Kate also discusses new calls from the RACGP for national reform of medicinal cannabis prescribing, using that as a springboard to explain how THC, CBD and the endocannabinoid system actually work in the body.

Because somewhere between laboratory research and Instagram captions, the nuance often disappears. And sometimes the best way to understand the wellness industry is simply to walk through it.

Plus: crystals, a pet psychic, and possibly the most anatomically accurate granite sculpture you will ever see at a health expo.

Whether you are in perimenopause, approaching menopause, or simply trying to understand your hormones, I've got you.

Read more about this episode at Medication Clarity Clinic, Kate's own medication education and telehealth consulting site: https://medicationclarity.com.au

Can yoga, Pilates, tai chi and breathwork actually help menopause symptoms, or are we all just stretching our way through the placebo effect?

In this first official Peri-odical Review, pharmacist Kate Thomas looks at the evidence behind mind-body exercise in perimenopause and menopause. What does the research actually show, where do these practices genuinely help, and where does wellness culture get a little ahead of itself?

In Episode 14 of On the Mones, Kate covers:

• Whether yoga and similar practices genuinely improve menopause symptoms
• Why the biggest benefits may be in mood, stress and overall wellbeing rather than physical symptoms
• What the evidence actually says about hot flushes and mind-body exercise
• Why mind-body exercise is a support strategy, not a cure
• How sex and intimacy fit into the broader conversation about movement, connection and feeling at home in your body
• Why doctors asking you to come back for results is not necessarily a scam
• The problem with direct-to-consumer wellness testing and health anxiety as a subscription service

This is a conversation about menopause, medicine, wellness, evidence and the blurry space in between.

So roll out the mat if you want to. Or leave it in the corner and go for a walk in the bush instead. Because you are not doing menopause wrong.

Whether you are in perimenopause, approaching menopause, or simply trying to understand your hormones, I've got you.

Read more about this episode at Medication Clarity Clinic, Kate's own medication education and telehealth consulting site: https://medicationclarity.com.au

In Episode 13 of On the Mones, Kate shares a recording from a special event held with women from a women's shelter.

The day began with breathwork and mindfulness overlooking the ocean, a moment to pause, breathe and arrive. For some of the women attending, simply leaving the shelter and coming to the event took enormous courage.

Kate then spoke about hormones, perimenopause and what is actually happening in women's bodies during midlife. From estrogen, progesterone and testosterone to sleep, stress and strength training, this conversation explores the biology behind the changes many women experience and why understanding our bodies can be genuinely empowering.

This episode begins with a short guided breathing exercise recorded by the water before moving into part of the talk.

Along the way, Kate reflects on the power of knowledge, community and the reminder that sometimes there is less separating our lives than we realise.

If you have ever cried at an email, an advertisement, or a rescue dog choosing its human on Instagram, this episode is for you.

Whether you are in perimenopause, approaching menopause, or simply trying to understand your hormones, I've got you.

Read more about this episode at Medication Clarity Clinic, Kate's own medication education and telehealth consulting site: https://medicationclarity.com.au

In Episode 12 of On the Mones, Kate explores a word many women recognise instantly: difficult.

Recently Australian activist and former Australian of the Year Grace Tame was described publicly as difficult after speaking out politically. Whether or not you agree with her views, the label landed because women everywhere know that word. The one that appears when women stop being agreeable.

Kate reflects on her own experience navigating leadership, advocacy and midlife reinvention, including the moment she rage-quit a senior hospital pharmacy leadership role at 45. Was she difficult? Or simply done?

Alongside this reflection, Kate answers listener questions from around the world about perimenopause and menopause:

• Anxiety, rage and crying at emails in your 40s: hormones or not coping?
• Painful sex and vaginal dryness: is that perimenopause?
• Why weight gain around the middle happens even when diet and exercise have not changed
• Falling asleep easily but waking at 3am wired

Kate explains the biology of perimenopause, including how fluctuating estrogen affects neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine and GABA, and why life in your 40s can suddenly feel harder than it used to.

She also breaks down a new non-hormonal treatment for menopausal hot flushes, Veoza (fezolinetant): how it works in the brain, what the evidence shows, and where it fits alongside hormone therapy.

Because menopause does not care what passport you hold. And sometimes being called difficult simply means you have stopped being convenient.

Whether you are in perimenopause, approaching menopause, or simply trying to understand your hormones, I've got you.

Read more about this episode at Medication Clarity Clinic, Kate's own medication education and telehealth consulting site: https://medicationclarity.com.au

In Episode 11 of On the Mones, pharmacist Kate Thomas sits down with Dr Sarah Farrell, GP and principal of Sydney Women's Wellness, to tackle two major midlife health topics that do not get nearly enough honest airtime: breast awareness and genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM).

On breast awareness, Kate and Dr Farrell cover:

• What breast awareness actually means today and how it differs from formal breast cancer screening
• How to know when to see your GP about a breast change or lump
• Breast density, mammograms and why midlife breast changes can feel alarming
• The difference between normal hormonal breast changes and symptoms that need review

On genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM), they cover:

• Vaginal dryness in menopause and why it is so common and so under-treated
• Pain with sex and the impact on relationships and quality of life
• Recurrent UTIs after menopause and the link to estrogen decline
• Bladder symptoms and what is driving them hormonally

The full GSM treatment ladder is covered clearly and practically:

• Vaginal moisturisers versus lubricants and when to use each
• Vaginal estrogen and how it works
• Prasterone as a treatment option
• When hormonal treatment is appropriate
• Where non-hormonal options like hyaluronic acid vaginal preparations may fit

This evidence-based conversation helps women understand the difference between normal hormonal changes and symptoms that need medical review, without panic or misinformation.

Whether you are in perimenopause, approaching menopause, or simply trying to understand your hormones, I've got you.

Read more about this episode at Medication Clarity Clinic, Kate's own medication education and telehealth consulting site: https://medicationclarity.com.au

My first baby turns 21. So naturally, I sat him down with a microphone and asked him to explain perimenopause to the boys.

What does a 21-year-old man think hormones are? Do young men talk about menopause? If boys had menopause, what would happen?

There are one-word answers. There are finish-the-sentence confessions. And somewhere in there, a mother realising her son is now a man.

Then Episode 10 of On the Mones turns to the reassuring comfort of biology with a clear, evidence-based masterclass on melatonin:

• What it actually is (hint: not a sleeping pill)
• Immediate vs modified release
• Dosing that makes physiological sense
• Why more is not more
• And when melatonin is the right tool, and when it isn’t

And in Wellness Woo of the Week, Kate plugs herself into the earth. Grounding mats. Free electrons. USB cords for your doona. Do they reduce inflammation, lower cortisol and improve sleep? Or are we mistaking ritual for redox biology?

This episode is motherhood, midlife medicine, circadian rhythm and a gentle but firm unpacking of wellness mythology, all wrapped up like a properly made bed in cotton and cashmere.

If you have ever rocked a baby at 2am, woken at 3am in perimenopause, bought a wellness gadget at midnight, or wondered what your kids actually think about what you are going through, this one is for you.

Send your voice questions to [email protected]. 

Mones as in hormones. Not whinging.

Whether you are in perimenopause, approaching menopause, or simply trying to understand your hormones, I've got you.

Read more about this episode at Medication Clarity Clinic, Kate's own medication education and telehealth consulting site: https://medicationclarity.com.au

Midlife reinvention isn’t glossy, curated, or hashtag-friendly. It happens while you’re still paying bills, packing lunches, and doing the work you already know how to do.

In this episode of On the ’Mones, I reflect on standing on stage at a menopause education event in Sydney and asking myself a quiet but clarifying question: How did I get here? Not because I suddenly became more qualified, but because I finally gave myself permission to be visible.

We talk about reinvention as access, privilege, momentum, and integration, not burning everything down, but letting hard-earned skills show up in new places. I unpack what it’s like to hold two truths at once: deep medical experience alongside total digital naïveté, and why learning at midlife is uniquely powerful.

From there, we get properly nerdy. I break down testosterone in women, what it actually does, why it’s not a “male hormone,” how it affects drive, energy, cognition, and libido, and how it fits into hormone replacement as part of a team sport with oestrogen. We talk indications, monitoring, side effects, and how to start a sensible, grounded conversation with your prescriber.

And in Woo of the Week, I take on oral DHEA, the internet’s favourite almost-hormone, explaining why swallowing raw hormonal ingredients and hoping for the best is not biology, it’s wishful thinking.

This episode is about hormones, yes, but it’s also about visibility, work, value, and giving yourself permission to evolve without abandoning who you already are.

Whether you are in perimenopause, approaching menopause, or simply trying to understand your hormones, I've got you.

Read more about this episode at Medication Clarity Clinic, Kate's own medication education and telehealth consulting site: https://medicationclarity.com.au

Recorded on holiday in Hawaii, this episode of On the Mones starts on a beach and ends deep inside the nervous system.

Watching her adult children in the surf, Kate reflects on bodies, confidence, ageing, and the subtle way awareness changes how we move through the world. From instinctive confidence to emerging caution, from physical capability to perimenopausal vigilance, this episode explores what happens when experience collides with embodiment, and how generational mirrors quietly hold us up to ourselves.

Along the way, Kate unpacks the emotional charge of family dynamics, teenage daughters, impatience, competence, and the uncomfortable realisation that the traits we judge most harshly may be the ones we’re rehearsing.

In the pharmacology deep dive, Kate breaks down clonidine, an elegant, often underrated medication that calms the body’s stress response. From blood pressure and hot flushes to ADHD, anxiety, sleep, and withdrawal syndromes, this is a clear, practical explanation of how clonidine works, when it helps, and why it needs respect.

And in Wellness Woo of the Week, Kate tackles main character energy, the seductive belief that calm, health, and regulation are moral achievements rather than states shaped by biology, environment, privilege, and access.

This episode is about bodies on beaches, brains on alert, and the humility required to notice when confidence, calm, or competence starts to look like superiority, especially to the people closest to us.

Wherever you’re listening from: welcome.

Let’s get on the Mones.

Whether you are in perimenopause, approaching menopause, or simply trying to understand your hormones, I've got you. 

Read more about this episode at Medication Clarity Clinic - Kate's own medication education and telehealth consulting site: https://medicationclarity.com.au

What if the thing that makes you feel safest… isn’t actually helping you?

In this episode of On the Mones, Kate unpacks a deceptively simple idea with enormous consequences: comfort is not evidence.

It starts with a respectful but confronting comment thread on a debunking video about naturopathy, vulnerability, and communication. From there, the conversation widens into something much bigger: why women in midlife are so often sold reassurance instead of rigour, validation instead of verification, and how “feeling heard” has quietly become a substitute for clinical outcomes.

Kate explores:

• Why warmth, charisma, and simplification can be persuasive, but dangerous, in healthcare
• The lack of regulation around naturopathy and why “my clients love me” is not a defence
• Real-world harm, including Australian regulatory cases involving banned health practitioners
• How wellness culture targets women, especially during hormonal vulnerability, and why that matters

From there, the episode pivots into a clear, evidence-based deep dive on SSRIs:

• How SSRIs actually work in the brain (and what they don’t do)
• Why they’re sometimes prescribed for hot flushes
• And how perimenopausal anxiety is frequently treated with antidepressants when estrogen deficiency may be the real driver

Through a clinical lens and a personal story, Kate makes the case for better questions, better context, and fewer lazy defaults when women in their 40s and 50s present with anxiety.

This episode also features a Wellness Woo of the Week takedown of “adrenal fatigue”, why it isn’t a diagnosis, why it feels comforting, and how it turns complex physiology into fast food.

If you’ve ever been told:

• “At least she listens”
• “It can’t hurt”
• “It makes people feel better”

This episode is your pause button.

Because feeling cared for matters, but only evidence protects you.

Whether you are in perimenopause, approaching menopause, or simply trying to understand your hormones, I've got you. 

Read more about this episode at Medication Clarity Clinic - Kate's own medication education and telehealth consulting site: https://medicationclarity.com.au