Janet Birkmyre began her career racing as a track cyclist in her mid-30s and won her first elite medal at the age of 40. She went on to win three elite National Championship titles and multiple masters World and European titles.  Now at 55, Janet is continuing to improve her times and fitness, and she is a champion of women continuing to enjoy and excel at sport at any age.
In this episode, the conversation covers Janet’s experience of perimenopause and menopause and taking HRT. As an elite athlete however, there are sanctions for Janet if she takes testosterone replacement as there are currently no exemptions to the regulations for therapeutic use in women, only for men. Janet shares her frustration at the unfair choice imposed on her of continuing with the sport she loves and excels in or replacing her low testosterone levels to help with her ongoing menopausal symptoms.
Janet’s three positive steps to improve health through exercise:
Enjoy being active – make it fun
Exercise with a friend – you will motivate and encourage each other
Don’t be self-conscious or compare yourself with others – we come in all wonderful shapes and sizes.
So whatever you look like, whatever you’re wearing, be active and enjoy it!
Follow Janet on Instagram @janbirkmyre_torq_track_cycling

169 - The unfair choice for elite female athletes with Janet Birkmyre

Have a menopause question? You’ll find the answers here.
Join me, GP and Menopause Specialist Dr Louise Newson, for the definitive perimenopause and menopause podcast. Each week I’m joined by a special guest for the lowdown on the latest research and treatments, bust myths and share inspirational stories. 
This podcast is brought to you by the Newson Health Group, which has clinics across the UK dedicated to providing personalised perimenopause and menopause care for all women. It funds cutting-edge menopause research and creates clinical-led education programmes for healthcare professionals. It also funds the award-winning balance menopause support app, which provides free menopause resources and support to millions of people worldwide, empowering and enabling women to have choice and control over their perimenopause and menopause treatment.

Medicine

Science & Medicine

Health & Fitness

Mental Health

This week on the podcast, Dr Louise is joined by Tova Gillespie, a working single parent to two daughters, one of whom has severe disabilities and complex medical needs. Here she talks about the challenges of being perimenopausal while being a carer and how it’s easy to not recognise or understand your symptoms.
 
Louise and Tova discuss how it’s easy for your own needs to end up at the bottom of the to-do list when you’re a carer or have a busy family life, and Tova shares three tips for anyone who may not be looking after themselves: 
 Learn to ask for and accept help. People want to help, but very often they don't know how to offer it and our usual response can be ‘no, I don't need anything’. Instead, say straight out: ‘Please do my washing up. Or I have five loads of clean laundry that needs sorting. Or can you bring over some food?’ Anything really.
 If your health isn't what it should be, go to your GP. When you ring your GP, ask for an appointment to talk about perimenopause and hormones. They’ll know from the get go what it is you're after and if they have anyone in the clinic with an interest in that area, they’ll put you in with that person.
 Try to see the good every day. I do gratitude journalling, where I write down a minimum of three positive things that have happened that day, and they're not big. It could be the sun is shining. It could be the taste of that first sip of coffee in the morning. I train myself to look for the positive because it's so easy to get overwhelmed in the bad stuff.
Learn more about Tova on her YouTube channel. Or follow her on Instagram @parentXP
Click here to find out more about Newson Health.

253 - Coping with the perimenopause when you’re a carer

This week on the podcast, journalist Bryony Gordon, bestselling author of several books including her latest, Mad Woman, explains how the perimenopause caused her to reconsider her mental health. Was her experience of OCD affected by her hormones and what would society look like if women’s health was taken more seriously?
 
Bryony shares her belief that there’s a 'witchy magic' to menopause and that the issues it brings are the ones that you need to deal with and there is power in doing so.
 
Finally, Bryony shares three bits of advice to any woman being dismissed with 'it’s just your hormones':
 
Don’t dismiss yourself. Don’t discount your point of view or feelings just because they are yours. Maybe sometimes you're right, maybe sometimes you're wrong - that's OK.
 
It's OK sometimes to be bad. We all are. It’s just society wants us to live as women in a way that isn't very human.
 
Confidence is a trick. No one has confidence. I don't have confidence. I just have a will and a desperation not to spend the rest of my life hating on myself because it's such a waste of energy.
 
Follow Bryony on Instagram @bryonygordon her community organisation @Mental Health Mates
 
Click here to find out more about Newson Health.

252 - Bryony Gordon: mental health, hormones and witchy magic

This week, Dr Louise is once again joined by journalist and activist Kate Muir, who made the Davina McCall documentary Sex, Myths and the Menopause. In Kate’s new book, Everything You Need to Know About the Pill (but were too afraid to ask), she turns her attention to the hormones commonly used in the contraceptive pill.
 
Kate shares personal stories of how women have been negatively affected by synthetic hormones and uncovers the bad science and patriarchy that have had such an impact on women’s health. She also offers hope that women have options and can demand change.
 
Finally, Kate shares three things every women should know about hormones and the pill:
 
Progestins are not all the same. Some of them are androgenic and some of them are oestrogenic, and they have very different effects. So, women can be on the wrong pill for them.
 
You can always take a pill holiday. There's nothing wrong with taking a few months off and seeing how you feel. And you may be a different person, or there may be other reasons for why you are in that state of mental health.
 
There needs to be more research into every bit of what synthetic hormones do in our bodies, and particularly in our minds.
 
You can follow Kate on Instagram at @muirka and on @pillscandal
 
Click here to find out more about Newson Health.

251 - Kate Muir: everything you need to know about hormones but were afraid to ask

This week we mark 250 episodes of the Dr Louise Newson Podcast!
And joining Dr Louise this week is Anita Nicholson, a nurse practitioner and menopause expert at Age Management Center in the US, where she aims to help patients lead the best quality of life for as long as they can.
Here, Dr Louise and Anita compare notes on the attitudes towards testosterone in the UK and the US, share their clinical experience of the benefits it can provide women, particularly in restoring their zest for life.
Finally, Anita shares three things she thinks could make a huge difference to women's health:
Women need to educate themselves. They have to be their own advocate.
I would love for hormones to become available and affordable. In the US, we don't even have vaginal oestrogen covered by some insurance here, never mind over-the-counter access.
More education of healthcare providers. So have a fellowship in menopause. Let's start very early with med students and nurse practitioner students so they understand that menopause and sexual medicine is very important for our life span and our health span.
You can follow Anita on Instagram @menopause_agewellfnp and the Age Management Center on Facebook /AgeManagementCenter and YouTube /@agemanagementcenter.
Click here for more information about Newson Health

250 - Testosterone: the missing piece of the jigsaw?

In this week’s podcast Dr Louise is joined by Dr Mary Claire Haver, an obstetrics and gynaecology doctor and a menopause specialist in the US. Dr Louise and Dr Mary Claire discuss the challenges of ensuring all women have access to evidence-based information and treatment, and their hopes for change.
Dr Mary Claire shares her three tips to help menopausal women improve their health:
Really focus on your nutrition. Make sure you're getting adequate fibre in your diet every day. Fibre-rich goods are good for you gut microbiome, help you stay full for longer, and are good sources of vitamins, minerals and nutrients.
Limit added sugars – those that are added in cooking and processing - to less than 25g per day. Women who do that consistently have less visceral fat. Visceral fat is tied to increased risk of chronic inflammatory diseases.
Don't just focus on cardio for your movement. You really need to keep your muscles strong so at least two days a week pick up some weights. Multiple studies in menopausal women show much better outcomes for osteoporosis with resistance training.
You can follow Dr Mary Claire on Instagram at @drmaryclaire
Click here to find out more about Newson Health
Pre-order the revised and updated paperback edition of Dr Louise’s Sunday Times bestseller The Definitive Guide to the Perimenopause and Menopause here
 
References to studies discussed in this week's episode
J Gen Intern Med 2006; 21:363–6
J Gen Intern Med 2004;19:791–804
Am J Med 2009;122:1016 – 22
JAMA 2004; 291:2243 – 52
Int J Cardiol 2010;138:25 – 31
Urology 2024; Jan 29:S0090-4295(24)00006-2

169 - The unfair choice for elite female athletes with Janet Birkmyre

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