Myths about Menopause

Come to the Apology Tour Stop featuring the International Hormone Whisperer, Dr. LaKeischa. 

Sign up here for January 29th, 2026 at 7:00PM EST

The Apology Tour

Menopause isn’t a cliff you fall from; it’s a crossing that can sharpen your wisdom and reshape your priorities. We unpack the most persistent myths around perimenopause and menopause and replace them with clear definitions, practical tools, and a grounded sense of what your body is asking for right now.

Download my latest eBook: 

Awakening in Midlife-A Compassionate Guide to Reclaiming Your Balance

We start by mapping the terrain: perimenopause as the unpredictable runway, menopause as the 12-month mark without a period, and postmenopause as the years after. From there, we challenge the “it’s all in your head” narrative and explore how fluctuating hormones influence sleep, mood, cognition, joints, heart health, and metabolism. You’ll hear simple, evidence-informed ways to steady sleep with consistent routines and light hygiene, reduce overwhelm by focusing on one or two priority symptoms, and track patterns over weeks rather than days.

Nutrition and movement get a realistic reset. We talk protein-forward meals that go beyond sugary breakfasts, why fiber helps hormone metabolism and gut health, and how to combine strength training with daily walking for insulin sensitivity and muscle preservation—without tipping into overtraining. We also take a nuanced look at hormone therapy: who might benefit, what risks to consider, and why individualized care and ongoing reviews matter. Along the way, we address the emotional side of this neuroendocrine remodel—when therapy helps, how to honor grief and past trauma, and why many women feel more assertive and intuitive as they cross this threshold.

If you’re ready to replace confusion with clarity and treat this season as a shift into power, you’ll leave with a practical playbook and a kinder lens on your changing body. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs these insights, and leave a review to help more listeners find this conversation.

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Chapters

• 1:46 Welcome And Live Event Invite
• 3:30 Why Menopause Talk Matters Now
• 6:06 Redefining Midlife As Empowerment
• 7:08 Clear Definitions: Peri, Meno, Post
• 9:50 Myth 1: It’s All In Your Head
• 12:01 Myth 2: It’s Only Hot Flashes
• 13:22 Myth 3: Weight Gain Is Inevitable
• 15:46 Myth 4: Hormones Are Always Dangerous
• 17:37 Myth 5: Sleep, Stress, And The Glands
• 20:12 Emotional Health, Therapy, And Trauma
• 22:02 Embracing The Shift And Self-Care
• 23:51 Resources, Summit, And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:54

Hello and welcome back to the Art of Healing podcast. I'm Dr. Charlise. If it's our first time to meet, so nice to meet you. And if we've met before, good to see you again this week, January 29th at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. I am hosting a stop on the Apology Tour. I will be with Dr. Lakeisha, who is the hormone whisperer. And we're gonna have a really great conversation about hormones, what went right and wrong with research and women's health. Really important conversation that you can be a part of live. In your show notes, make sure that you sign up to join us live Thursday night, 7 p.m.

SPEAKER_00: 1:48

Eastern Standard Time.

SPEAKER_01: 1:58

You may have noticed that we have been talking about midlife, perimenopause, and menopause an awful lot lately. Some of it is by design, some of it's been a little bit coincidence, and it's maybe just the universe letting us women who are at this stage know that it's time to speak up, speak out, look in as well for answers. Towards the end of this podcast, I will tell you about one of the reasons why this conversation has come up so much in our community. But everywhere you're seeing this conversation about menopause and perimenopause and what is it? And I've found it just inspiring and heartwarming, the way the conversation has shifted, particularly for me having gone into practice in the year 2007, where I left my residency, where I trained in hospitals and I trained on really sick people's internal medicine. So that is the standard of training. Then I went out into outpatient practice, my dream of being a primary care doctor, working on the front lines and preventing disease. In the first year, just being blindsided, that I had so many women coming in wanting to discuss hormones and menopause and perimenopause and what they were going through. Sure, for the first five years of practice, although I would attempt to read about it and understand it. And when I look back on that time, I realized it wasn't just me, it was happening everywhere. The information was so sparse. My training didn't even approach this. The training I received in internal medicine spent very little time on women's health. So that leads us up to where we are now. So for today's podcast, I wanted to talk about perimenopause and menopause. I wanted to address some myths or maybe things that aren't so true, just as a way to warm up that conversation, keep it going, as well as to let you know about an opportunity for us to connect for a really exciting event in February. As I do this podcast today, it's probably particularly special for me because it is my birthday. So it may be, you know, when you have those hallmarks, it makes you reflect even more on where you've been, where you're going, what you anticipate. But one of the things that I have come to embrace at this stage of life is that change, which we know is inevitable. One of the things we've been taught about transitioning, aging, especially for women aging out of our reproductive years, is that menopause is the beginning of the end. That just isn't true. And it's it's just it's just a really icky way to think. Now, granted, when I first started practice, it was the little bit I learned that we were taught about women's health sounded a little bit like that. But now it's time to shift that conversation and realize that paramenopause and menopause is a transition and it is something you should be aware of. And what I like about this younger generation is learning about this topic before it hits so they can even make their plans. But I think it's time for us to see this as a transition into an awakening and an empowering and being a version of ourself that's even better than we were when we were younger. So, this episode, we are debunking the biggest myths about midlife, perimenopause, and menopause. Before we get into the myths, let's just go over some brief definitions. So, for women, the transition towards the end of the reproductive years when they end and thereafter has some definitive terms. Perimenopause is the period of time for women that comes before menopause. Perimenopause doesn't have a definitive start time. This is why it's the most confusing stage of this life. But perimenopause, we know, may start in the late 30s, may start in the early 40s, could start in your late 40s or even early 50s. It does mark the time of changes within the ovaries in the hormonal system in which reproduction drops, the number of follicles and chances of pregnancy go down, and there's some hormonal fluctuations that may start to cause symptoms. They may be subtle, they may be abrupt, they may be pretty big symptoms, and they may come and go. Perimenopause is a period of time when periods are still occurring, they may be changing, they may not. Menopause doesn't start officially until it has been at least 12 months without a period. So if it's been a full 12 months and you have not had a period, then you are in menopause. And postmenopause are all the years afterward. And that's the population I take care of the most in the clinic I work in now are women that are out of the reproductive years. Hormonal health is still key, and there are still things that come up related to loss of hormones, bone health and heart health, and brain health, and all of those things. So women's health really just didn't get the correct amount of attention. So many reasons we couldn't go into. But one of the myths that is the biggest and the saddest, and so many of us have been told, is it's all in your head. So for me, for instance, in the years that I first started practice and I was treating women in their late 30s who started to ask me about perimenopause. And in, you know, of course, I hope I had uh empathy for them. I certainly tried, but at least from the working knowledge I had, it didn't seem that they should be having symptoms from perimenopause. So I would often approach him as, hey, let's make sure nothing else is wrong. And we would start a workup. Sometimes we'd find something, sometimes we find nothing. Sometimes we would find something, we would fix the thing, and the poor woman would still have the symptoms. So turns out that no, it's not in your head. So the way that I'm guiding my patients now is to follow their intuition and I let them lead the discussion so that if they're questioning if something is happening as far as their hormones, if they're entering a perimenopause, it is possible, especially if they're in their 30s, 40s, or 50s. It's important to realize now, and this is one of the things I love with this period of time we're in when we're having this discussion that the number of changes you may notice in your body, it's so long. And it's not just the little ones, it's big ones, it's brain, it's it's so many things. So, number one myth, it's all in your head. Fact, no, you're feeling it now. Quantifying it, diagnosing it, putting an exact name to what you're feeling, it may be difficult. So that's why it's good for you to be discussing this and to be working with a doctor or a practitioner who also can keep the conversation flowing around this.

SPEAKER_00: 11:09

Myth number two.

SPEAKER_01: 11:14

Hot flashes are the main thing that lets you know that you're a menopause. And that's it. The truth is the paramenopause, the subtle changes where periods are still coming, or menopause comes with a long list of physical, emotional, even spiritual changes. Disrupted sleep, your mood changing, sometimes for the better or worse, joint sensitivity or pain, brain fog. Then there's also changes in your cardiovascular health. It may be just racing heartbeat, or it may be that your cholesterol is going high. So, so many other symptoms that could be occurring during this period of time. So if this is you, because it is so broad, I would recommend just sitting back and reflecting on what you've noticed. And if it is time to make some changes, address this, that may be the target to notice, and then maybe notice the things around that change, maybe the easiest to address it so you don't get overwhelmed. Myth number three You're gonna gain weight no matter what, so why even try? Paramenopause, menopause, and postmenopause does come with metabolic changes. However, understanding this in a loving way allows you to work with your body and treat that metabolic change andor if it's their unwanted weight gain as a way of your body asking for something that maybe it's not getting. One of the easiest wins I did this for myself, and I frequently encourage my patients, is emphasizing taking in protein, just trying to eat more protein and even changing up meals. One of my favorite things to do is not eat breakfast food for breakfast. So for me, I found that actually eating a vegetable bowl for breakfast, you know, we've been trained to think breakfast should look like waffles or something like that. But I've actually found, you know, vegetables with lentils or beans to be a great breakfast, sometimes mixed with eggs, so that I can get the protein in, the fiber helps your gut, helps with whatever needs to happen as far as breaking down hormones, or if you're on hormones that need to be metabolized by your liver. But just seeing that weight changes your body asking for something, it could be asking for something physical. So it may be that it's time to change up your physical routine, it may be time to step it up or step it down because some women are over-training, and we're finding out that over-training could cause other problems. Who knows? So weight gain does not have to be inevitable. However, if you're experiencing it, treat it as a sign that your body's asking for something, and please be loving with yourself. Please be patient with yourself. Please love every part of yourself. Even if you're making changes and you don't see your weight going down, please continue to love yourself. Because no matter what, it's still you and your body still needs your love.

SPEAKER_00: 14:42

Your body loves you.

SPEAKER_01: 14:48

Myth number four hormones are dangerous, so don't take any hormone replacement. So if you join us this coming Thursday, and also if you're able to join us in the Hormone Harmony Summit in February, we'll talk about hormone replacement therapy. Is it dangerous? Is it absolutely something you should avoid? You know, we have learned confusing information that was spread and misspread for a number of reasons. But now in 2026, we understand that hormone replacement therapy has a real role for women's health, men's health. It does take a conversation, a good history, a good physical, assessing your risk, particularly being aware of your medical history. Because if you've got medical history of certain things, hormone replacement may not be the best for you. But the conversation should start with hormones are medication. And for some people, they're going to be part of their treatment plan during the perimenopause, menopause, my population, postmenopause, where hormone therapy has been one of our favorites to deal with osteoporosis for a number of reasons. That's where we end up, and it really does great in women in their 50s, 60s, 70s, and some of the side benefits that they get when we're able to add that back. So hormones can be part of a treatment strategy, they are not banned, they are important, but it's also a key that it's time to have an important conversation about your health and your risk factors.

SPEAKER_02: 16:37

Myth number five.

SPEAKER_01: 16:45

During perimenopause and menopause, your hypothalamus, your pituitary gland, your adrenal glands, and your ovaries are all having a bit of a disagreement because there's some changes going on that are instigated by your genetics, external factors, whatever. But there's definitely a shift in the power structure between those glands. So hypothalamus and pituitary gland in the brain, or as we like to talk about it in our community, kind of the third eye chakra, the adrenal glands, which are part of the root and solar plexus chakra, and the ovaries, part of the sacral chakra. So there's a bit of a disagreement. They're all talking. Some of them want to do a different job. Some of them want to step up, some of them are overcompensating. Possibly your sleep troubles related because the hypothalamus may be doing a little too much or not enough. So even if everything is going well in your life and you're not stressed, it is very possible that your sleep is disrupted as a part of this transition. So things that you want to do to help yourself is try to have a good bedtime routine. Try to wake up and go to bed the same times every night. Try to keep all the stimulation to a minimum. So TVs and screens and phones, as much as a minimum as possible. And even have practices where if you feel like you're carrying thoughts in your head, you can keep a journal by the bedside and write it down as a place to put that off. Sleep isn't just a luxury, it is necessary, especially during this transition. Having a readjustment and a realignment and how things are going to work during perimenopause and menopause. And they are changing how they make their hormones and how those will activate and how much is being made. So all of that means that you will literally feel differently than you did years ago. And quantitating that, like we like to do in traditional medicine, it just might be impossible to actually put a number and even descriptor on that. But if you just notice you feel differently, you're not in your head and you're not crazy. You really do feel differently because there's a major shift that's going on on the inside. I like to tell my patients that the transition of puberty, you might remember, but oddly, you may not remember to that much detail. But there were big changes that happened then. And we say teenagers or adolescents are moody and those kind of things. It's just really all those same neurochemicals getting the big shift as these hormones change and ovulation is starting. So it's nearly the same process that's happening. So your mood may be different, you may be more sensitive, you may be less tolerant. And the thing to know about that is once you acknowledge that, having a plan, if it's severe, and for instance, maybe you've never permitted yourself to have things like talk therapy or even reading a self-help book. This is an invitation to consider that, especially if you have trauma and loss and things that you haven't dealt with. During the Upcoming Hormone Harmony Summit, there's a couple of powerful presentations about trauma, perimenopause, and menopause. I learned a lot just doing the interviews. Wow. So that may be the way to anticipate that. This may be a good time to think about therapy if you've never done it before. So I love where the conversation about women's health has gone in the last year, and what I've Told my patients, and I used to say it kind of secretly, but now we can say it proudly is that perimenopause and menopause is your shift into power. This is when you become the upgraded version of yourself and you're actually growing. But growth hurts. Whenever we grow and expand, it's not comfortable. But things that you might notice is you're more assertive, your wisdom's peaking, you have answers you didn't have, and your intuition may be coming really strong. So what I would propose is let's embrace it exactly for what that is. To do that, you need to be gentle with yourself. Understand that during this period of time, you might feel differently, you may not feel so good. So your self-care is mandatory. The massage that you may think is a luxury, you really, really need that time to unwind. You really deserve to sleep really well. If your weight's changing in a way that you don't like, do not fuss at yourself. Sit down and ask what's going on. What am I missing? I have an ebook resource called Awakening in Midlife that walks us through some of what we talked about in the podcast. So I'll put the link in the show notes so you can download that. And finally, if you're listening before Thursday, January 29th, join us. It's going to be an amazing conversation with Dr. Lakeisha. So thank you so much for joining me for this episode. And if you were listening after the talk with Dr. Lakeisha, I'll let you know because there might be a way that you can still partake in that talk. And hopefully you'll be listening before February. And that way you can be a part of the Hormone Harmony Summit where we'll be exploring all of this in much more depth. All right. Thank you so much for listening. Make sure you like, subscribe, and share. I really appreciate it because it's a small production. So every little bit helps. Thanks so much.