Should I Delete That? - Is it my hormones? with Dr Sohere Roked

Episode Date: February 27, 2023

This week on the podcast, Em and Alex talk to hormones expert Dr Sohère Roked. Sohère is a GP who specialises in Integrative medicine. She works to understand the emotional, spiritual, environmental, social, nutritional, lifestyle and psychological issues that influence the health and well-being of her patients, something she feels conventional medical practice does not provide. In this episode, she answers your questions and covers myths and misconceptions around progesterone, polycystic ovaries, PMS and more! She will challenge you to track your period, deconstruct your preconceptions and make you ask, “is it my hormones?”You can find Sohère's website here: https://drsohereroked.co.uk/Sohère's book: The Tiredness CureSohère's podcast: It's Your Hormones!Follow us on Instagram @shouldideletethatEmail us at [e-mail] & edited by Daisy GrantMusic by Alex Andrew Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You know, when we were younger, it's all about, like, your period, and it's all about not getting pregnant, then it's all about trying to get pregnant. And we just think about our hormones in terms of, like, fertility. And then it's about menop. It's all this time in between where actually hormones have a massive impact. Hello, and welcome back to Should I Delete That? I have another special guest with us today. A very, very nervous guest.

I'm extremely nervous. Oh, are you? Yeah, I'm shaking. She's got, this is my sister, Jen, who works with me now full time. And she's been roped into doing the GBA with me. Very reluctantly, can I add? Very reluctantly. She's got hives all across her chest.

I haven't slept since she asked me, which was about a week ago. So, yeah, apologies, Jen. I actually think I do have hives on my chest. No, you do. You've got a rash. Oh, I feel like I'm in an interview. do you? But way more pressure pressure to be funny

I just don't know how you do this but anyway well that's why I have therapy Jen you're talking about me or yeah good bad and awkward I know you've prepared yours oh yes I know you've prepared them you've been preparing them for quite some time what would you like to start with

I feel like we should start with my bad because it's really really disturbing and distressing me okay go on wait no okay I was like wondering if I could what it was. You'll probably be able to guess because you actually told me to stop talking about it numerous times. Oh no. It's my house smelling like cat piss. Oh my god, Jen. No, but it's a serious, serious issue, you know? Basically, my cats have decided, I think they're a bit distressed because my son is bullying them. And they've decided to start peeing in the corner of my lounge.

And I've tried everything. We've got the rug doctor. out, we've had it professionally cleaned, you name it, I've tried it, and it still smells like piss. And I just can't do anything about it. Like, honestly, I think you're just thinking about it too much. No, I'm not. I think it's become like a preoccupation, right? That it does not smell like, okay, it's not the, what I think is worrying is that you think it doesn't smell like piss. It's not that I don't think it smells like piss, but it's like at certain points in the room, you can smell a bit of piss, but it's not like, oh my God, get me out of this room. But I don't want people, I don't want myself to go into a room, be like, I

Oh, it's okay if I go in one corner because it doesn't smell like piss here. If you put a candle on and open the windows, you're fine. I can't put a candle and open the windows for the rest of our eyes. But surely the smell would just evaporate. Well, you'd think that, but it's been like a good three weeks now. Three weeks? Yeah. It's been a good three weeks. It has been to say three years.

Three years with a front room that smells like cat litter is quite a long time. Three weeks. Three years is also a long time, but three weeks. It feels like three years. It feels like three years that you've been. talking about this. I think what is worrying is that you don't think that it smells that bad. Our other sister came over and she said, you need to do something, Jen.

You're a respectable person. You can't have people. You can't have your living room smelling like this. They're all too precious. I think just crack on. Don't worry about it. The smell saw itself out. Basically, stop talking to me about it.

I will, noted. And I'll take that approach to what you talk to me about all the time as well. So that was your bad. That's my bad. Okay, my bad, you were a part of my bad. Lovely. So many people sent me, this man had gone to Liddle and found milk chocolate-coated pistachios, right?

Like, name me a better thing in this world. Your dream. Literally my dream. So made the pilgrimage to Liddle, even drove the car there, which is never fun, driving. But, you know, one does what one has to do for milk-chocle-coated pistachios. And it took us about 12 minutes to find.

mine a car parking spot even though there was about 90 yeah because they all terrified me so we got there we made it in there and I just presumed that they would be in there I never thought that they wouldn't and I was running around little getting more and more desperate because there were no pistachios and frantic and frantic but there weren't even any pistachios never mind milk chocolate covered ones no there weren't or anything cassia flavoured I was so gutted and you know and we And I was getting, like you said, frantic, a little bit stressed, probably getting grumpy with you. Very grumpy. And then went home later on, looked on my DMs.

Did I just see you in Liddle? I was like, no. Running around being like, where are the possessions? Why can't I find one possession? And you were sweating. You were screaming at one point. During things. I smashed the place off.

Smashed up Liddle. Poor Liddle. I do like Liddle, down the middle. I like little in the middle. Yeah. Yeah, I do like it. Very stressful, though. I just feel like I need everything.

Yeah. That's the problem. I feel like I just need it all. I'm like, oh my God, a pizza stone. The stone? Yeah, a stone. No, like a stone. I saw a stone yesterday.

Like you do your pizza on a stone. And for a second I was like, do I need that? And obviously I don't. Obviously you don't. Definitely, definitely don't. I don't know how to make my own dough. I don't know how I wouldn't know where to start. But couldn't you just put like a pre-made pizza on there?

Like when you put in the oven and then put it on? I mean you could, but then why wouldn't you just put it in the oven? Mind you, there are things called stone baked pizzas, aren't there? I'm confused. It's the stone not like a serving platter thing. No, it was just a stone for you to like, because you know stone baked pizzas? Wait, I'm going to Google pizza stones.

Yeah, the ceramic pizza stone ensures that heat is evenly distributed so that your pizza is always cooked right through to the centre. The stone also absorbs excess moisture from the base, guaranteeing a perfectly light and crispy crust every time. Okay, you definitely don't need a pizza stone. I definitely don't need a pizza stone. But I'm glad that you came to that conclusion on your own. Our brother-in-law has a pizza oven, doesn't he?

Yeah. Oh, my God, unreal. Does he use a stone? Yeah. He's got all the gadgets. He has. But little in the middle. Also, Aldi, went to Aldi recently.

they have, they are fully duping the jupes, makeup-wise. Oh, yeah. The lacura, laura, their makeup, it almost looks identical to the real versions. Yeah, and they've brought out like the Olliplex dupe, have you seen? Yes. And it looks exactly the same.

Yes, I mean, to see the naked palette? Yeah, it looks exactly the same. It is. And apparently, they're all meant to be quite good. I've heard that as well, actually. I've heard that as well. but like I can't believe it's allowed. No, I think it's like, well, they've got to have like certain things different

and I think with the olipers, they're missing like the key ingredient. But surely they can, like the brand could sue for likeness, you know? I think that there's got to be like three differences or something. And as long as they have those three differences, they can't, basically. I mean, they must, they must do. It's like when Kim Kardashian sued, I think she sued like a video games brand for using her likeness. They used someone who looked a lot like her but obviously wasn't her

and then she sued them for her likeness really hard to, it's fairly subjective That's really hard to prove Did she win? I think she won, yeah No, yeah yeah yeah I did come away though

with three mangoes so I was happy You did Yeah and I came away with a crate of beer that I don't even drink beer I know you turned up to the checkout with beer and I was like what's going on I panicked No pistaches, okay beer will do

Good substitute And some free shoots Oh, I was watching, have you seen that meme that's like a supermarket in America? Someone had done an online order and you know when they put substitutions in and someone had ordered tampons and the substitution was mushrooms. So funny. And then I was watching a woman on TikTok who'd placed an order with ASDA for coconuts and an electric toothbrush. Yeah. Right?

And the electric toothbrush was 54 pounds. Yeah. And instead the substitutions were both were the ASDA essentials like own. brand mouthwash so like 59p or something and 24 kiwis for the coconuts and she was like are you joking are you joking do you have to pay even if they you get refunded the difference they're not going to like give you 59p mouthwash and then say okay that was 59 no no you get I think you can also refuse them like as well surely because you can't set you like I didn't want mouthwash I didn't want kiwis what if I don't like kiwis what if you're allergic but the tampon

mushroom thing is so funny. That is so funny. It's like when NASA sent a woman to space for six days with 100 tampons and then they asked if it would be enough. So funny, so funny. Probably not, no. My God. But it'd be quite fun to see how a tampon were doing gravity. I was just thinking about that. So I thought, that's what I thought you were going. Yeah, it would be quite interesting, no. I'd love to do something like that. Not actually go to space, but I'd love a simulator. I would love to go to space. Would you? Yeah, you would, wouldn't you? Yeah. I feel like when you were younger, you said you wanted to be an astronaut. Oh, yeah, I was desperate.

And a pilot. Yeah, I was desperate. Would you go to space if you were offered to go to space? Yeah, I think so. Would you? I wouldn't pay for it. Because it's like millions of pounds, isn't it? But I think I'd go.

It depends how long I was going for. Okay, so someone came to you. Richard Branson comes to you and says, Jen, I'm going to take you to space. You are the chosen one. Completely for free. You'll be there for a week. Well, I think first I'd be like, why is he picked me?

I forget that. That's hard to forget, but okay, we'll just like pretend this is legit. Okay, okay. So is it just me and Richard Branson? Or can I bring a friend? You and five other people? Oh yeah, definitely do. Oh. You've all won this competition. Yeah, I think I'd go. Would you? I think so. Oh my God, I'd be terrified. I'd be terrified too, but I think I'd just go. That moment when you break the barrier, what barrier is it? The Earth's atmosphere or something. Which is like, isn't that when most people die when they go to space? I didn't think, like, yeah.

If you were going to, I think that's... It's not ideal. No. You wouldn't want to, like, put yourself through it. Well, no, but to get to space, like, it's much safer now than it used to be, isn't it? Yeah. I mean, for them to be doing commercial trips, it's got to be, like, fairly safe. God.

How much does it cost? I think a lot of money. Okay, I'm going to Google. Did you see I'm on... This is really gringy, but I used, like, watched every house where I suggest it. And for, like, one of the husbands or the wives for, like, the birthday anniversary. or something, bought his wife a ticket to space. Oh, my God.

One ticket. He wasn't going with her. So just her by herself? Yeah. I would be like, what the hell? Well, I think I'd be quite offended. If Joe gave me a ticket to space, you'd be like, well, you're obviously trying to get rid of me.

Yeah, like this is literally like a one way, a one way ticket away from the earth. She was a bit like, what the hell? That's weird. Really strange. He's probably like, I'm doing this huge romantic gesture, paying, well, paying, because I've just Googled it. seats for a suborbital trip on Virgin's Galactic Spaceship 2 and blue or...

That's a mouthful. Seats typically cost $250,000 to $500,000. Flight beyond that to actual orbit, a much higher altitude, a far more expensive, fetching more than guess per seat. A million pounds. 50 million dollars per seat. No way.

Yeah. Yeah. Jeez. Got to say, not worth it. Well, I mean... Not worth it. I can't say for sure. I don't know.

All those millions you've got. Yeah. Not worth it. Casual spare, 50 million. It's a lot better things to spend your money on the news. Literally. A lot better. What must cost 50 millions?

All those tampons. All those tampons. Okay. Awkward. Okay, so my awkward is that my... Not even 20 months. No, he's 20 months, isn't he? 20 months old son has started to say,

oh shit and it's so cute he's like copying me and obviously like I'm not really a big swear I don't really swear that much but I obviously say oh shit quite a lot

you say oh shit all the time well evidently yeah he like dropped his balls when he went oh shit I was like no no no

but if you say no and then he looks at me with a smirk on his face and goes shit shit shit I was like oh god I'm a terrible mom mother of the year

he's going to nurse he's going shit shit shit shit shit shit shit I'm gonna get kicked out that must be so common though that must be so common our cousin i was telling my cousin our cousin about it and she said that when um her little boy was younger like and she used to take him in the car she'd say fucking hell a lot you know like

not road rage but like people pulling out and whatever and she said they got out of the car and he started going suck an hell suck an hell so yeah it must be quite common that's really cute imagine mine oh my children would be like effing and cheffing and they'd be banned from everywhere they would be banned yeah they'll look at those kids again no no no close the doors close doors Oh, that is awkward. It is because he's going to be like one of those things that, you know, like, at school and when the mum's like, oh, we don't play with that little boy. He is naughty as well.

He's cheeky. He kicked me out of the house yesterday. And I'm not lying. He did kick your house. I mean, like, actually kicked to me. I actually thought that was going to be your bad. Yeah, it was a close call between, well, I just can't get over the cat piss. That should have been my bad when he kicked me out of the house.

I mean, that was bad. I went round the other night after work. I dropped in to see him. And I was confused by what he, he wasn't happy to see me. It was like, no, no. I'm pushing you, wasn't it? Okay. And then I only stayed for two minutes and then went to leave.

And he was like, I was talking to Jen at the door. We stood at the door talking. And he was like almost getting like hysterical, like crying and no, no. And I was like, we couldn't work out what he wanted. And then get out. Get out. And I was like, oh my God. He is literally kicking really.

out of your house. He was like pushing you as well, wasn't it? Yeah, then he was pushing me to the door and trying to open the door so I'd get out. I was like, you cheeky bugger, you cheeky bugger. I think it was a game, I think, because when you left then he was like, Ackx, Akex, because he calls Alex Ackx. And then he was trying to like open the door handle again. Yeah, too little too late, Louis, I'm done.

Yeah, I'm done. How dare you? That was very rude. It was very rude. I got thrown out. It was quite insulting. But he literally kicked Jen at the house, like, literally kicked you. Like, physically kicked you. He physically kicked me. He started going to, like, football, Saturday morning with his dad for, like, half an hour.

And he loves, like, kicking, like, you know, loves, like, you know, kicking the ball, which, you know, he should only be kicking balls. Anyway, yeah, me, the cats, but he was with his granddad. By the way, it wasn't like, I just had him in the house, and he kicked me out. And I was like, I'll see you tonight. Have a night's day on your own. Like, he was with his granddad, which he loves, you know, he's playing with him. And I went to say goodbye. So, like, I bent down to give him a hug.

and then he came over, gave me a hug and obviously I was taking too long to like say my goodbyes and he was going no, and like pushing me back and then it was like in slow motion I looked down and he was like pulled his leg back and then kicked me up his full force. You're in shock and also

I was a bit embarrassed because it wasn't my dad it was my husband's dad and I was mortified that is embarrassing. Your son kicked your 20 more old son kicked you this morning didn't make me feel great about myself also do you know what I just think it's really it's rude, you know, I like, what I've given up for that little child.

Yeah, my life revolves around him. I cook for him, you know, like, I know it was his decision to be born, but still, you know, show a little bit of appreciation. Seriously, you need the audacity to kick me. But anyway, oh my God, now I'm fuming for you. Don't worry, he's in the shed today. I'm joking, I'm joking, to be clear, Genevieve is joking. My awkward, we were working in a cafe, me and you,

as we do because I find it really difficult to work at it from the house like it gets me stressed out and much better like working out in a cafe and you are too we can we kind of like focus better anyway with this cafe and we were working on a post and we were like head down in the zone of this post it was like full like focus full hyper focus right and then suddenly two women came up to us and they were in no way aggressive or or or Abnormal? No, it was a very slow, very polite, very gentle walk-up. For some reason, it scared the life out of us.

And we both are the same, I think it was, I don't even know. It was when we realized that they were coming to us that we just freaked out and screamed. We both screamed. Like, I screamed, you shouted. It's like, you know, when you're somewhere and you, like, don't expect anything. But even, like, more than that, we were, like, so in the zone.

There was, like, nothing around us. You know, just, and then out of like nowhere, or it felt like nowhere, these women, like, just came and said hello. And they were just said hello. Like, I think that was like, super gentle. Yeah, hello. The least aggressive, hello. I screamed, you shouted. And in turn, they jumped.

Obviously. Because we scared them. They jumped backwards. And then I looked up and one of them was wearing a like London jumper. And I was like, oh my God. I'm so sorry. Bless them. You must have thought, what's wrong with these?

girls. Yeah, they must have thought we were very odd. Yeah, very, very odd. I thought we were very odd. Yeah. I should have learned our lesson because I scared you again yesterday. Yeah, that was in the cafe and you screamed, which was ridiculous. I was, it wasn't ridiculous. It was on my phone and I had my earphones in, so I was listening to one earphone in, I was listening to music. Alex goes to toilet and comes back, sneaks up behind me, you know, and I've got an headphone in and comes by my ear that I haven't got a headphone and goes, boom. No, no, no, I didn't I said, here's your card. Okay, but you didn't, you went,

here's your card. You wanted a reaction. And then when you got it, when I jumped and everyone looked at me, you were like, why did you do that? Why did you do that? I fell on gas lit at you, didn't I? You did, you did.

You're welcome. Goods, good, my good. I am so hoping that I have got this right, okay? So, in last week's, is it just me? I was talking about a game that I used to play on the PlayStation, right? Yeah. And for years and years and years,

I've tried, don't say anything, I've tried to remember what this game is. And I've Googled it and I can't find it and all I can remember is alien in rags. Alien in rags. Like a doggie in rags? I'm not, no. And I haven't been able to,

anyway, I talked about it and I was like, if anyone knows, please tell me. Alien in rags. Yeah, I logged on to my DMs this morning. and someone's got it they found it can you got a picture of yeah and then we'll like spark a memory it's called abe's odyssey oh i remember that the little long alien yeah oh my god that's so nostalgic isn't it oh my god it was so good it was so good but it was so creepy and i have been trying to think of think of what this is for so long and someone just messaged me being like

Do you mean Abe's Odyssey? And I was like, Abe! It's Abe! But do you know what I mean by Alien in Rags? Alien in Rags? Yeah. Like a doppy. A doppy.

A long dobbie. So that was my good. You know like an itch that you need to scratch? But this itch has been going on for... This itch has been itching for a long time. So have you ordered the game now? Finally, I've ordered the game and I got to scratch the itch. What's your good?

My good, I'm going to be honest. This is nearly over. Oh, Jen. I don't exaggerate when I said, I haven't slept. you don't like public speaking do you it terrifies me yeah yeah not good at it don't enjoy it like I really really like it but even like this with you know no one's listening to you at the present moment like yeah but they are going to be so is it just as scary uh no obviously not as being in front of a live audience i've never been in front of a live audience no but like presenting well no because

then at least like there's no pressure on like like the you know like when you're presenting you're presenting about something right yeah it's not pleasant but least you kind of like you know know what you're talking about you know how it's going to be received this you're like oh i'm not i'm not funny i'm gonna you know it's gonna tank the episode's gonna die and it's gonna be all my fault and you know you've ruined the podcast ruined your career like ruin my career well done jean well done your tit um a lovely way to speak to me sorry just another day in the office we have we say that all the time don't we because the amount of and it's because we're siblings that the amount of stuff that we do and you do and it's just it's we always just look

to them and say another day in the office like what shit are we doing it's like a very blurred line Jen's come from this like a brilliant financial like high powered job to um I don't even know how to describe what you do I don't know how to describe it you do we do a mix of absolutely everything like absolutely everything and every day is chaos oh yeah so absolute chaos yeah it was like yeah when Alex described it last week as we're very scrappy but we get there in the end yeah we're very scrappy which I find very insulting but anyway we move on to be honest you are the definition in my head of scrappy I just think that is so rude em's a bit scrappy as well I don't know I don't think I've said to her that she's scrappy but you're both very like no offense

Sorry, Emma, if you're listening, like a little bit disorganised, chaotic, everything's all over the place, but you always cut, like, Em would never miss a day of podcasting. Yeah. You know, like she's always there, always turn up for stuff and like, and you're like that as well, like scrappy, but you make it. Like, organised chaos. Yeah, like if I glimpse into your life, I feel panicky. Oh, me too. But also I can rely on you. Yeah. You're reliable. Panicked reliability. I like that. Does it panic you when you glimps into your life too? Oh, yeah, all the time. I can't bear it. Chaos, chaos. You can't bear it. Your car, and you just turned up with that bag. You just turned up somewhere with that bag.

And I'm like, wear your keys. I'll just in a pocket. I'm like, what pocket? Where's your car keys? Where's your wallet? And you're like, I don't know. It's just in one of my pockets. Unbearable.

But it's always there. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if you just turned up with like a Sainsbury's bag. At some point, like got on the train, on the plane with like a little Sainsbury's bag. I'm not that bad. No, you're not that bad. I do have a bag. I'm doing you a disservice there. Well, thank you for joining us.

Thank you for ruining my career. It's been great. Please don't ask me again. I won't ask you again. Don't worry. You're not allowed to go on maternity leave ever again. Anything you'd like to say? No.

No, no. You're done? Do you want me to do a shout-out? A shout-out. Should I thank everyone my fans and stuff? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go on, thank you. Thank you for your fans.

Thanks, Mom. Tell them where to follow you. Thanks, Mom, love you. Okay, thanks, Jen. And this week, we have an episode. episode that I found incredibly helpful, informative, useful. It's all about hormones. We're joined by Dr. Suhaer Rokered and she is a hormones expert, general practitioner who's a hormones expert and we just, we talked through hormones, all of the different aspects of hormonal

imbalances and the general issues that women have with hormones and how to advocate for yourself in a space that isn't very accommodating towards anything, you know, towards women's specific problems like hormonal imbalances and problems. It was a brilliant episode. I learned an absolute ton and I want her back for part two because there are still so many more questions. But I hope you enjoy this and let us know what you think and see you next week. Hi. Hi. Thank you so much. for coming in. Thank you for having me. Oh God, I've got so much to ask you. I don't know where to start. But like I said to you before, I'm going to try and make this not a personal

consultation. But I actually have seen you for a personal consultation years ago. It must have been like 2015, I want to say, maybe even before that. I reckon like 16, maybe somewhere around them. Yeah, a little while. It was for a piece for Hello magazine. Yeah. And you did my bloods and yeah took a look at all my hormones and it was super interesting and they were out of whack and I should have really yeah done something like kept up with it more but I think it was like a weird time in my life and I didn't really sort of keep up with it because you did prescribe me stuff and I'm like why didn't I just keep up with it anyway but it's nice to see you again good see you too thanks for coming in yeah no thank you for having me just told her that

you've completely ignored the medical advice that she gave you I know I didn't for a while but it was in a, it was in a bad time and I didn't really keep up with anything at that point, but I wish I had. Well, that's the thing. I sometimes see people and, you know, they come in and then like you don't see them and you're like, oh, you know, was it not helpful or whatever?

But then quite often people say, you know, just wasn't the right time. I wasn't in the right head space. There's other stuff that took priority. So, you know, I understand like things kind of get in the way sometimes. Yeah. And it is amazing, like hormones, I find so, interesting, but it's a frustrating thing that it feels like an unfair burden on women that

we don't automatically know it. So we have to go out of our way to learn it, which we normally have to do if something's going wrong for us. So it can feel like a bit of a burden, I guess. Yeah. Yeah, because like often when you talk to your girlfriends or people about it, it's all like, oh, it's such an awful heavy period or, oh, I'm really badly PMSing. And it's all like negative stuff. And that's why it does feel like a burden. And like when I was a teenager, I used to have like awful cramps. So it'd be like, oh, can't go out and do anything for a few days. It's all like feels really negative.

It's all like behind closed doors. You don't want people to know when you're bleeding, you know, all that sort of stuff. So it's all quite negative. But I do think we, you know, we need to sort of change the way we learn about hormones or teach people more about hormones, not just about like pregnancy, right? But about how like when you're a woman, especially hormones affect all your different systems. So like sleep, your mood, your cravings, your energy, how you can work out, all those sort of things. And like, we're just not really taught that, are we? So you've got to like muddle your way through it.

Yeah. I find it fascinating, like the impact that hormones can have. And I always think, I can control it. Like, if I know it's my hormones, I can control it, but you can't. It really does impact your mood. It's like a, what is it when, like, drugs, like, alter the, like, brain chemistry is that what hormones do as well like they kind of yeah yeah so like you said you you're like oh okay well i'm coming up to my period so you know that's why i'm going to feel a certain

way but when it's actually happening you know you and then it's only after you get your periods you're like oh that's what that was about because i feel a lot better now so yeah i remember speaking to a friend a year or two ago and say oh i've been feeling so awful and she's you sure it's not your hormones i'm like oh yeah i got my period today you're right it was my hormones so It even catches me off guard sometimes, you know. Is that the rise in progesterone before your period? Is that what causes those PMS symptoms? So I heard you guys talking about this not long ago on your podcast,

and I thought we must discuss this because I think that's what you said. You said like, oh, progesterone, you get that before your period and it causes PMS. And actually what happens is that like, so basically like the second week of your cycle, after your period, that's when you ovulate. So you get a big rise in estrogen. And that's normally when women feel their best. They feel really like, not everyone, but a lot of people feel like energetic,

maybe a bit horny, their skin's good, like doing more in the gym, like really energized and feeling good. And then in the third week, basically you get a rise in progesterone. And the reason you get that rise in progesterone is in terms of fertility to thicken the lining of the womb

so that a fertilised egg can implant. And then if you don't get pregnant, your progesterone drops. And it's that drop in progesterone that can cause the PMS. So I was completely wrong. Sorry, guys. This is why we need fact checking.

So, like, on the third week of your cycle, a lot of women feel like quite calm. You know, maybe the energy's a bit lower because the estrogen's dropped, but generally feel like a bit calmer, a bit more rational. It's good for strength training and things like that. but then if you know your progesterone is going to drop if you're not pregnant but if it's like

dropping off the edge of a cliff that's when you can get the PMS so the moods the irritability the poor sleep someone get a bit sweaty can't focus as well obviously not everyone has that you know find self crying at EastEnders though I'm often like where are you in your cycle it's not that sad that's really interesting well yeah apologies for what I'm right I can't even remember that. Do you have more progesterone in pregnancy? You do. You do.

So that makes you less irritable or just more? So everyone's different, right? So if I'm going to see someone for hormone treatment and they've been pregnant, I'm always like, how did you feel when you were pregnant? Because some women feel amazing and they've got glowy skin and lovely hair. Some women say to me it's the best I've ever felt in my life when I was pregnant. But not everyone says that. I can't relate.

so happy for them so if someone tells me that I know to be cautious of my progesterine prescribing but if they're like it's the best I ever felt in my life I'm like oh you respond well to progesterone

so different people respond differently to their own hormones yeah and that's like the key just knowing what's going on for that individual not just sort of like for the way I work not just like blanket prescribing

for everyone so when the sorry just to ask for just curious curiosity given that I am as we're recording this nine months pregnant Of course. When you have the baby, what's the hormone that dips? The progesterone.

So that's when you kind of get very emotional. That's the fourth trimester. Yeah. Crazy. Cool. Look forward to that, guys. So once you have the baby, your progesterone drops. Yeah.

That is often why you get a bit of baby blues around day three or four. Obviously, if it's really severe, then it could sort of, you know, cause other mood issues and things like that. And like, if you've had a lot of new health. hair growth while you were pregnant you haven't okay i've lost a bot ton of it really i've been very anemic oh yes that's probably why yeah so like some women they get loads of new hair growth when they're pregnant and then and that's the progesterone yeah basically yeah yeah crushing just get back to like a normal amount yeah it's not like an excessive yeah yeah loss of hair okay that's so interesting and then your estrogen is just super high anyway yeah during the whole time yeah

nice i'm gonna hold on tight i'm gonna actually fuck it i don't care my husband's gonna have to hold on really tight this could be a ride woo it's like it's kind of good like if you maybe know what's going to happen and like you guys like discuss it and be like

there may be a time where I'm not quite feeling my best and then he knows that you know about the day five where you just like crash

have a bit of a yeah well there's a lot going on isn't it yeah it's kind of understandable so once you give birth your progesterone drops and I'm guessing your estrogen must drop as well

so it's like it's that like double whammy of yeah but then if you've got hormones when your milk's coming in yeah yeah so if you breastfeed yeah it normally keeps the hormone levels at a slightly higher level but obviously you know some people can't and it's really like dependent on what's going on so I will literally get it away from pregnancy now but I just found it very interesting yesterday I harvested my cholesterol for the first time oh yeah and I could not stop crying all day I was just like yesterday afternoon I was just like oh like I was just so sad if I think if I think about crying for long enough now I'll just be

crying again. And it's really weird. Like I literally feel like I've unlocked something hormonally. I'm like, oh, whoa. I'm trying to explain it to the, I saw the midwives of today and I was just like, yeah, I think I'm okay. She's the house of harvesting. I was like, yeah, I think I'm okay, but I'm also a mess. So I feel like that's going to be a fun. But it's kind of cool. Like if you just know that it's your hormones and you can just ride the wave. Yeah. I think that's the thing. Like, you know, with menopause, with periods, all that sort of stuff. like if you have some information and you're prepared, like it doesn't change the fact you're going through

something you haven't been through before. But I think that information's empowering and then you can come in it from a different angle. Because I think what's scary is if like you don't know what's going on, you feel like you're going mad, and then that's quite scary. But if you understand it's kind of to do with your hormones and, you know, you were like, oh, I was expecting a little bit of this,

then you can deal with it better. So true. Like knowledge is power. It is. can I ask you a question just because for very selfish reasons I'm just intrigued when I I say I froze embryos recently and you said that you'd frozen your eyes too I have yeah I am so fascinated by it because I'd heard so many people that have said to me people who had had experiences with IVF said it's really rough like you're going to be super

hormonal it's going to be really hard and like you know take that that two weeks off work and like try and rest and don't do anything. I don't think I've ever felt as good as during that two weeks. It was like I felt so good and I don't know if it was the estrogen or I felt amazing. And the literally the day I had the egg collection, it was like I fell off a cliff. Yeah. I was like I was really low. But I felt so good in that. Is that normal? Is that normal? So most women don't feel that great when they're egg harvesting because you're basically being given a lot more hormones than you're normally producing during your cycle so that like multiple eggs mature so they can harvest them because normally it's like one a month right so if you're trying to get more you've got

like really go for it with the hormones to get multiple eggs um you're the first person other than myself who uh who felt great during their own harvesting because everyone else I was saying to felt awful. I also felt amazing. Did you? Felt the best I've ever felt in my life. I feel like I looked good as well like I look so glowing. I looked so good honestly like I my skin was amazing like I just felt the best I've ever felt it was so weird. So that's the high estrogen okay and I know for myself I naturally run at quite a high estrogen or I don't know right at the moment but I have historically. And I think that it's just because my body's used to high levels of estrogen, like having even more made me feel great. And then someone said to me like,

well, you're a doctor. Did you not just think, oh, I'm going to take a bit of estrogen to keep feeling great? And I'm like, well, no, because like, you know, estrogen, that affects my weight and things like that have you got a lot of high estrogen. So I'm like, and I think like after a period of time, you might start getting the negatives, which can be things like irritability, feeling foggy, feeling hot all the time. So I'm like, no, I don't want to do that permanently, but I did feel really good during the treatment. Oh, I mean, my mum has HRT.

She has like, Easter gel, which she rubs in. And I was like, I'm going to nick it. I'm going to nick it and rub it in every day because I want to feel like that all the time. It's like dope sick. Literally. I'm so good. I'm actually excited to do it again, not really. But, yeah, that is super interesting.

So is that, so when you stop taking all the, is that just the drop? Yeah, it's like, again, the big drop after, yeah. I do think some women don't feel good because it can be quite emotive as well. Like psychologically, there's a lot going on as well. It's anxiety inducing the whole thing. And then, you know, anxiety, the stress of it, all that affects your cortisol levels. That then affects how you metabolize your hormones. It's all kind of interlinked.

It is really interesting to hear you say that some women respond. well to pregnancy and they obviously respond well to progesterone and then like you two are responding well to this high level of estrogen and it's really weird because when we talk about periods with our friends I think because we don't talk about them in a educational or like a scientific way at school particularly we only have hearsay and we kind of cling on to other people's experiences and make them our own as if like it's like the shared female experience that we all have the same periods but like even having I have the Marina Coil and it's mad that I loved it and then I meet people and they're like,

it was the worst. And like some people go on micro-giant gynaum or whatever it is and love it and then some people just can't bear it. And it's so funny that we're still trying to like one size fits all with hormones when it's just clearly doesn't work. Yeah, it's so different. And like you said, some of your friends will never have PMS and then others will have like awful PMS. But I think you only talk about the negatives really. You know, but then, you know, the myrina coil is really popular. So it's basically a coil that releases a synthetic progestin into the womb. So it thins the lining of the womb.

So most women don't have any periods or extremely light periods when they have it. But your ovaries are still working. Because when you're on the pill, it shuts off your ovaries. And it just like replaces the hormones at the synthetic hormones. So some women, maybe their own hormone productions quite erratic. So they feel good on the pill because it's a bit more steady. other women don't respond well to the synthetic hormones so that's not going to work for them

and then other people they just don't want to have or they don't feel so good when they're bleeding and things like that so therefore the Myrina works really well for them but that's why we have choices and you know the same with pills there's like loads of different pills out there so if you don't respond to one you'll find another one like I took one and I just like bled the whole time I was taking it then that makes you feel a bit grotty you know

then I found another one that worked really well for me so there are different things out there And I think that, you know, people, I think women were hard on ourselves. Like, oh, it didn't work for me. Oh, and it worked for my friends sort of thing. But there's so much out there. I think it's just about talking to someone who understands it, who can explain it to you and kind of help you find what works well for you.

Yeah. Yeah, you're right. We take it like a personal failing that it hasn't worked. Oh, I just really didn't get on with it. And it's like, that's okay. Yeah. But yeah. Yeah.

I did a question box ahead of you coming in on Instagram and I think it's like the biggest response I've ever had which is telling in that we've all got our own individual questions about hormones and they're really varied as well. All the questions are really varied so it was quite difficult to collate them in any kind of like meaningful way but I think a good place to start would be what are the signs that you have a hormonal imbalance

Like, how do you know if you should be looking at your hormones in more detail? Yeah, I think that's a really good question because, you know, again, there's a lot of, if you've got any symptom, you could go, oh, it's my hormones, but how do you actually know? So the first thing I would do is, I'd say, to start tracking your period. I think that's really, really important. I ask people about their periods all day long. And every day there's someone who I go, when was your last period? And they're like, oh, I don't know. And I'm like, come on now.

It's just the start. We've got to know when the period was. So I'd say start tracking your period. You don't have to download an app, but you can, something like Flow. And I think like, you know, on Apple Watch Fitbit, all those sort of things, it links now. You can put in your menstrual sort of cycle type things. Start tracking. But don't just track the bleeding, although that's important, because we want to know if it's

regular or irregular and how long you bleed for and if it's heavy or light. But I would say start. tracking other stuff around your cycle. So your energy, your mood, your sleep, things like, you know, acne, bloating, yeah, just, you know, irritability. If you've got cravings, anything like that, just track it all in. And then I often say to people, bring it to me and we'll look at it together and go, oh, there's a pattern to it or there's no pattern. Because of course, like your sleep could vary for so many reasons. You know, if you're having caffeine late or alcohol or sugar before bed or stress, you know, anything like that.

But if it's always at a certain time of the month, then we can go, okay. Now, I think maybe it is hormonal. And then you can do hormone tests, but your GP probably isn't going to do that for you because it's not recommended in the nice guidelines. When I do hormone tests, I normally do it around day 21 of the cycle, because that's when you can see the biggest imbalance between estrogen and progesterone. so but you know you don't have to do hormone test you could just like use your data and start tracking things that way to try and figure out what's going on is there merit in the temperature taking yeah so some of my patients do the temperature taking that's on natural cycles just for yeah yeah and that's quite useful for ovulation but i'd say for PMS and things like that it probably wouldn't be as helpful okay yeah yeah because there's a lot of apps out there so much information like, well, depending on what you need, I suppose. Also, while we're asking about

natural cycles, how is it as a contraceptive, as a contraceptive in your professional opinion? So if you're very, very in tune with your cycle, then it could work really well. Because there is only a small window where you were fertile every month, which is around your ovulation, essentially. but if you're not in tune with your cycle then obviously maybe not going to be overly helpful and of course using natural cycles doesn't take away the STI risk so it all kind of depends sort of where you are in terms of relationships and things like that yeah yeah I mean I I had natural cycles to try and track my period but then I deleted it because it was my period is so irregular it was actually making me feel really bad every time it would pop up and be like oh you're ovulating now

I'm like, I'm not. Thanks. Yeah, I was like, take your temperature. I was like, why bother? So I did delete it. But I think it is, if you have a regular period, it's quite good, isn't it? Yeah. I found it amazing in terms of, because I'd had the marina coil, I'd been on the pill for six, five years, then I had the marina for six years.

So I'd had basically 11 years of hormonal intervention, which means I had no idea who I was without synthetic hormones or hormone blocking. whatever. Like I literally was like, okay, who is this? And that was in October 2021. I came, I started using it and got the coil taken out. And yeah, obviously was pregnant not that long afterwards, but that those few months I found it so interesting for my mood. Like, because I felt and I think I was more hormonal every other period. Okay. Yeah. One was more, one of my ovaries was more intense. But yeah, I found it really useful for that, just for like. the tracking of the mood like you said like the moods the temperatures or whatever and yeah but i think you're right like it it it lends itself i don't think it's again it's not a one-size

fits all is it because it does not lend itself to a lot of lifestyles no i would not recommend it to my sister like very regular periods and she's out living her best life as a single gal it's a no he's a condom godspeed one actually one question that was very very common was around anxiety um and periods do hormones cause anxiety um why do i get so emotional have slash have panic attacks right before my period um why do i get so anxious the week before my period hormones and anxiety please help so it is a real thing um getting more anxiety before your period and it's often due to that drop in progesterone so there is something you can try and do about it so that's good news So your progesterone, like I said, it's naturally going to drop,

but maybe we can do something so that it doesn't drop right off the edge of the cliff. So there's a supplement called Agnescastis. In the US, it's called like Chasebury and Vitex. And basically what it does is that it helps to increase your progesterone production. Okay. So you could take that maybe after ovulation or two weeks after your periods, because that's roughly when ovulation is, until you get your period. And some women find that really useful.

Like I was saying before, if your cortisol is quite high or there's a lot of stress, that can negatively impact your progesterone as well. So what we'd want to be doing is seeing how can we minimize stress around the second half of the cycle, which is maybe easier said than done. But there are some little things you could do in terms of your lifestyle. Like maybe, you know, if you're going to be having like really big nights out and things like that, you might modify the amount of alcohol you drink or like how late you stay out and things like that. There are some supplements that help you process your cortisol better.

So ashriganda is one of my favorites. That's really good for helping you to process your cortisol better. And that can help particularly with anxiety and the way we perceive stress. other things like maybe a lot of women feel a bit tired in the second half of their cycle but because we're all worried about weight and body image and things like that maybe change the way you exercise in the second half of your cycle if you're feeling tired don't push yourself as hard you know maybe do things like yoga pilates a bit more strength rather than pushing yourself a hit especially if you're really feeling that intrinsic tiredness

because otherwise it's just going to push up your cortisol again and that's going to negatively impact your progesterone. So there's lots of little things that we can do as well to try and help balance things a bit better. Yeah, I always forget that cortisol is a hormone. Yeah. I only think of it as like testosterone, progesterone, estrogen, and I forget that cortisol is a hormone as well.

And I guess that's the one that we have most control over, right? Yeah, in some ways. But then in other ways, if you're under a lot of stress, it doesn't feel like you've got any control over it, Right. But what I always say is like little things can make a big difference. Because otherwise it's like really overwhelming to be like, oh, I've got like change my whole life and like do all these different things. To be like, okay, maybe we try and start with this like maybe half an hour earlier bedtime sort of just around the week before your period. See if that makes the difference. Maybe we bring in the asheraganda. Something easy you can do. Maybe we stop caffeine, you know, before midday. Maybe get back quality of sleep. that way. You know, little things could have a good impact on your cortisol as well. Maybe we'll go, right, let's do a little bit of meditation every morning or a wind down before bed, because that's going to help lower your cortisol as well. So there are little things that can

help. Does caffeine increase cortisol? Yeah. So if you're someone who has quite a high cortisol, I normally advise minimizing caffeine, not having none. Full disclosure, I had three coffees today but that's unusual but yeah so like because basically if you're somebody who's quite stressed then having loads of caffeine will then push that cortisol up higher and often see people like very busy lifestyles seem a bit frantic and stressed I'm like how much coffee do you have a day be like oh six is six double espressos and I'm like yeah I don't think that's helping things right now so so I'll be like maybe have one or two in the morning then maybe we switch to decaf, maybe we go for a little bit of green tea, maybe bring in some herbals, because otherwise

it's just pushing a high cortisol up even further. So I'd be a little bit careful around that. And same with alcohol, actually. It can like, if you're quite a stressed person, it could push up your cortisol higher. It wouldn't let the cortisol should be quite low overnight. So you get a good night's sleep. And it might push it up further, which is why you don't always get a good night's sleep after drinking. Is that like anxiety? Yeah. Yeah. It's a chemical. It's a Chemical thing, it's a real thing. I mean, caffeine makes me so anxious. Does it?

I can have like one cup of tea. Yeah. That's non-de-cath. And anything after that, I'm like, I could like almost get to a panic attack. Yeah, yeah. The ashriganda that you mentioned that can help reduce cortisol, how do you take that? It's in powder form, isn't it? You can get it in capsules as well.

So loads of good supplement companies do it like while nutrition, Nutri Advanced and even some good ones on Amazon as well. So generally it's a sort of capsule. It's about 500 milligrams you'd be looking at. You could take it at night before bed if you think it's going to help your sleep. If that's not really an issue for you and you get a bit more frazzled during the day, you could take it in the morning as well.

We could take it morning and evening, but I'd probably start slowly, see how you respond and then build it up. And it is okay to sort of like experiment without a professional help with supplements like this. So obviously if I see somebody, I'd guide them on the dough, and the brand and things like that.

But yeah, these things are available over the counter. If you're on prescription medication, maybe it's a good idea to check with a doctor or medical professional if it's going to interact at all. But otherwise it would be fine to try and see how your body feels. It's such an empowering thing that we get, I don't know, like to listen to you speaking

and like there's options. I don't know. I feel like people can feel very overwhelmed by their hormones. But it is really nice to just be like, well, you can try this and you can try this. And there's just like there's a bunch of stuff that makes sense and you can that yeah just try and make it better so what i usually say to patients if they're having a period is that we probably have to give it two or three cycles for it to work

because i think it can be frustrating if you like try a supplement you take you like twice and you're like why isn't it working that's good to know yeah that it doesn't have an instant effect that's good to know definitely good for you to know yeah i'm very guilty i'm like it's like now or never to be fair i started a load of new supplements this week and there's been like three days. I'm like, why are they working yet? So even I'm prone to it and you've got to remind yourself, be like, come on now. Yeah. Got to give it a few weeks and see how you get on for. I'm like, this isn't working. So yeah, I think like it's just good to know that it's fine to try things, but you have to be a little bit patient so the body can respond to them. Yeah. A lot of people

asked about supplements actually and vitamins that you can take for your hormones. And you mentioned Agnes castas for progesterone and ashriganda for cortisol. What about St. John's is that? So St. John's Ward is also a herbal supplement and it's more for mood. Okay. So it can boost your serotonin which then impacts your mood. But of course that could be useful as well if that's something you're noticing. It could be worthwhile taking. It can affect your liver enzymes though. So you know it's if you're taking prescription medication again it's best to double check so we don't want to overload the body. Right. Yeah that's interesting. My mum and her, my mum and my aunties, her sisters, always got really bad PMT and they would always, they all took St. John's War for it.

So I always just presume that it was a, you know, something to help with PMT, but maybe not necessarily. Do you get PMTL? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'm quite a hormonal person. Well, when I had a period, like when I can't tell anymore, which is really annoying because I used to be able to tell, you know, like I actually got, before I started taking before I had the coil in, I started to be able to get into a routine of like, oh, this is

PMT now. Now I'm feeling bad and that's because it's PMT, but yeah, not anymore. I think like the other thing that was. we do as women because we always talk about like the negatives around hormones is that like any little thing we're like oh it's my hormones I didn't sleep well it's my hormones yeah it might not always be your hormones so you know it's good to like think okay maybe it is my hormones but maybe there's something else going on so is it something in my diet you know is it something like alcohol consumption caffeine am I having a lot of sugar because that's going to cause a lot of

inflammation in your system and then negatively impact your hormones as well You know, is it that I've stopped exercising? Am I getting enough nutrients? So do I get enough fruit and veg in my diet and things like that? So it's good to look at the broader picture as well, which is what I kind of like remind people when I see them. Like definitely will look at your hormones. But I always say to people, we'll look at your hormones,

but it might not be your hormones. And if it isn't, you still have your symptoms. They're still there. We've just got to figure out a different way of managing them. This is probably a question that doesn't make sense. but when someone does have a hormonal imbalance or just when their hormones are off, what are the reasons for that?

I mean, I'm guessing like stress can be a reason. Like you said, like too much alcohol and maybe caffeine, but like aside from that, what are the reasons that like hormones would be out of whack? So, yeah, it can be lifestyle. Like, you know, if, you know, diet isn't that great, you're not exercising or you're exercising too much or stress, all those things you mentioned.

But it might not be, you know, sometimes it's just bad luck and you're just unlucky and you've got like an issue with your hormones. It could be genetic. You know, we'll say like what's what went on with me. But, you know, our mums didn't really talk about what went on with their periods and stuff like that necessarily. But, you know, it could just be, you know, just bad luck or genetic. So it's not about like blaming people. The only reason that I would ask about lifestyle is because if there is something in your diet or your lifestyle, well, then it's a bit easier to fix. you know so it's a positive thing not it's your fault your hormones aren't working properly it's like

right we can really modify this you're going to feel so much better really quickly but sometimes it is just like genetic or it could just be like you know bad some things are just bad luck but that's also okay because there are certain things we can do to try and regulate things regardless of the cause is our genetics a big marker and like or a big factor in hormonal imbalances or just does that tend to travel? So it can be, but also there are so many external factors now that affect our genetics and, you know, environmental, you know, pollution or, you know, what we eat, like chemicals in our food

or in our makeup or plastics and all this sort of thing. So I'd say that it's not as clear cut now as genetic or not genetic. And also we know nowadays that like so many genes can be modified according to like, you know, you take a certain supplement, it can modify that gene or you eat a certain type of food and it can help it. So genes do play a part, but it's not as clear cut. So like when I first started learning about hormones,

you do still ask, you know, when did your mum go through menopause, all that sort of stuff? But there's really not that much correlation anymore because our lifestyle is so different to like our parents' lifestyles. That's devastating. My mum went through the menopause at some point in her 50s and didn't even notice. Wow.

I know, loved it. She had the marina coil, didn't even know she'd gone through them. That's great. I know. But now that's, and I always thought that was coming for me. Maybe not. It might be. It might be, yeah.

I want it. I want it so bad. I've got so many questions for you. I feel like they all want to come tumbling out at once. So I'm just going to try and order it in my head. I'd love to know, as a hormone doctor, hormone expert, what is the main thing that people come to you for? It's the main complaint.

So I see people with period problems and then it would be like mood and brain fog. I'd say that that's a really, really common reason people come in. Is that in menopause, a menopause specific or is that across the board? So in menopause also, that's a far more common reason people come in than hot flushes. Like people always say like, yeah, I do get hot flushes, but I can live with that. That's not that bad. What I can't cope with is the brain fog. I can't think stray. I'm irritable. I can't sleep. And it's the same with PMS. You know,

people are finding, like, my concentration's gone, my memory's gone, I'm moody and emotional, and that's what I can't cope with. Baby brain, is that to do with hormones? It is. Is it? Is it? Is it a real thing? Yeah, it's a real thing. Okay, I lost my car the other day and I was like, oh my God. This is, like, this is really bad, but my brain just doesn't work. And then the doctor said that I didn't know if he was just being a bit misogynistic or if he was right. And he was like, yeah, it shrinks the brain or something. And I was like, right. I don't know about that. But I couldn't argue. So it is a thing. Yeah, it is a thing. Again, like it's multifactorial, right? There's a lot going on. There's all the changes in your body, all the hormones and all that

sort of thing. So yeah, it does definitely affect, you know, focus, concentration, memory, all those sorts of things. And we blame ourselves for all these stuff. Like we're so mean to ourselves. Like if we don't, I don't know, achieve the same every day like robots. We're so mean to ourselves. But then it's like there's all these extenuating circumstances. Yeah. And I think like it's an opportunity. You know, you'd be like, well, okay, I'm, I'm a bit more forgetful than I was. You know, like, you know, one of the things I always do is, you're like, oh, in my 20s. In my 20s. I was really sharp in my 20s, you know. But then that's okay. You know, you've changed your body's changing, your mind's changing.

You've got different levels of wisdom. You know, I think as we get older, we get a bit more intuitive into our bodies with other people and things like that. I think it's just like trying to embrace that with every change, there's a new stage of life happening.

It's hard sometimes we're in the moment. If we're trying to reframe things, I think it feels better. I'm going to put you on the spot here with this one. But is there something that you wish women knew about hormones that they don't tend to know. Yes. So I feel that women don't maybe fully know

how important hormones are to every stage of their life. Because, you know, when we were younger, it's all about like your period. Then it's all about not getting pregnant. Then it's all about trying to get pregnant. And we just think about our hormones in terms of like fertility. And then it's about menopause and it all ending, basically. There's all this time in between where actually hormones have a massive impact. And I

think for myself, I wish I had known that before, you know, that it was affecting my focus, my concentration, you know, my mood, my energy, my muscle strength. And I think we don't really follow that. And it really does make a difference at every stage. And I think to know that, it can be quite empowering in a way. Because there's been times, you know, where say, I don't know, you you didn't do well on a test and maybe it was a certain time of the month or you know you end up having a fight with someone for no real reason you feel really awful about it after it's not excusing bad behaviour or anything like that but just knowing that hormones have an impact on all these areas you could maybe approach things in a different way I wish more personal trainers

knew that yeah like I always noticed that and there's I've been to it like before I was pregnant I trained a lot and since I've been pregnant it's actually just completely changed my outlook on my body I have massive much more respectful but I never gave a lot of weight to my different times in my cycle it's only now that I've realized

like how much the female body goes through yeah that I'm like oh my god as if they expect because men can perform pretty much same week and week out and we just can't do it no and it's crazy to expect that we can but the amount of gyms I was a member just before I got pregnant of a gym that every week they'd mark your progress

and I just think I look at it and be like women are set up to fail here because they measure if you can basically progress the weight throughout the month and it's just like we're not there's going to be a there must be a dip but then women are going to be so mean to themselves for not knowing that they're not going to smash a PB every week but some women like they're fine you know they do feel great just for their period and you know they can lift heavier and do everything that's great but not every woman can so yeah you're really

right you know if that's all you're measuring it on then you are sort of setting yourself up to fail yeah and you're being kind of set up by the trainers like what's wrong i just think varying your training throughout a cycle can be really useful yeah so like the week you're on your period you know you might go a bit lighter and then the ovulation weeks a week two you know that's when you've got your best energy so i'm like if you feel great just smash out all the hit that week and get it done and the week after maybe you want to go a bit more strength yeah and then the week before depending on how you're feeling if you're feeling great keep going with the strength yeah with the strength or you know hit whatever you want to do but if you're not feeling great that's okay so when

you say the week of your period so it was just super helpful for me to write down and remember forever but from the week of your period that would be like the day your period started that was when you do lighter exercise so basically like the day your period starts that's kind of like the lowest your hormones are yeah so you might feel fine maybe you weren't So if you, if you yourself, when you're tracking your cycle, you see, oh, I actually feel a bit tired and sluggish, you might want to like, I'm just going to do some yoga. I'm going to do some walking. You know, I might go swimming. I might do something like that. But if you feel good, obviously, carry on. And then after your periods, your hormones start gradually rising. And then the estrogen peaks around day 10 to 14. So day one is the first day you bleed. So 10 to 14 is 10 to 14 days after that. And then your progesterone starts rising after that. And then both start dipping after around that last week, basically, 21 to 28. Okay.

Yeah. And so what would you do in that last week? So again, depending on how you feel, if you feel great, keep doing whatever you want, you know. But if you're feeling a bit more tired, a bit more achy, some women get a bit achy before their periods because of the progesterone and the estrogen dipping, then maybe you do a bit more gentle stuff. So, you know, sometimes go to the PTO, look. I can't do my usual, let's do a bit more of a circuit or lighter weights or something like that.

Okay. Yeah. Useful. Thank you. We haven't touched on testosterone. We haven't. Which obviously we have as well. Obviously not to the same extent that men do.

Do you find that, because I think when I came to see you, my testosterone was almost at zero and you prescribed me a gel or like a cream. Do you find that women's testosterone in general tends to be on the low side? So testosterone can start dropping in women from your late 20s And it will be depleted if you're under a lot of stress as well Which we all are to a degree And women do need testosterone but not as much as men And the things it's good for We always just think about like sex drive libido

All that sort of stuff and it is important for that But it's also important for motivation Focus, concentration, burning fat, building muscle give you a bit of umph and spark as well. So it is an important hormone. And sometimes a lot of the mood stuff that people come with could be low testosterone. Maybe the testosterone's really low. Does that fluctuate throughout the month of testosterone? So it does peak around ovulation, which I feel a bit more horny during like ovulation, which is what biologically you should be feeling to try and get pregnant. But it's not massive fluctuations like the estrogen and

progesterone so it's kind of steady but it is a bit more mid-cycle okay and then it starts tailing off as you get older yeah so what age would you would you expect at one point in your life to have none um I checked mine not that long ago and it was like basically zero so yeah that's so interesting it's mad isn't it so bad as a kid would one have a lot of testosterone as a child like after puberty yeah you'd be like making testosterone from puberty Onward's. Yeah, yeah, you would. It probably peaks like in your 20s, but then from the late 20s, it can start going down. So it goes down quicker than the other hormones, basically. But yeah, it is really important for get up and go, your drive, all those sorts of things. I think it is worth looking at if that's something you're struggling with. Okay, that's so interesting. Perimenopause. Yeah. Lots of questions about this. Yeah. People asking, how do they know if they're, do you say in perimenopause? Yeah.

How do they know if they're close? How can you? It's a tricky one. So I'd say the first thing to do would be to look at what's going on with your cycle. Is it shorter than it used to be? That's often a sign that your progesterone's fluctuating. You're making less hormones. So your period's gone from, you know, people would say I was really regular,

28 days and now I'm like 24 days or 26 days, that can be a sign that you're sort of like entering that time. And also if your PMS has changed in some way, so you're getting more PMS or it's lasting a longer period of time or some of the things we've already talked about like the brain fog or you know, my memory's not as good. I'm not as sharp. That's maybe all signs you're entering perimenopause. And in a way, it's good to know because there are things you can do about it now if you go see your GP and things. In the past, it would be like, don't come and see me till your periods have stopped. You know, well, normally when things start getting better, you know, it's a bit before they stop where things are not as good necessarily.

There is now GPs will see people who are in perimenopause and just help to regulate what's going on there. Okay. And do you recommend H.R.T for perimenopause. I do recommend HRT for perimenopause. but I think the way that I work, I'd specifically look at what symptoms that person's having sort of tailor it to that. So because like we were saying, everyone's so individual. So if I give someone a lot of estrogen,

you know, they might feel a lot worse, but somebody else they might feel a lot better. So I kind of want to look at the individual when I see them and then kind of tailor it towards what's going on with them. And I know there's, I mean, I don't know, I think that there's a lot of conflicting. information about HRT and whether women can remain on HRT long after menopause.

Do you have a stance on that? Like, what camp do you fall into there? So the guidelines have just changed this year. So it used to be like, it can be on HRT for five years and then that's it. No more HRT. But the guidance has now changed because all the research shows that actually if you start HRT at the right time, which is like perimenopause or at the beginning of your menopause, and then stay on it.

It's got really good benefits for your brain health, your heart health and your bones. And those three things are like major issues in older women, like old women falling over, fracturing their hip, going into hospital and sadly never coming out, having to go to a nursing home. Demanches in women really go up. We think it's due to the lack of estrogen in the brain.

And like women have really good heart health up until menopause. And then they overtake men in the heart. attack camp so like it's really important to look at like the bigger picture for like women's health so it's really great that the guidelines have changed now and if you start HRT at the right time and you're happy on it and you feel well you can stay on it long term and that's something I've been working with patients on for for a while anyway that's great that's good to know my mum's been on it for a very long time as well and her GP has been saying to you need to get off you need to get off and she really just doesn't want to because yeah she doesn't need to know

Okay, I'll tell her. Yeah. This one's asking for a friend. But you said before, if you're approaching perimenopause, that's the right way to say it, but your periods can get shorter, your cycles can get shorter.

This is where I'm asking for a friend. What happens if your cycles are getting longer? Because, I mean, mine are like really long now. Your friends? My friends. Excuse me. My friends cycle. Like really long.

now and very irregular at the same time and I said like what can cause that I know that's a big question but what could be factors that could cause that it could be sort of a hormonal change perimenopausal change or something like that because everybody is different like I was saying um so what I would want to do is I'm sure you are doing it tracking your cycle and tracking how you're feeling around it, maybe get some form of hormone test to see what's going on there as well and then seeing what we could do to regulate your hormones better. And I don't necessarily mean taking the pill because the pill's going to shut off your natural production. Sometimes I use like the body identical hormones to like kind of mimic a cycle and then that might trick your brain into regulating

the way you make the hormones. So there are things that you can do about. it. But it's also like how you feel around it. Like if you feel fine anyway and you're happy just to monitor it, we could do that. But if it's sort of like troubling you that you're not having a regular cycle, we can try and see what we could do to regulate it a little bit. Yeah, it's, it's concerning when it doesn't come and you're waiting for it to come and it's, you know, and at some point, sorry, this is a little bit deep, but at some point we all want to like try and have a you know try for a baby at some point but without a regular cycle it kind of that feels impossible it's because it's like if I'm not having a regular period surely

I'm not regularly ovulating I mean I don't really know enough about this but that's that's kind of like what I thought so yeah it's all just a yeah so I mean you know obviously you know you've you've said you've been through sort of the the egg harvesting and things like that and really you know so that's obviously really positive that, you know, that's one less thing to worry about in some ways. And then what we'd want to do is just keep your womb healthy. Because like a woman at any age can carry a baby if her womb is healthy. So, you know, it can feel, it's very emotive, isn't it?

We're talking about changes in our body and when that's like affecting the goals that we have, especially as women for fertility and things like that, you know, does play on your mind. Like, oh, something's changed in my body. What does that mean? Is that going to affect my future plans? and things like that. But if we sort of broaden the scope, you know, what you've done is so empowering and positive, you know,

for future you, basically. And just keeping your womb healthy, that's definitely something that can be done so that what you want can be achieved. So I think the, yeah, I think like I saw someone like yesterday who was really worried because she's just been diagnosed with polycystic ovaries and she's like 34. And she's like, that's it.

It's all over. I'm too old. I should have done something sooner and I've got polycystic. ovaries. And I'm like that, that is not the case at all because polycystic ovaries really worries people. I'm like, there's no reason that, you know, if you wanted to do egg freezing, you couldn't do that with polycystic ovaries or just try naturally. We'll try and get your hormones back in sync. We're going to work on a few lifestyle changes to get your body as healthy as possible. And, you know, there's no reason why that's going to stop her conceiving. So,

but I think that's actually probably the main reason she came in because she thought like, miss the boat now what am I going to do and I was just like that's not the case at all and if I really did think that I would tell someone in a nice way because I don't think it's fair not to tell somebody if have them living in false hope you know so so I've tried to be honest with people if they're worried about something in particular okay that's actually really nice to hear that's like a nice positive outlook that's very nice so for people who are listening to this and thinking sounds to me like I need to get my hormone levels checked so I need to look into this because something's not right

especially tracking my cycle and there are certain times of my cycle where I don't feel good, I don't feel right I need to do something about it. As you said, I think, did you say that it's not possible to go to your GP and ask for hormone tests? It's unlikely they're going to do that

because they sometimes do a hormone check for fertility but normally, you know, that's like if you've been trying for a long time, they normally do a hormone check if you think it might be polycystic ovaries but otherwise they don't just do like hormone checks is like kind of against the guidance at the moment right but there are ways that you could get a hormone check if that's something you wanted to do um obviously like it's useful if there's someone who can interpret the results for you of course but like people come and see me for that you can go

to places like medic checks and get hormone checks that quite sort of cost effective um there are other sort of tests you can do online things like the Dutch test which is a dried urine test complete hormones that measures your stress hormones and your female hormones and things like that so obviously all that's useful but you know you obviously want to work with someone who can interpret them for you as well right because it's one thing having a test done is nothing knowing what to do with it but yeah there are ways of getting things checked if that's something you want to do okay and there is stuff you can do right like if there is it's not like this is just your lump in life, like you can, you can change your hormones. Yeah, definitely. That's so nice. Definitely. So it's

not like, you know, when I hear women who are like, not necessarily patients in my, you know, if you're out and about and people are like, oh, I'm having like terrible PMS. So that's just the way it is. And I'm like, yeah, that's not just the way it is. Like you don't have to live like this having like some women like their PMS is like two weeks out of a month. So I'm like, so basically you feel awful for six months of the year. Yeah, half your life. It's awful. And I'm like, we as women, we just like, feel like, oh,

my lot in life as a woman. I've got to deal with these periods and do all this other stuff I've got to do. And it's just part of being a woman. I don't agree with that. I'm like, that's like kind of being negative about being a woman. I think there's loads of amazing things about being a woman. But I think we need to empower ourselves to kind of take control of our hormones a little bit to really harness their power.

because like lots of beautiful things come from our hormones like you know empathy and nurturing and creativity and things like that do they yeah for sure but if the only thing you're focusing on is like you're heavy bleeds and like your awful PMS you're missing all the good stuff so that's I feel really passionately about like educating people about their hormones and you know helping people like balance them because like so much beauty can come out of it I think there's so much stigma in it as well like and I don't think my sister will mind me saying but like so I told you before we've recorded that she's just been diagnosed polycystic ovaries and she has had the worst periods throughout her life and they've been checking or trying to diagnose endometriosis or whatever and

like that's just you have to do so much self-advocation for that but she I have had to push her and my mom has had to push her like it's literally been like pushing water up a hill because she's just like it's fine it's fine and it's like oh my god it's not fine. You're not fine. You're exhausted. You're so sick. Like she's physically throws up from how bad her periods are. Like they're so debilitating. Have been for years and years. But there's this just shame, I think, and like hopelessness that a lot of people feel. And it's only been in the last, I don't know, a few months. And we, mum and I really put her foot, feet. Just go and deal with this or whatever. And she did go and find help. And she's

obviously now got this diagnosis and she's on the marina coil and everything's better. But or getting better. But I just imagine for people listening, I just want to put my sister on blast basically and say like you're not on your own if you feel like there's, because I think it can feel really overwhelming and kind of embarrassing and a bit hopeless for people.

And like, look, you know, nobody enjoys going to see a stranger and telling them about like their vagina and like they're bleeding and their sore boobs and how they like turn into a maniac for two weeks of a month or something like that, right? it's embarrassing and like sometimes it's like, look, I just don't want to acknowledge it and maybe it'll just go away. So I understand all those things. I think the other problem is, like you said,

you've got to advocate for yourself a lot. And, you know, sometimes you've got to go armed with your own research. I'm not saying it's right, but, you know, sometimes it's useful to do that and you go with your own research. And, you know, I've looked into this and I've seen this and I found this article and and this is what I want tested and you know I was speaking to someone the other day and they think they might have fibroids so they went to see the GP and I'm like but they didn't do a scan or didn't refer you for a scan it's like no but they said I don't have fibroids because my smear was normal I'm like yeah that's not how you test for fibroids I'm like you have to go back and like asks for something specific really put and you'd recommend really pushing for

I think if there's something you're really worried about and like I know the NHS is under a lot of pressure. I'm not denying that. But if there's something that's going on for you and, you know, it's quite major, that's why I think, like, it's hard to get an appointment, right? So go with all the information you need and sort of advocate for yourself and explain why you want something done. And, you know, hopefully, you know, if you've got all the right information, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to be treated. You know, I think it's really important for us as women to sort of push for these sort of things. because it is important for us.

Yeah. I think it's really, my husband's been doing some work for his work about the gender pain gap, which I'm sure, like in your line of work, you must be very aware of. But I do think it's really interesting.

And actually it's been lovely watching him learn about it as a man who's got no reason to have ever experienced it. But I think for a lot of people, when they speak to maybe, and this is generalising, but older male GPs. And if you go and you say you've got a, you know, pain in your womb or whatever,

it's just so much more a part of, Because women are in pain, because periods are painful, pain is just so much more accepted for women. So if you go in and say, I've got pain, it's like, well, of course you have pain. You've got PMS. That's just unlucky. Like, you're a gal. So, yeah, like, it's empowering to hear you as a doctor advising and recommending self-advocation. Yeah. And I think that's where it's also useful to speak to your girlfriends. So if you're like, you know, oh, oh, I have pain around my periods. And you go, yeah, yeah, yeah, me too, me too. But like, I've, like, I've, like, collapsed on the floor and vomiting.

Oh yeah, I'm not. You know, so like that, no, no, that's too much. Maybe you should go see the doctor. Sometimes we're not sure what normal is, right? So like, until you actually speak to people about it, you're not sure what is normal and what isn't. Yeah. I know we have to wrap up and we're running out of time.

But looking at this question box, I feel like it would be remiss not to ask you about PCOS given the amount of people who are asking for any kind of tips or help with how to manage PCOS in, in any way, I think it, from the looks of it, people are quite desperate for some help. Are you able to give us that in a quick answer? I'll try my best. So polycystic ovary, ovarian syndrome is, you know, a syndrome.

It's just that. It can come and go. So the first thing to know is that if you have it at the moment, doesn't necessarily mean you're going to have it forever. I didn't know that. Yeah, that's good news, right? That's a positive thing. people always worry about it

I think first of all in terms of the symptoms because it can cause things like acne weight gain hair growth and things like that some people with polycystic ovarian syndrome have an insulin resistance which means insulin

the hormone you make to regulate your sugars just doesn't work as well this is what my sister has ah yeah okay so it can cause things like weight gain acne it can affect the hair growth and things like that as well So one of the things you can do is try and get your sugars a bit under control.

And of course it can be with diet and things as well. But, you know, there's a medication called metformin. And your GP can often prescribe that for polycystic ovarian syndrome. And that could help regulate the way you process sugar. So it might help some of the symptoms as well. So that's one option. There's a supplement called berberine that works in a really similar way. So if maybe you don't want to take a medication or you're not sure on it, maybe you could try some berberine first and see if that helps as well because it's, it very closely mimics the way metformin works.

Fertility is something people worry about and it's just like, just because you've got polycystic ovaries, it doesn't mean you're going to have a problem with fertility necessarily. So I think that's like really positive for people to know. So yeah, there's another supplement that can really help called enositol. And that can really help as well to regulate the cysts and also the way you feel around it. Some people have periods. Some people don't have periods. Obviously, it's harder to track what's going on if you're not having a cycle. But that can definitely help as well.

And really easy to say, but like cortisol, the big old stress hormone, that's going to have a really negative impact on what's going on. So as much as possible, I'd look at ways to minimize stress, whether that's like lifestyle change. bringing in a bit of yoga and meditation. I think all those things can be really helpful. And then in terms of things like diet, we have mentioned a few times like sugar, can be quite triggering, things like excessive alcohol and things like that.

But let's just start with the basics and be like, are you getting enough nutrition? Are you getting enough fruit and vegetables every day in terms of your nutrients? Are you getting enough protein? Because that's really important. And let's not shy away from healthy fats because healthy fats is really important for good hormone production.

So things like avocados, olive oil, things like that. So bring those things into your diet if you're not already because it might have a benefit. Okay. Brilliant. Thank you so much. I have like a thousand and one more questions, but we are going to have to let you go. But can you tell us where people can find you both online and in real life as well, please? So in real life, I'm based at a clinical Omnia Clinic in London in 19. Bridge. I see people in person and I also see people on Zoom and virtually. I'm active on

Instagram, Dr. Sahar underscore hormones and health. And yeah, people can go to my website and email me as well. So yeah, like I said, happy to help. I've got a book called The Tidness Cure, which looks at sort of medical issues around tiredness, but also lifestyle changes. And I've got a podcast actually. I didn't mention that. It's your hormones. So, yeah, maybe some people find that helpful because I generally talk to patients or people with hormone issues and we go through different things we've done to try and help them. Amazing. I'm going to listen to it. I can't wait. I love this stuff. Thank you so much for coming on and for talking to us. It's been brilliant. And I think we'll have to get you back if you were in mind at some point. Yeah, I'd love to. Thanks for having me.

Thank you. Should I delete that is part of the ACAS creator network.