The M Factor: Tamsen Fadal on Menopause, Midlife, and Asking the Right Questions

I'm Dr. Smiromon Gyno Girl. super excited and thrilled to have my current, I'm saying I'm having brain fog. I'm super excited today.

Tamsen Fadal (: 00:05

Okay, yeah, I'm good.

Tamsen Fadal (: 00:21

That's, please, we always have it. Don't worry about that.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 00:24

my God, it's awful. I'm super excited to have an amazing guest today who's gonna talk to you guys all about menopause advocacy and shifting in the midlife. Most of you probably know her. I'd be surprised if you didn't. She has an amazing following, as you heard in my intro, and she's done amazing work. She's an amazing person to even ask questions to you because she is a person that asks a lot of questions and gets a lot of answers. So welcome to the show.

I'll do it like Oprah Tamsen, Fidel. No cars for you. Tamsen, so happy to have you on my episode today. I'm super excited to hear about all that you're doing. You're doing great things. You have millions of people that you impact their life every day. And so first of want to thank you for the work that you're doing in menopause advocacy. It makes our job easier as clinicians.

Tamsen Fadal (: 00:51

Thank you. I like that. That's awesome. That's, I know I was like, do I get a car?

Tamsen Fadal (: 01:12

Thank you.

Thank you.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 01:19

and doctors that are treating this. I've been treating this for 10 years down my office with sexual medicine and menopause and I've never seen people more informed and it's amazing and I love it. I love it. You know, I love when people come in so informed. So thank you so much.

Tamsen Fadal (: 01:23

Bye now.

Tamsen Fadal (: 01:27

Ugh, so good.

Tamsen Fadal (: 01:33

No, I love it. I was actually talking to a doctor a few nights ago and it was two of them actually, one from Miami and one from Los Angeles. And they were saying that people are calling, women are calling the offices now like, do you treat menopause? you know, are you educated about menopause? And I was like, that's amazing. That's so amazing to hear. So, well, thank you for everything you're doing to make sure that happens because it's taking all of us, every single one of us.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 01:49

Yeah, it is and it's great. It's cool that you're doing it because it's like really, yes. Yeah, absolutely.

Well, want everyone, for the people that don't follow you, which will be few and far between, but like for the people that don't know your story and like why you, you know, we'll talk about why you shifted into menopause advocacy, but I like for you to break down, I've heard your story where it's amazing and compelling about, you know, how you realized that you were in menop, perimenopause and then like eventually into menopause and how that worked for you. Like what was the moments and how did you navigate your own care?

Tamsen Fadal (: 02:21

Yeah.

Tamsen Fadal (: 02:25

Yeah, I didn't really know I was in perimenopause. I had endometrium polyps, so I bled like all the time, you know? But I did have like very abnormal heart, heavy bleeding for a long time. And I thought those were the polyps and I had no, I never knew the word perimenopause. But when I was 48 years old, I had an incident at the news studio when I was doing the live news one night and I ended up on the bathroom floor. And I went going, yeah.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 02:50

live. I mean, you're alive and it's crazy just to think about it. Yeah.

Tamsen Fadal (: 02:53

We're in a commercial break, but yeah, it was like during a live show and I never wanted to finish the show. And I had no idea at that point, like it wasn't like I went, I wonder if it's menopause. was nothing like that. I'm like, my gosh, something's wrong with me. And it was more, it actually more like my heart was racing out of control. I'd been having problems with my head. I'd been feeling like not confident at work because I couldn't remember anything. And, and even reading was difficult for me.

And so I wound up going to a couple of different doctors, went to a therapist, got them put on Lexapro, antidepressant. And I ended up doing blood work, blood panel. because I eventually ended up at my OBGYN and my, my patient portal, the OBGYN wrote in menopause, any questions? And those were the four words that were my patient portal. I know it's very funny. Now it's funny. Then I was like mortified. I was like, what do you mean I'm in menopause?

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 03:39

I every time I hear this, I'm like, are you talking to her? You know, it's, it's, yeah.

Tamsen Fadal (: 03:46

So that started me down the road of like, am I supposed to do? I lost my mother to breast cancer. I can't do any of these options that are out there because I was Googling like crazy. And then I realized I was really had no education about any of it. And that's when I went on this full-on launch to figure out what was going on, what was the best treatment for me and what I did and didn't know.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 04:09

What's interesting is because you said you were 48 when this happened, which you know, for me, right? Well, you know what? It's interesting because like, you know, I always tell like my late 30 year old patients that I see for anus, I give them a heads up because I'm like, if we give puberty talks, we should be giving peritops, right?

Tamsen Fadal (: 04:12

Yeah, perfect timing of menopause, you know.

Tamsen Fadal (: 04:25

Totally, I totally agree with you.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 04:27

Yeah. And so it's surprised. I'm always surprised to hear that like no one's talked to like no, clinician in your annuals or, know, I'm not surprised because I hear it every day, but it's still like, wow, I can't believe that people are just going in without even, you know, Hey, it's menopause, you know, deal with that kind of thing. and it's, it's, it's surprising to hear some of the comments that are made. And I'm not here to vilify doctors. I'm a doctor. don't like vilifying doctors. The reality is we know there's a issue when it comes to our education and, and how we don't get trained in this. And so most of us.

Tamsen Fadal (: 04:48

Of course, of course.

Tamsen Fadal (: 04:53

Yeah.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 04:56

our own training through the Menopause Society and the Issuationalities of the Organizations.

Tamsen Fadal (: 05:00

Yep. Yeah, I mean, this is the onus is all on doctors and on women to figure it out. And it just it just very infuriating.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 05:08

Absolutely. So you had all this incidences like what women talk. I mean, it's funny because this article just came out. I know if you saw it on CNN just yesterday. And it was saying that a new study in the menopause journal said that fatigue is a big symptom of menopause due to heavy bleeding like, are people not asking about bleeding every day? Like I'm a gynecologist. So obviously I do. Like, I'm sure like other people that treat menopause are not. I mean, to me it was like, this is not eye opening. I just made a real about it. you know, fatigue.

Tamsen Fadal (: 05:20

Yeah.

Tamsen Fadal (: 05:27

I know.

Tamsen Fadal (: 05:35

I know, I know, I know. had actually done one the day before it out about my bleeding and I didn't know about this, obviously. Isn't that crazy?

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 05:43

All right, so it's really high opening. So tell us, so you had these issues, you're concerned about it, what did you do after that? Like what was your next steps? Or how did you get help?

Tamsen Fadal (: 05:55

Yeah, know, I look, I was offered hormone therapy, but the concern that I had, the scare I had is I didn't have the right information. And so I thought I was not a candidate for it. And I tried any and everything else, spent a lot of money trying any and everything else and wound up right back at the doctor again with a discussion over hormone therapy. when that happened, I was like, okay, I've got an...

figure out what I don't know. I've been at that point doing a lot of conversations, a lot of interviews, trying to get a lot of information about it. And I wound up starting hormones after a doctor's like, are you just gonna keep suffer? Like you're putting yourself through this over and over again because you have wrong information. So I had a really great, you know, doctor that was very thoughtful about that. Eventually I got rid of the first doctor and you know, I had a couple of like things in between where I had somebody that was like, okay for...

$1,200 a month so we can give you pellets. I was like, don't even know. didn't know. There's just so many things. was going down all these roads to like feel better. And then I started on hormones. And then I kept talking about this over and over again. went on social media talking about it. And then just, think just being a journalist, my nature is to continue to ask questions. And that's how the documentary was born. And then also, the book, How to Menopause, because I couldn't stop asking questions. And that was, and it's funny.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 06:51

That's great.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 07:15

Yeah.

Tamsen Fadal (: 07:17

Somebody said to me recently, which I didn't even pull full circle. They were like, the doctor asked you that in menopausal questions. I was like, yeah, and I never stopped asking the questions. And I guess that's how it happens. I was like, I never put all that together. Yeah.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 07:25

Yeah.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 07:30

So like you totally pivoted your career, obviously. You are this amazing broadcast journalist and pivoted into a really hard line into menopause advocacy. But creating this M-Factor documentary was huge too. I mean, I'm going to see you in April when there's a screening here in Chicago. so I'm going to be on the panel there. And it's been city after city. You just keep hearing about it. how did you, like you obviously were asking the questions, but how did the actual M-Factor come full force or forward to your?

Tamsen Fadal (: 08:00

Yeah, one of my co-producers is also a journalist that came from the Today Show and she and I had been talking about it over and over and we're like, well, let's just put some videos together to help women answer questions like the very basic and just throw them up on social media and see if we can get as many doctors to talk and women to talk.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 08:00

attention.

Tamsen Fadal (: 08:19

And because we were asking the questions that we didn't have the answers to originally and realize that more and more women were asking questions and that there were so many different kinds of questions too, because it wasn't just the same one. So one was belly fat, one was brain fog, one was not feeling like myself, another one was workplace. So we knew there were like a lot of these different areas to tackle. And I wound up connecting with two women who have produced about 12 documentaries on the West Coast. They knew how to do that.

I came from news, I didn't really know how to do documentary. And the four of us decided to partner with each other instead of, you know, try to do two separate documentaries and bring the factor together. So we went, you know, we went around the country, we interviewed experts from the Menopause Society, Yale University, while Cornell, Johns Hopkins, a number of the top voices in the space.

We talked about to a workplace that had implemented a workplace policy. And then we wanted to talk about race and sex and brain health all throughout the doc. you only have a limited amount of time, but we tried to get as much in as possible. And I mean, there's so much more that I could have done a 10 hour documentary on it, honestly.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 09:26

Yeah, for sure. That's amazing. And so obviously that led to you wanting to write a book about it, I'm assuming.

Tamsen Fadal (: 09:33

Yeah, I was kind of doing it parallel paths because I, the documentary took so long. You know, we started this three years ago. And so at the time I was like, this, this is, I just love the interviews. And I realized that the documentary was only going to be a small number of interviews and areas that we could hit. But the book, knew I could go a lot wider and I could talk about some of the other things in midlife, like community and mindset and, and workplace and really dive into our mindset as women and how things come together in a midlife, how we're talking.

we're battling two things, battling ageism, and we're battling everything that's going on with a woman's experience, especially with women's health. So was important for me to be able to have that breadth to be able to do that. And so I decided I wanted a book that would allow all women to be an advocate for themselves, to be able to take charge of their health and do exactly what you're saying. Be more educated about what's going on so they don't come in and say, okay, whatever you say.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 10:27

Yeah.

Tamsen Fadal (: 10:27

And that's not to make women argumentative, but to make women feel like they can actually reclaim their lives at some point and feel better. And that was really the goal of it. I interviewed so many experts, 42 experts are in the book. And so I wanted to make sure it was wide ranging. I wanted to make sure we covered as many different things as we could cover. And then we have a big resources section in the back too, for anything that needs more attention to go into more detail.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 10:55

Yeah, that's amazing. What do you think, like, when you look back on your experience transitioning, like, what kind of difference did it make for you to go on home all day? Because it's not a magical, right? I always tell patients, is not a magical bullet. Like, it's, I mean, even myself, I'm in the middle of perimenopause. I'm tweaking my own medications every day, you know, trying to get this, at least, I mean, for me, like, irritability is like the worst. just like,

Tamsen Fadal (: 11:05

Oof, no, it's not. It's not.

Tamsen Fadal (: 11:12

down.

Tamsen Fadal (: 11:17

Yeah, I got it. I've been there.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 11:18

or the brain fog. But like, you know, what do you think was like the biggest battle for you when it came to your symptoms?

Tamsen Fadal (: 11:24

Yeah, I think the biggest battle, well, mine was brain fog, but it was really like remembering and that was really hitting my confidence, you know, because I would get on set and I wouldn't remember facts or I wouldn't remember things. So that was really, that was really bad. And so I think that was one of my biggest ones and sleep was the other one, I would say. mean, know, weight gain and all that has come with it. But I think that...

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 11:46

Right.

Tamsen Fadal (: 11:49

I think that those were the two really big ones that were really, really difficult. And hormone therapy really helped in terms of the sleep, obviously, in terms of the hot flashes that helped. I I think it helped me feel like I was back in control again and less irritable because I was getting sleep now. And I guess, you know, I had to do a lot of tweaking too, to be honest, because I had all sorts of issues with endometrium polyps that were growing and fibroids. And so I've had my own share of issues that came way before this.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 12:13

Yeah.

Tamsen Fadal (: 12:18

But it's really nice to be able to have a doctor that's like, okay, we've seen this happen and here's what's gonna happen next. Not like, maybe we should take you off, I don't know. And then when I went in to inquire about testosterone, after having a lot of conversations about it with Dr. Kelly Casperson and Dr. Rachel Rubin, I decided like, you know what, this is what I wanna do. And that's been a game changer for me as well.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 12:41

I agree. think for so many women, testosterone is like an additional thing they didn't even realize they needed. Yeah. Right. Yeah. My patients always tell me my vaginas become so high maintenance, like it's the greens. It's the thing. And I'm like, you you brush your teeth, you wash your face, you stick it in your vagina, you take your pinal, you fill it in that, you know, like, but this is

Tamsen Fadal (: 12:44

Yeah.

Tamsen Fadal (: 12:47

my gosh, I had no idea. took me forever and I was like, wait, what? What is that? Wait, now vaginal estrogen? What? So yeah.

Tamsen Fadal (: 13:00

I know.

Tamsen Fadal (: 13:05

I I gotta say, my routine went from five minutes of just brushing my teeth to 25, which kinda sucks. It's annoying.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 13:13

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, but you know what, if it brings us better quality of life, then I think it's an investment worth making. And I think everything you're saying is so true. Like when you talk about like tweaking, I mean, it is really precision medicine and it is a shared decision, right? Because I deal with patients all the time or even breast cancer survivors. And they're like, what about us or patients that are like in their sixties? Like, what about us? Like, did we miss the boat? And so again, it's really like, always say it's precision medicine. It's a shared decision making. get the, you get the information from us and from all you, everyone out there speaking so loudly.

Tamsen Fadal (: 13:20

Yeah.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 13:45

and then we have a discussion about it, right? We look at your specific situation. And so I'm glad to hear that you had that experience for you as well, because you know, lot of, I still see it in my OB-GYN groups and my Facebook groups with other clinicians and they're like, can I give this to a patient with a breast cancer history in her family? You know, and you're just like, okay, well, let's have a discussion about this, because it's more in depth than that. And so.

Tamsen Fadal (: 13:48

Right.

Tamsen Fadal (: 13:55

Mm-hmm.

Tamsen Fadal (: 14:03

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep.

It really is. It really, really is.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 14:12

Tell me a little bit about like, you know, because sometimes I feel like we leave and this happens because I do a lot of sexual medicine. This is my area of expertise. And so I always ask about partners, right? Like I'm always like, you know, if you're having a sex with men or they have any erectile dysfunction or there are other things going on. But what I find is that a lot of people like I think partners experience, they need to know this information. like, do you have any, have you looked at any way that we can get partners more involved in the knowledge process? Because like, you know, my husband will tell people straight up, yeah, she's an period menopause dude.

I can tell you. And even my kids are like, she knows mama has scary parry like these are like, I've this that's one thing.

Tamsen Fadal (: 14:49

I know. It's hard, I what did you say?

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 14:55

so how do you think we can like engage, you know, the if we're if it's a male partner you have, feel like it's a little sometimes with female partners, you can engage them a little bit more because they're likely to experience them themselves. But it does menopause doesn't just play a toll on you can play a toll on your relationship. You know, it's like women bear the burden of everything, right? They put everything on their shoulders, taking care of jobs, kids, parents, you know, everything, you know, trying to figure out divorces, trying to figure out all the things. And so I always say you throw in a little bit of hormonal dysregulation.

Tamsen Fadal (: 15:02

Yeah.

Tamsen Fadal (: 15:11

Yeah, of course.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 15:25

It's a real shitstorm of stuff happening. And so how do you, how would you call it?

Tamsen Fadal (: 15:28

Yeah, yeah, it is. It is. I think it's communication. I'm sorry, it's communication with them. It's not being afraid that there's some kind of shame around all of this. I think with my husband, I've talked a lot about it with the documentary. We've seen a lot of men show up now. I we had an all male audience, which I thought was so cool. Yeah, it was a men's group.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 15:51

You did? Wow! Okay. That's really cool actually.

Tamsen Fadal (: 15:54

that came, isn't that unbelievable? That came together. And I didn't even know it was happening, like when we approve all the screenings or whatever, because it was important for us to like let communities take them. And I didn't know it was an all men's group. And then they arrived at an event and they told us, and I was like, oh my gosh, I wish I had been there. Like that is such a cool thing. I would have liked to see what all the guys were asking, you So I feel like.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 16:01

Yeah.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 16:14

That's so cool.

Tamsen Fadal (: 16:19

I feel like men are asking the questions and I think that that is a really, really big deal and I think it's gotta be further and faster, but I think it's a really big deal.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 16:28

I mean, I have to say I have more partners that come in nowadays, they're, you know, like, how can I help her navigate? Like, what can I do? So I think that's very important to tell us about this menopause party you have, like, how did that come into fruition? It was last week, right? Or two weeks ago?

Tamsen Fadal (: 16:34

Yep. Yep. Yep.

Tamsen Fadal (: 16:42

You know, I said we need to have a celebration. Two weeks ago, yeah. I said I wanted to be a place so we can celebrate this and it was an idea that just kept coming into my head and then we just executed it and said, if you want to come, come and we want everyone to show up. We wanted to give people information for free and that's what we did and I'm excited and I'd love to be able to do it again. Though my team might kill me, but I saw them give it a little beat, but I would like to do it again.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 17:03

How many people showed up? you have statistics on it?

Tamsen Fadal (: 17:09

We had 60,000 people opt in to it. And so I don't know exactly how many were in and out because they were in and out all day long. It was a five hour party, but yeah, it was pretty amazing. It was pretty amazing.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 17:18

wow. And what about your factor statistics? Like where, how many cities has it been in?

Tamsen Fadal (: 17:23

Yeah, the M factor has been great. So we've been in over 400 plus cities and 40, I think we're at 42 countries. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, not, not us personally, but the film. Yeah. Yeah. Isn't that amazing? 42 countries. And so a lot of the countries, yeah, it's been translated. Yeah, it sure has. And so a lot of the, I'm sorry, I have brain fog.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 17:29

400? Wow. 42,000? No, but like the film itself. wow. So is it getting translated?

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 17:49

Yeah.

Tamsen Fadal (: 17:49

A lot of the communities, I was like, a lot of the communities, they took it, they brought it in, they had the theaters and they were part of the party too. They came into the party and said hello. So Jamaica came in, it was really cool. It was really fun.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 18:01

that's really cool. Yeah, awesome. so, what are you thinking about doing next? you just launched your own podcast, right?

Tamsen Fadal (: 18:10

Yes, I just launched my own podcast and then I'm going on book tour. So I'm starting March 25th. So the book is on sale now and I'll be going around the country and then I'll see you. it's officially out March 25th.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 18:14

Okay.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 18:18

It's officially out, right? March 25th. Okay, awesome. Awesome. Can't wait to see that.

I love your series that you do on Instagram sometimes you're like, if I could tell my 35 year old self this or I can, if I, you know, if I could go back and, know, so what are some of the top tips? Cause I think you've done a couple of times at different ages. Like, what do you feel like you, if you have like, say, you know, I have a lot of younger listeners that talk, cause I talk a lot about sex, what would you, what's your advice to them? Cause I mean, you know, again, I feel like the revolution's happening and things are changing and so people are learning about it. But they're probably, you know, there's tons of people still in the dark.

Tamsen Fadal (: 18:32

Yeah.

Tamsen Fadal (: 18:43

Yeah.

Tamsen Fadal (: 18:52

Yeah.

Tamsen Fadal (: 18:56

Yeah, first I would say like, love this part of your life, like love this part of your life, even as hard as it might seem sometimes. And I would also say that like, you don't have to get everything done right now, there's gonna be a lot of time to do it. And don't put that extra stress on yourself. And have some of that quiet time to get to know yourself a little bit too, because I think that that's where we succeed in life when we quiet down the noise just a little bit.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 19:22

Yeah, absolutely. tell me like, did you like, how did you like, because it takes a lot of intestinal fortitude to like shift what you're doing in life. And I talked to a lot of midlife women who are shifting what they're doing, they go from X to, you know, to becoming their own entrepreneur. And, and so that's what you did. And so like, how did you like come to the idea that this was something that you'd be successful at? I because you're, you're so successful at what you're doing right now too. And that's always a scary part when you're starting. Yeah.

Tamsen Fadal (: 19:49

I didn't know at all. No idea. I mean, it's still every day. I'm still like, wait, what? But, you know, I think I have faith in what the message is. And that's really guided me. It's really been the first time in my life that anything like that's ever guided me. So it's it's been a learning curve for sure.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 19:52

Yeah.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 20:06

Yeah, absolutely. mean, and what do you think we, like, how do think we should continue to push forward with this? I mean, do you have ideas in terms of, mean, I just.

Tamsen Fadal (: 20:14

I think doing exactly this, having voices out there encouraging women to take charge of their health and not be afraid to speak up. Honestly, we have to make some noise with all of this and we have to keep insisting on new research and insisting on new data and paying attention, not saying like, okay, anything we did a long time ago, that just stands forever. We need to have new research and new studies. The world has changed. To think that we don't is naive.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 20:36

And I think that's what's difficult.

And I guess, you what I see so many of my patients, because obviously I live in Chicago, very like sheltered blue state that I live in, or blue city at least I live in. And so a lot of my patients are really scared, you know, because they're like, what's going to happen with research? What's going to happen with my IUD? What's going to... And so I think, you know, the question is really like how to continue advocating and, you know, I'm not trying to get political, but obviously there's some political like stuff happening that is inhibiting women's health and really our reproductive rights, of course. But how would you say like, you know, the best way that we should...

I mean, I think that's something that I'm always grappling with, like, what else can I do?

Tamsen Fadal (: 21:17

You know what, I think moving forward, not being afraid to talk, going into a workplace and having the conversation and having it in community, because I think community is what's going to spread everything.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 21:28

Yeah, I'm kidding. That's true. I mean, because a lot of the stuff that we do with our all of the like, let's talk metaphors, all of the different organizations, it's just a bunch of women coming together, right. And they're so excited to like have the idea that they're not the only ones going through this and that it is, it's, it's common. And so that's one thing, but it's not something you have to suffer through. What do you tell people that don't have access to some of this? Like, you know, especially like in some of the states that don't that still have these pockets of we call them deserts, like

either sexual medicine or menopause in deserts, how would you tell those people that reach out to you?

Tamsen Fadal (: 22:05

my gosh, I think reach out, look for telehealth, make sure that you get to somebody to talk to and ask around in your community, because oftentimes you'll find the best person right there. If a friend, those are the best references, I think, at a ball.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 22:20

Yeah, that's very true. think that's the thing. think social media has been revolutionary for so many people. The telehealth community is great, think, for especially gaining that access. You know, it's a good first step in getting that care. And there's so many great telehealth organizations out there now. And so I think.

Tamsen Fadal (: 22:28

Yep. Yep.

Tamsen Fadal (: 22:37

Yes.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 22:39

What about when people look at different posts on social media? All the social media posts sometimes it's like a war between different people, like protestant, antitestinal. You see all these people that are posting all these different things. You are a journalist who knows how to discern evidence-based information from not or discern, trying to find the truth. I think there's so much misinformation as a clinician that I see.

Because unfortunately, women's health and women's wellness is such a predatory field, right? It's really a field where people can, you know, make a lot of money, which is happening for so many companies, which is amazing. But I have women all the time, they're like, how do I know? Like, I hear this from this person, I hear this from this person. Like, how, what would you tell those patients or women that may talk to you?

Tamsen Fadal (: 23:32

Women that feel confused by all the different information. Yeah, I know. It's really hard. It's really hard. think, you know, I always look to the Menopause Society for guidelines. I think that that is really important. I look to physicians that are educated and have educated themselves. I try to make sure that if I see something that looks like too good to be true, like this is going to solve all your symptoms. This is all you need.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 23:34

Yeah, but all the information, right? Like there's some so much misinformation out there about

Tamsen Fadal (: 23:58

There's no pill, there's no pill that's gonna solve menopause. And I think you have to be really aware of that because that always scares me a little bit, a lot.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 24:08

this true. And I think that's why, like I said, the patients who come to me are so distraught because they're like, I don't know who to believe. Can you tell me? And so I think that's what's hard about sometimes with social media is because there's so many voices that you don't know which one. Tell me in terms of what you've done. Obviously you talked about menopausal, hormonal therapy, estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, if you know, with your uterus is still intact. What other things are you implementing? Because like we know, it's not just one thing. It has to be lifestyle changes. It has to be

you know, stress reduction, all the things. What other guidance can you give our listeners to kind of get a bigger picture of the other tools that you yourself are using or that you yourself in your research have found to be helpful?

Tamsen Fadal (: 24:52

Yeah, I mean, my tools come from, you know, what I'm doing, what I'm putting into my body, how I'm working out. I take some supplements. I don't take tons of them. I really try to up the protein. That's where the supplementation for me comes in because I don't eat meat. And so I need that extra help. And then I try to be really aware of what I'm doing in terms of stress in my body and how I'm managing it so the cortisol doesn't go crazy. Though these last few weeks have been a little stressful,

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 25:18

Yeah. Yeah. Tell us all the things that you've been doing these last few weeks. I mean, other than the medical right. Okay.

Tamsen Fadal (: 25:23

Yeah, the menopause party was pretty much it, but it was a lot, and it was fun, and I loved it. I loved it. And I'm so appreciative to you for having me on.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 25:32

Of course. Is there anything else that, you know, my tagline as you'll hear is like, I'm here to educate so you can advocate. What other things would you tell listeners the best way to advocate for themselves?

Tamsen Fadal (: 25:45

Know your symptoms. Don't be afraid to talk about them and make sure if you see another woman that's in need that you step in and help her as well.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 25:54

Yeah, absolutely. And I find a lot of the people that I see are just like friends of my other patients because it's just like that's how women are now starting to talk about it and the conversation's open.

So, but I think that's actually a great message. And I really appreciate Tamsen, everything you're doing. I wanna be cognizant of your time, because I you're super busy, so I appreciate you like squeezing in a half hour for me today. Let me know, know, if we can be an resource for you. I'll put all your information in the show notes so people know how to get your book. And I can't wait to see you in April. Is there anything else that you wanna leave out, leave a message for the listeners that are listening today?

Tamsen Fadal (: 26:32

No, I just want you to, you know, take care of yourself, take care of your health and listen to your gut because you know best.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 26:38

Absolutely. I always tell patients that too, because that's why we should believe patients when they tell us things, because they know their body. Absolutely.

Tamsen Fadal (: 26:45

Yes. Yes.

Dr Sameena Rahman (: 26:47

Well, thank you once again. I appreciate you being on my episode today, my podcast. And remember, I'm Dr. Smith, I'm a gyno girl. I had Tamsen Fadal on today. She did an amazing discussion. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Remember, I'm here to educate so you can advocate for yourself. Please join me next week for another episode of Gyno Girl Presents, Sex, Drugs, and Mormons. Thank you.

Tamsen Fadal (: 27:11

Thank you so much.