Menopausal Hormone Therapy: Managing Side Effects with Carla DiGirolamo, MD, PhD (Episode 219)

Hit Play Not Pause

Health & Fitness, Education, Self-improvement, Mental Health

4.9 • 696 Ratings

🗓️ 26 March 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Women go on hormone therapy to manage peri/menopause symptoms and feel better. But sometimes to their surprise, they feel worse. Or some symptoms go away while others pop up. That’s because of the hormones! We have hormone receptors all over our body and whenever we switch up the signals they’re receiving, whether through the menopause transition itself or through the hormones we use, they’re going to respond to those changes, and sometimes not in the way we want. Most side effects are manageable with time or by dialing in delivery methods and/or doses. It’s just important to know what to expect. We talk all about it this week with our resident menopause specialist Dr. Carla DiGirolamo.

Carla DiGirolamo, MD, PhD, is a Double Board Certified Reproductive Endocrinologist and Obstetrician/Gynecologist specializing in infertility and menopausal medicine. She is also a Crossfit Level 1 trainer, Certified Nutrition Coach, and member of CrossFit Health. She is a MedFit Care provider and provides weekly workouts and medical updates at her Substack Athletic Aging. She is an Endocrine Consultant for Wild Health. Most recently, she has launched her own private practice specializing in helping active and high-performing women reach their performance potential from puberty through menopause. Dr. DiGirolamo is now seeing patients for virtual consultations for menopausal care and performance optimization. Visit her website www.drcarlad.com to learn more about her services and schedule an appointment.

Enroll in our Navigate Menopause Course - https://www.feistymenopause.com/navigate-menopause

Subscribe to the Feisty 40+ newsletter: https://feistymedia.ac-page.com/feisty-40-sign-up-page

Feisty Menopause: @feistymenopause

Hit Play Not Pause Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/807943973376099

Support our Partners:

Hettas: Use code FEISTY20 for 20% off at https://hettas.com/

Midi Health: You Deserve to Feel Great. Book your virtual visit today at https://www.joinmidi.com/

Nutrisense: Go to nutrisense.io/hitplay and use code: HITPLAY to get $125 off

Previnex: Get 15% off your first order with code HITPLAY at https://www.previnex.com/

Paradis Sport: Use code: FEISTY20 for 20% off any single item at https://paradissport.com/

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Spotify Ad Analytics - https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/ad-analytics-privacy-policy/
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
Podscribe - https://podscribe.com/privacy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You are listening to Hit Play, Not Pause, a feisty menopause podcast for active performance-minded women.
0:14.6	I am your host, Celine Yeager. Each week, I bring you advice from athletes, scientists, researchers, and other experts to help you feel and perform you best no matter what your hormones are doing.
0:25.0	This show is a production of Live Feisty Media.
0:29.9	Hello, strong feisty women.
0:32.3	Welcome to Hit Play Not Pause, the podcast that won't give you nausea, random bleeding, or sore breasts, at least not
0:39.5	intentionally. All right, seriously, this week's show is brought to you by request from, well,
0:46.9	actually brought you by request from quite a few of you in our community who asks that I do a show
0:53.0	talking about the potential side effects
0:55.1	of hormone therapy. And I just want to say, before we get too far into it here, right at the
0:59.3	top, because I know that some people get concerned that when we talk about side effects or
1:05.3	risks that we're dissuading people or maybe scaring them away from getting the care they need,
1:10.2	this is not 100% not designed to do any of that.
1:14.6	I actually think every single woman should have a visit with her doctor when she turns 40 or any time she's approaching or has gone into menopause to have a very thorough, nuanced discussion about hormone therapy.
1:28.1	And I think hormone therapy is an essential tool,
1:31.3	an essential not in that everybody needs to be on it,
1:33.6	but essential in that it belongs in all of our toolboxes
1:37.8	as something that we can consider.
1:40.0	So that's where I stand on that.
1:42.4	I wanted to say that right up top to make it clear.
1:44.6	What I don't love and what this conversation addresses as well is that women aren't given these thorough discussions of hormone therapy.
1:54.3	So they leave the office or they pick up their prescription and they start using it.
1:59.2	And sometimes they feel better quickly, which is
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -5 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Hit Play Not Pause, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Hit Play Not Pause and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.