Understanding Perimenopause Timing and Symptoms

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This week on Live Well Be Well, I'm joined by the extraordinary Dr. Nighat Arif, NHS GP, women's health advocate, author of The Knowledge and the brand new The Family Health Bible, and one of the most courageous voices in medicine today.

Dr. Nighat has spent nearly two decades in the NHS holding space for the women the system has failed and she's built an online community of millions by doing exactly what she does in her surgery: speaking honestly, clearly, and without shame about the things nobody else will say.

Here's What We Dive Into:

- How a dare from Dr. Nighat's sister during lockdown sparked a global conversation about vaginal dryness and why she chose to begin it in Punjabi.

- Why perimenopause can begin as early as 38 to 40, and what the research says about Black and Asian women going through this transition two to five years earlier than average.

- How medical gaslighting and medical misogyny show up in real consultations including Dr. Nighat's own experiences of being dismissed as a patient, both for PCOS and for lichen sclerosis.

- Why Dr. Nighat now recommends that women start moisturising their vulva and vagina from the age of 20, and which ingredients to avoid.

- How the vaginal ring works, why it's barely spoken about, and why the seven-day pill break has more to do with the Pope than with medicine.

- Why Trump's defunding of women's health research and the framing of female bodies as a "business opportunity" is one of the most urgent issues facing medicine right now.

Love,

Sarah Ann 💛

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If You Enjoyed This Episode, You Might Like:

Why You Still Can’t Orgasm (The Step-By-Step Guide) | Dr. Laurie Mintz, Sex Therapist

https://youtu.be/gr6RWK2LFJE

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Intro (00:00)

A Sister's Dare That Started It All (03:24)

Your Hormonal Journey from Puberty to Perimenopause (09:45)

When Your GP Won't Prescribe HRT (12:18)

Gaslighting and Misogyny in the NHS (21:32)

Why the NHS Wasn't Built for Women (26:59)

Why Your GP Is Both Scientist and Human (35:09)

Why Midlife Is the Bottom (And It Gets Better) (44:06)

The Neuroscientist Who Reframed Menopause (47:45)

Why Googling Your Symptoms Isn't the Enemy(50:36)

Who Actually Owns the Vulva? (58:22)

Vulva Cancer and the HPV Vaccine Gap (01:03:25)

How to Moisturise Your Vulva (01:11:50)

The Vaginal Ring Nobody Talks About (01:17:33)

When Governments Defund Women's Health (01:28:58)

Pockets, Suffragettes, and Silencing Women (01:34:56)

Stop Doomscrolling, Start Living (01:40:11)

Why Spiritual Connection Matters (01:50:09)

The Fight for Equity in Women's Healthcare (01:53:25)