The Menopause Journal

HRT not working? The NHS says HRT can take up to 3 months to work fully, and that if you don't feel better after that, your doctor may suggest changing your dose or switching to a different type. Some women don't absorb oestrogen well through the skin. Getting HRT is...

Is it perimenopause or stress? It can be both, and a hard year hides perimenopause very well. The NHS names anxiety, low mood and mood swings among the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause, and they look a lot like the strain of a divorce, a heavy workload or a...

Some trust badges judge an app’s privacy by reading its privacy policy. Others scan the app to see where your data really goes. How to tell the difference, and five questions to ask before you trust one.

If you forgot to take progesterone last night, take the missed capsule as soon as you remember, unless it's nearly time for your next dose. If it is, skip the missed one and take the next at your usual time. Don't take two to make up for it. That is the NHS advice for...

If you forget your HRT, what to do next depends on which HRT you take and how long ago the dose was due. Woken up thinking, "I forgot to take my HRT last night"? The patient information leaflet inside your specific HRT sets out what to do for a missed patch, gel,...

Tracking HRT patches, gels and sprays is harder than it sounds. Each one runs on a different rhythm: a patch changes about every 3.5 days, a gel or spray is daily, and progesterone follows its own monthly cycle. Here is how to keep all of it in one clear record, so...

What I wish I'd known from a husband who's been through it. Kate writes most of what appears here. But this piece isn't hers. She's handed it to Brent - TALIA's technical architect, and the person who watched all of this unfold from the other side - because that...

Your doctor has ten minutes. What you bring into that room determines the outcome. There is a particular kind of appointment that women navigating perimenopause know well. You have waited weeks to get it. You have been preparing what to say. There is a lot riding on...

The common symptoms of the menopause come from changing hormone levels, especially fluctuating and eventually declining oestrogen and progesterone. That’s often why symptoms feel inconsistent and hard to make sense of -  and why tracking over time can reveal patterns...

Memory is not a reliable symptom record. Noticing that something feels wrong is one thing. Being able to show a GP exactly what has been happening — how often, how severely, and what seems to make it worse — is another entirely. When a GP asks how you have been...

Why knowing about perimenopause isn’t the same as recognising it. Why perimenopause is so often missed, even by the women living through it, is something I learned the hard way. I didn’t recognise perimenopause when it started. I soldiered on until it literally took...

Most women don't start tracking symptoms at the beginning of their transition through menopause. Because most women don't even know they are perimenopausal — just that life isn't easy and they don't feel like themselves. Sleep has been off for months. Anxiety comes...

Do menopause apps sell your data? It's something most of us have never stopped to think about. But if you're tracking symptoms, HRT and cycles on an app, it's worth understanding exactly where that data goes, and who can see it. Your menopause data shouldn't be...