If you’ve ever sat in a doctor’s office describing brain fog, mood swings, terrible sleep, and a body that no longer responds to anything you try — only to be sent home with a shrug and maybe an antidepressant — this one’s for you. Dr. Mary Claire Haver, Board-Certified OBGYN and Certified Menopause Specialist, is back for round two, and she came prepared.
In this episode, she breaks down the hormonal wildfire she calls ‘The Zone of Chaos,’ explains why perimenopause looks nothing like what your doctor was trained to treat, and gives you the actual language to walk into your next appointment and finally get some answers. Buckle up.
Episode Overview:
0:00 Intro/Teaser
4:35 The Zone of Chaos
9:19 How Do You Know You’re in Perimenopause?
12:57 “I Don’t Feel Like Myself” – The Universal Symptom
14:30 10 Doctors, Polypharmacy & a Hysterectomy
17:20 How to Get Answers
18:57 Your Brain on Perimenopause
22:34 The ADHD Connection
26:11 Bone Density & Muscle Mass
29:02 Calming the Chaos, Not Replacing What’s Lost
43:34 What Mary Claire Actually Does
52:53 Fasting, Menowashing & Your Bull$h!t Radar
56:03 A Letter to My 35-Year-Old Self
1:00:01 After Party: Dr. Stephanie’s Takeaways
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- The New Perimenopause by Dr. Mary Claire Haver
- The New Menopause by Dr. Mary Claire Haver
- The Galveston Diet by Dr. Mary Claire Haver
- Previous BETTER! episode with Dr. Haver
- Previous BETTER! episode with Dr. Lisa Mosconi
- The Menopause Society — menopause.org
- “Not feeling like myself” in perimenopause — what does it mean? Observations from the Women Living Better survey
- Determining the status of small dense low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level in women undergoing menopausal transition
- Menopause impacts human brain structure, connectivity, energy metabolism, and amyloid-beta deposition
- Menopause and Mental Health
Bio:
Dr. Mary Claire Haver, Board-Certified OBGYN and Certified Menopause Specialist, has devoted her adult life to women’s health. Dr. Haver has delivered thousands of babies, completed thousands of well-woman exams, counselled patients, taught residents, and done everything an academic professor and OBGYN could do. More at thepausewellness.com/provider/dr-mary-claire-haver/
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I’m Dr. Stephanie
Part geek, part magic, and all the way passionate about being a well-lived woman.
I want to throw my grandkids in the air in my 70’s. I want to be squatting even more weight than I am now, and putting my OWN luggage in the overhead bin. Sound like weird goals? For me these are just some of the little things that represent a life well-lived.
My health is MY job – I’ll be damned if I rely on luck, ‘good genes’ or a cocktail of drugs that over promise and under deliver.
The Betty Body is my first book-baby, and a collection of what I’ve learned after thousands of clinical hours, hundreds of conversations with the world’s top experts, and most importantly…
This book is an outline of what took ME from “rock-bottom health” at 38, to being my own version of a Betty in my perimenopausal mid 40’s. A woman who is physically strong, full of energy, enjoys mental clarity, great sex and a joyful family life. Is it all roses? Of course not. But I have the stamina and tools to deal with the push and pull of life so that it doesn’t turn into chronic stress.
I want this for you too. Let’s go Bettys!
