Meet Your New Bestie... Her Name's Winona and She's Absolutely Fabulous
Part 2 of Our Hormones & Hell Series: HRT... from Chaos to Calm
Fellow Empresses,
I don’t know about you, but I have been at full-scale war with my hormones since the age of twelve. From debilitating cramps to near-suicidal PMS and now menopause...
The data tells us that nearly all women who reach a certain age—the average being 51—will hit menopause. Of these, 75% will experience symptoms from the oft-lamented hot flashes and night sweats to others like weight gain, diminished libido, mood avalanches, relentless insomnia, chronic inflammation, and a whole marvelous suite of vaginal and urinary symptoms like burning, pain, and incontinence. Charming.
When I mentioned hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to my friends in the US who were going through ‘the pause’, most recoiled in shock. Was I trying to give them and/or myself breast cancer?
They’d immediately brush it off as they’d sit bleary-eyed, dripping sweat all over their brand-new Room&Board sofas. “It’s not that bad,” they’d say, “I don’t believe in putting hormones in my body.” They’d prefer to forfeit their sanity, their sleep, their sex lives, and sofas rather than take something prescribed by their doctor that we know when given to the right women, can be 98% effective. Really, people? I mean… even as far back as 1942, studies showed that HRT helps prevent osteoporosis and heart disease in postmenopausal women. What gives? How are we not even having the conversation?
So then I’d talk to my Frenchy women friends… And they’re like… “NOT take HRT? Are you CRAZY? Zats like choosing to go through the WINTER without SHOES! Why would you do such a foolish thing??? C’est dingue. Non, French women don’t do menopause zis way.”
And it’s true. Older French women are sexy and they know it. Just look at Juliette Binoche (58), star of Let the Sunshine In, a romcom about a mature woman looking for love; there’s model, songstress, and former First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, (55); the eternal Catherine Deneuve, (79); and First Lady Brigitte Macron (69), who is 24 years older than her husband and still bringing it to the global stage in skinny jeans and mini skirts.
Perhaps French fashion designer Delphine Grandjouan stated it best, "I see menopause as a time of empowerment for women, a spiritual awakening," she says. "Now in my 40s, I feel more connected with myself than I was in my 20s. I am an artistic person and work took everything from me. Now I give myself the right to do what I want and be who I am.”
And so in that spirit, at the ripe age of 52, in utter menopausal misery—from tidal night sweats that had me up changing clothes and sheets three times a night to a burgeoning Sahara in my nether regions (Hello, yes, Lawrence of Arabia?) to hormonal acne that refused all treatment—in a state of exhausted, skeptical desperation, I decided to give HRT a go. After doing some digging, I stumbled upon bioidentical treatment provider, Winona.
I completed my medical history in under ten minutes and the next day attended a short telemedicine appointment with the doctor, asked all my questions, and within three days—a blended HRT cream and a DHEA supplement arrived on my doorstep. Within a few months, with some slight adjustments to my dosages, I was night sweat-free, the stubborn hormonal acne was gone, my weight started to even out (primarily because I was awake enough to work out), and the feeling of constantly having sand in my undies had mostly subsided. For the first time in my life, I was at peace with my raucous hormonal self.
Now, I do not recommend things I have not personally kicked the tires on, but Winona actually works. The only kicker… on the website, it can be slightly confusing when you want to pause your shipping—so it’s best to make use of their live customer service chat—which is super responsive. So, that’s my story. For now, I’m giving Winona full-throated Empress “Huzzah!”
Ok, that’s the skinny this week. Stay tuned for our next dispatch on Naomi Watts’ company Stripes’ latest innovative solutions for all things going on down there. You won’t want to miss it.
Yours in Grandeur,
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