05/20/2026
There’s a window. And most women don’t know it exists until it’s already closed.
The data is clear: hormone replacement therapy started within 10 years of menopause is protective - for your heart, your bones, your brain.
Started after that window? The math gets harder. The risk-benefit shifts. The conversation gets more nuanced.
But here’s what frustrates me as a physician: Most women are still being told to wait. To push through and come back when they’re really suffering.
That’s the wrong move.
By the time you’re in the thick of it (the sleep, the joint pain, the brain fog, the anxiety that came out of nowhere) you’ve already lost ground that’s harder to get back.
The conversation about hormones shouldn’t start when you’re falling apart.
It should start in your 40s.
Save this for the friend who’s been told she’s “too young” to be thinking about this.
She’s not. She’s right on time.
If you’re in perimenopause and want a physician who treats you like the whole, intelligent queen that you are — the link is in my bio. 🤍
