NP Judy G

🔴 A Change in periods alone does not meant to you need hormone therapy if it doesn't bother you.

ℹ️ It is however, helpful information for you and providers when it comes to discussions about perimenopause.

Other helpful information includes tracking your other bothersome symptoms too:
➡︎ when they started
➡︎ how often they occur
➡︎ how severe they are
➡︎ how they affect your day-to-day function.

It is important that you can effectively communicate your experience and talk about management options: lifestyle, nonhormonal and hormonal so you know your portfolio of treatment.

If you are suffering, advocate for yourself. Because you do not need to suffer and you certainly do not need to suffer alone.

J.

Navigating Menopause can be challenging. After hearing this numerous times in the Clinic please note the following:

🧞‍♀️ having to waiting until your periods are finished to start medications is a myth and it is often better to start during the transition for quality of life and disease prevention.

🤓 Certified Menopause Providers have made a committment to train and continue staying up to date on the latest guidelines and research in the Menoverse (and if you're feed is working well, you'll the research is coming in hot and fast).

℞ Some Providers have limited authority so can't prescribe all medications available to You. In these cases it is important to have a provider who will refer you to a Nurse Practitioner or Physician (both have full prescribing authority) should you be a good candidate for such a medication.

J.

🔥 Hot Flashes and Night Sweats - when mine started I could no longer get a solid sleep...for weeks, which turned into months...and what followed was:
→ low energy,
→mood disruption (angry, sad, irritable),
→ an increase in my migraines,
→ feeling off my game,
→ palpitations (heart beating too hard or faster for no reason)

😳 😡 I learned that physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, even gynecologists - all get minimal if any menopause training. Myself included - so we empathize and say ... wear layers 🤷🏽‍♀️

💡Nope!! I'm not having that, not when there is effective, safe treatment!! And here we are 2 years later with a clinic to help AND assess your risk for the common disease of women's latter life.

You don't have to suffer and certainly not alone or without treatment.

J.

What is your relationship with food?
How do you decide what to eat?
What are your food goals?

Our answers are all unique. But the health impacts are the same.

It's why we talk about it with you in the clinic.

It's time for us to nurture healthier relationships.

And it's time for us to eat for our health and independence.

Clinical terms like "memory recall" and "cognitive difficulties" are useful in the medical world. But what it FEELS like is a whole other language.

These are just a few examples but 40-60% is at LEAST how many of us are/will experience these symptoms with the transition. Please share your own examples to help everyone understand what perimenopausal brain fog can look like.

J.

Hot Flashes and night sweats. The medical term is vasomotor symptoms of menopause or VMS. Some don't get them at all while others are severely affected. Treatment is available and we don't have to suffer through them. AND There are MANY things we can do at this age to really improve our health down the road.

It's why I opened the Clinic. It's why I do seminars. It's why I'd like to see improved access to care from Nurse Practitioners. I am going through it too AND I have professional healthcare provider experience to help you decide what's right for you AND enough of us know we need access to safe, evidence-based menopause care.

J.

🧠 Brain Fog - a common symptom of the menopausal transition.

The research in this area of menopause is in its infancy BUT the fact that it is underway is a great advancement for women's health and research.

We know that treating the common contributors helps to improve the symptoms.

That and sticky notes - lots and lots of sticky notes.

As fast as you can move while still breathing through your nose.

At least 10 minutes at a time.

At least 150 minutes per week.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women. Medications are helpful but they are just one part of your care. They do not replace exercise.

And regular aerobic exercise is one of the single BEST things you can do to lower your risk and prevent the onset of heart disease for as long as possible.

I like mountain biking but any activity that you can do and keep your heart elevated works - walking/jogging, swimming, dancing, rowing, etc.

It's extra training and another exam to demonstrate competence and commitment.

It's continuing education stay up to date on the latest evidence.

It's understanding symptoms now and disease risk later and helping patients make informed decision about their care.

Providing Menopause Standard of Care is a big commitment, but SUCH a worthy one. It's one of the best career pursuits I have experienced yet.

Decades later I got the opportunity to thank Madame Barr for leaving such a lasting impression on me with her dedication to fitness for the right reasons. In an era when we were told exercise is for looking good and it’s all about cardio, Madame Barr was lifting heavy and hitting the track. She made us crepes and taught us to read The Counte of Monte Cristo, en français! It was so great to see her today and share my love of nursing and thank her for being such a great role model.

Nights At The Museum: MENOPAUSE EDITION 1.1 is having its final night in the series TOMORROW! We can't believe it. ⁠
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Are you joining us for WINDING UP: The Pillars of Healthy Aging?⁠
(We saved the best for last!)⁠
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Have you enjoyed the series so far?⁠
Have you asked to be part of the waiting list for fall?

Kaitlin helps with many aspects of clinic flow and care. She joins consultations to link patients with resources and provide them with personalized visit summaries so they can listen and discuss rather than take notes. She also does follow-up visits and calls to see how your doing with your place of care and medications. Her previous nursing experience is in community nursing, mental health and addictions, and nursing leadership. She loves playing sports, gardening and baking. I might add that she has one of the best laughs around! You have to smile when you hear it.

We are pleased to announce patient-driven improvements to our clinic! New location: 444 Douro Street, Stratford

Better communication: you’ll hear within 2 weeks and know our estimated wait time

Same commitment to gold standard care.

Hormone therapy. None hormone therapy. Midlife health review. Preventative care. Disease risk assessments.

If you’ve been referred to me and haven’t heard from the Stratford Family Health Team by July at, please email me directly for a status update. [email protected] 😃

Whether you attended one or multiple seminars, we’d like to hear from you and we really appreciate your time. Kick off your Friday with an act of do-goodery 😃🙏🏽. Here’s the link to the survey but you’ll also receive an email from the museum.

https://uwo.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5dw0VqFdwzp6umq

Are you on Threads yet? I’ve been told I have a LOT to say 😂. I vetted it first to see what it’s about and the conversations are actually great and often fun.⁠
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Captions are great but conversations are better. So you can catch me on threads elaborating on posts. When you join, I would recommend that you follow too. See you there.

https://www.threads.net/npjudyg

Finally!!! Finally the Women’s Health Initiative declares/admits that its misinterpretation of study findings in the early 2000s, which was catastrophic for midlife women’s health, should NOT be cited as a reason to decline conversations about menopause hormone therapy (MHT). ⁠
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Bookmark this one my friends. Share it: ⁠
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Vindicate the women who lost their window of opportunity for treatment. ⁠
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Educate the ones who are in the window now.⁠
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Inform the ones whose window is yet to come. ⁠
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Not everyone needs MHT, but everyone should get an informed conversation about it. ⁠

Link to the review at https://bit.ly/3R0BkaQ

WOW!! The Nights At The Musuem: MENOPAUSE EDITION series was mentioned in this Globe & Mail article. Woooohooooo!⁠ Congratulations Stratford Perth Museum for the awesome coverage.

The G&M article was called: Come celebrate local arts, history and culture in Ontario this summer and came out last week on May 17th. Thanks to them for recognizing the imporant work we're doing.

🧘🏽‍♀️ Yoga: my first formal session. I realized just how valuable it is to slow down; to stretch and open up the body; to focus on basking in the now.

📍 Riverwalk Commons
🧘🏻 Battwin Healing and Wellness

Nights At The Museum: MENOPAUSE EDITION continues tonight with our third evening in this series. Tonight we're going BELOW THE BELT! And talking all things "genitourinary".

Attendees will get to dip back into the past to see how this type of care USED to occur. And we're talking all things vaginal, urinary, and sexual in the cultural, social, and moral realms.

See you tonight at 6pm! Didn't get tickets? Join our waiting list because we're going to do it again!

Meet Grace, my mom. 79 years old. Lives in her own home. Independent woman, role model and matriarch. ⁠
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She moved from Trinidad in the 70s, put herself through school and got right to work. She’s always taken care of us. When she was diagnosed w breast cancer, she cried for a couple minutes and said “sh*t happens. What do we do now?” During her treatment she continued to be there for us. She cooks for us all the time and makes our husbands their favourite meals regularly too. She helps my dad, whose memory is a bit hit or miss these days. ⁠
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She loves a good Jays game, her daily walks, playing Scrabble, and her knitting club meet ups. ⁠
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To all of the people out there who play the mother role in any way to other people or furry family members, thank you, hugs and love.

Dare I say Spring is here! What better way to celebrate than movement and social connection? There’s a LOT of evidence to support getting out for any kind of movement and doing so with loved ones. It helps with our mental, emotional and physical health. ⁠
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You’ve done a lot for others. Now do something for you - give yourself time and permission to take care of you. It will take a community of us to do this for ourselves and for each other. ⁠
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Please comment on where you like to move. Tag a friend you love to spend time with and/or have been meaning to message.

Exercise is (can be) hard. It takes planning and effort and time. It takes ignoring the voice that gives every reason in the book to not bother. It takes getting back on the wagon when you fall off and not chastising yourself because life just gets busy sometimes. ⁠
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But know that CONSISTENT EXERCISE OVER TIME is better than ANY pill or gel or cream. ⁠
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Exercise is a tough prescription to fill but it matters. And it can be translated into wonderful memories and gratification.

Hiking up this mountain pass was one of the toughest things I ever did mentally and physically. The picture does no justice to the beauty and serenity. And the memories made with the friends who joined us is simply priceless.

For me challenging adventures help with being consistent because it means I have to train up. I’m lazy man! But this works for me. I’d love to hear about what works for you - comment below if and maybe we can all help each other.
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Tombstone Territorial Park⁠
Yukon, Canada

Not all of us feel like we’re aging as gracefully as Lola… but that doesn’t meant we can’t. Stick with me as we journey through this together!

Join me on May 11th, along with Battwin Healing & Wellness, for a full day of Thriving Through Menopause at the super beautiful Riverwalk Commons in St. Marys, Ontario. ⁠
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This packed day includes a full day of Yoga, Journaling, Breathwork, Meditation, Essential Oils Roller Kit Making, Refreshments, a Light Lunch, and I’ll be giving a Menopause Education Session. ⁠
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I will join you for the day for some intimate discussion and Q&A session to empower you with science-based education and knowledge on perimenopause, menopause, and preventative health optimization.⁠
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Tickets are $249 and are available at https://battwins.ca/
I am so pleased to be a part of this one-day experience with you. ⁠
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If you have a friend you know might be interested in attending with you or on their own, please tag them or forward along :)

We’ve created a selfie exhibit at The Stratford Perth Museum and It’s all about a woman entrepreneur from the 1800s who became a household name for her menopause compound.
Make sure you hit it up at the seminar tonight!

Will you be there?? Tag us from the selfie spot using OR

Also DM to get on the waiting list - we’ll be hitting repeat on the series in the Fall!

🔥 DEFINITION OF "A HOT FLASH" 🔥⁠
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Here are a couple of mine:⁠
1. Minding my own business watching a movie and getting blind sided by a hot flash.⁠
2. Stripping down to my bra and having to go stand outside in winter. ⁠
3. Yelling, “Again?! Why?!” I can’t even watch a f***ing movie now?! My brain is burning!”⁠
4. And then returning to watch the movie. Jeff just paused it until I returned to “normal”.⁠
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Your turn...

A different perspective can change our worldview. Whether you were witness to the Solar Eclipse the other day or not, consider what a great way it was to symbolize looking at things through different lens. Whether it’s deciding to be more gracious with yourself, considering decades misguided approaches to treating and helping women in midlife through inadequate training, or empathizing with what it might feel like to undergo a transition that you know nothing about - it would benefit us all to take a moment to consider another’s view. ⁠
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This is just the beginning. And I’m grateful to all of you who have joined the journey and continue to tell me about your experiences. It’s one of the best parts of helping the cause. ☺️

I’m so glad we are finding each other. When I started this journey years ago, I was floored at the amount of reliable but unknown information at our disposal.⁠
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The thought that kept returning was: “Women HAVE to want to know this stuff! I CAN’T be the only one.” And here we are. ⁠
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At the next seminar we are talking about treatments - lifestyle, supplements, and prescription. My goal is to suit you up with the knowledge to make informed decisions. And of course, there will be a bit of history in there. (We are going to be at The Stratford Perth Museum after all.)⁠
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If you cannot attend this Tuesday, know that I’ll be doing more events like this so we can all learn. DM to join to notification list.

Thank you so much to The Stratford Beacon Herald for covering us - as we attempt to change the conversation around menopause. And bring it the spotlight it needs and deserves.

Our next “Nights At The Museum: Menopause Edition” seminar at The Stratford Perth Museum is a couple weeks away. And while it is currently full, we have a waiting list for this one, as well as another set of series we intend to run in the fall.

Get on the list by sending us a DM. We’ll see you out soon :)