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The Food and Drug Administration responded by adding a black box warning to the labels of hormone therapy. It was the agency’s most serious alert, causing widespread fear. Women stopped asking for HRT. Doctors stopped recommending it.
What got overlooked was a key detail: most of the women in that study were in their sixties. Many were long past the age when perimenopause symptoms begin. But that nuance got buried, and millions of women were left without real answers or support.
I didn’t even know about the 2002 hormone therapy study until two years ago. By then, my body had already begun to change. I just didn’t know what to call it. All I had was a list of symptoms.
- Brain fog
- Joint pain
- A weird metal taste in my mouth that only salt could fix
- Hair shedding in clumps
- Itchy skin
- Zero motivation
- Tears that came out of nowhere
- My creativity? Gone.
- My menstrual cycle? Unpredictable.
I thought I was losing my mind.
TikTok saved me.
Women my age were posting about symptoms I never heard linked to perimenopause. And to be honest, it was my first time seeing or hearing the word "perimenopause." No one ever mentioned this to me before. It wasn’t just hot flashes, well, in my case, I have sleep sweats. It didn't matter what time of the day it was; if I slept, I sweated. It was the internal unraveling I was going through, and suddenly, I wasn’t alone.
So I went to my gynecologist. I was 48. She told me I was too young.
Then I went to my family care doctor. She chalked it all up to stress. But here’s the thing, I wasn’t stressed. I landed one of my dream jobs. I felt inspired. I felt good about where my career was heading. So why was I crying over dog food commercials?
It didn’t make sense.
I left those appointments with no answers, just frustration. That’s when two women I’d followed on TikTok for years slid into my DMs after I left a comment on a perimenopause video of another content creator. They told me in so many words to advocate for myself. To ask for hormone testing. To research HRT.
When I brought it up to my doctor, she warned me about the risks.
What she didn’t tell me? Those risks were based on outdated data from a 2002 study focused on women much older than me. What she should have said is what a recent Washington Post opinion piece made clear: the Food and Drug Administration’s black box warning scared a generation of women and doctors into silence.
So I took a different route and did a deep dive into handling my symptoms, starting with what I put into my body. I shifted my diet. I added more protein. I started taking cod liver oil, magnesium citrate, and a veggie capsule that includes freeze-dried lion’s mane mushroom and chia seeds.
I also found a GYN who practices natural herbal care. She blended a custom collection of dried teas, salves, body oils, and tinctures to help me manage the symptoms. And honestly, I chalk it up to this: before the FDA existed, what did our ancestors rely on to heal? Natural plants, flowers, oils, and remedies pulled from the earth.
I cut back on wine, too. I went from two or three glasses a night to just a few a month. And I feel better. Lighter. Not perfect, but clearer. More in tune with myself.
Now I’m working on building consistency with movement. I take long walks with a weighted vest, stretch regularly, and do light strength training. Some days, I still crash from random waves of exhaustion, but I can manage it.
I honestly don’t know how women with full-time jobs are juggling all of this while showing up every day.
Looking back, losing my dream job may have been a blessing in disguise. It gave me the time and space to understand what is happening to my body and figure out how to manage it.
Freelancing gave me room to reset and rebuild. And now, with the tools in place and a better understanding of what I need, I feel ready to return to full-time work. This time, with more balance, clarity, and self-awareness.
What frustrates me is that it didn’t have to be this hard. I shouldn’t have had to crowdsource a diagnosis from social media. I shouldn’t have been brushed off by professionals trained to listen.
And I definitely shouldn’t have been told I was “too young” when I was right on time.
The FDA has a chance to make this right. However, we can also do so by talking about it. By reminding each other we’re not crazy, our bodies are just changing.
And that change doesn’t have to mean suffering in silence.
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