Dr. Louise Newson

So I'm very busy.

But then once I started looking at your account, then suddenly you're wearing a wig and you're being a perimenopausal woman and it's just the most amazing thing.

And you have so much engagement.

So I'm really keen to talk to you about why you're doing this and what the response has been.

And just tell me a bit about you.

Well done.

It's great, isn't it?

Yeah, it's very interesting because I've written a few books and my first book on menopause was probably about six years ago.

And it was Penguin that was my publisher and I wanted to have perimenopause on the cover.

So not just menopause.

And they said, no, it's too long a word.

You can't do it.

No one uses that word.

And I said, well, okay.

If you want to publish my book, you have the word perimenopause on.

And it's really interesting because a lot of people still don't know what it is or what's going on.

Menopause has always been about stopping periods and hot flushes.

Whereas actually the perimenopause, the lead up to the menopause, is often far worse for women.

because you get these real shifts and changes in hormone levels.

And the biggest symptoms or the most commonest and most severe symptoms are those affecting the brain and mental health.