Why Women Need This Space
There are many voices in the online world talking about hormone therapy and menopause. As awareness is rising about how valuable hormone therapy can be for menopause management, and as the fog and darkness surrounding the previous two decades of fear around hormone therapy begin to lift, the reality is becoming more and more clear: there are not enough trained and experienced physicians who can prescribe and manage hormone therapy for all the women who want it, and for all the women who truly need it.
In 2002, doctors of every specialty were told that hormone therapy for menopause was risky, dangerous, and should be avoided at all costs, even at the very expensive cost of poor quality of life, and at the much greater cost of osteoporosis, arthritis pain, depression, or cognitive decline. Millions of women who had relied on hormone therapy to control hot flashes, insomnia, mood and energy changes, and the many other problems that developed due to menopause were left to go on living without it, and often without any real alternative, because doctors refused to prescribe what had once been a very valuable treatment for them.
We have come a long way since 2002, when the WHI study was released and its findings changed the face of hormone therapy for doctors, with few exceptions, and for hundreds of millions of women worldwide. I want you to know the reason behind everything that has happened. I want you to have your own opinion. Most of all, I want you to know the real truth about menopause and the real truth about hormone therapy.
Women Deserve the Truth
The truth about menopause has been hidden under a veil of fog, and the value of estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone for a woman’s body is still unknown to the great majority of women who deserve to know the truth about their hormones. How can any woman make an informed decision about hormone therapy for menopause if she is not aware of the consequences menopause can have on her mental and physical health, and if she does not understand what the hormones she loses at menopause have done for her body and mind throughout the four decades preceding it? Women deserve to know the truth about menopause. Women deserve to know the truth about hormone therapy.
Why I Do This Work
I embarked on this journey because, as a woman who has been in postmenopause for the past ten years, and as a woman who has used hormone therapy for the past nine years, I can speak to it because I have lived it. I am a conventionally trained OB-GYN who later became an anti-aging and longevity doctor. I am board certified in anti-aging, a fellow of the American Academy of Anti-Aging, and I continue to deepen my education in integrative medicine, hormone therapy, longevity medicine, anti-aging, and everything that has to do with menopause.
This path also became deeply personal for me when my father passed away in 2011 and I realized that my first patient needed to be my mother. What began as an interest turned into a passion, and that passion became the way I wanted to practice medicine. I left the path I was on, practicing conventional OB-GYN medicine, because I wanted to focus on hormone therapy, functional medicine, holistic care, and putting it all together for women who are entering menopause and do not know what to do.
As a conventionally trained OB-GYN who prescribed Prempro and Premarin until 2002, and as an anti-aging board-certified physician trained in bioidentical compounding therapy and pellet therapy, I am in a unique position to be one of the few physicians trained and experienced in all available forms of hormone therapy for menopause.
More Than a Newsletter
I firmly believe all women need a hormone therapy advocate, and all women deserve to have a guide for a beautiful menopause. Menopause takes a huge toll on a woman’s body, but it does not have to be that way. Modern medicine has found solutions, and there are a multitude of solutions available.
I also do not want this Substack to be simply another place where women come for information and then leave still feeling alone. I want this to become your home for hormone therapy advocacy, education, and community. There is already so much information around menopause and hormone therapy, but much of it is hard to make sense of and even harder to apply to your specific situation. Women need more than information alone. They need guidance. They need support. They need a place where they can learn, reflect, ask better questions, hear from other women, and feel less alone in what they are experiencing.
For paid subscribers, this community will include live events and opportunities for discussion around the many issues that shape a woman’s menopause journey. My goal is not only to provide information, but to help build a community of strong, informed women who can become advocates for their own care, advocates for better access to trained providers, and advocates for broader hormone therapy options for all women who desire them.
A Community for the Journey Ahead
Hormone therapy is not standard for all women. It is not one-size-fits-all. Each woman’s journey through menopause is unique, and each woman’s path with or without hormone therapy will be unique as well. We have so much to learn from one another.
I want this platform to become your home for transformation. Menopause is not a point in time. It is a journey through the second half of your remaining life. Your needs will continue to evolve. Your goals will continue to evolve. Your hormone therapy, if you choose it, may also need to evolve with you. You need a guide for that journey, and you need a community of like-minded women who will support you as you continue to grow, change, and transform.
Women have to stand united in their fight for the right to choose hormone therapy. Without unity and without community, we remain weak and at the mercy of others. This should be your home. A place where women come together not only to learn the truth, but to become stronger in it.
Join me in what I hope will become a growing community of hormone therapy advocates, women who are seeking truth, women who are seeking solutions, and women who are seeking a better, more beautiful menopause and the decades beyond. It is all about you, and it is all about us.
Disclaimer:
This Substack is here to educate, inform, and advocate. It is not a substitute for individualized medical care. Nothing in this publication should be taken as personal medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and reading or subscribing to this content does not create a physician-patient relationship with Dr. Mirela Cernaianu.
Hormone therapy and menopause care should be guided by a qualified clinician who knows your medical history, symptoms, goals, and risk factors. Always speak with your own healthcare professional before starting, stopping, or changing any medication, hormone regimen, supplement, or treatment plan.
Do not use this publication for urgent or emergency medical concerns. If you think you may be having a medical emergency, call 911 or seek immediate care.
Please do not post or send personal health information through comments or messages on this platform.
