I had a great interview recently with Lara Briden. She spoke with me from Australia, where she is a naturopathic doctor with twenty years’ experience in women’s health. She is also the author of a truly interesting book, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods. We had a wide-ranging and candid talk about many important women’s health topics, including the use of hormones during perimenopause. We also discussed how it is so true that women experiencing perimenopause often are doing so at the same time that their daughters are experiencing the challenge of starting their cycles! (yes, it’s true!) Lara had a good deal of insights relating to the use of birth control pills in teens as well as in perimenopause; and the consequences as well as precautions and alternatives. Other topics included: Estrogen fluctuations during perimenopause. Why hormonal birth control is not a good option. What is natural progesterone and why does it help? The crucial difference between the real hormone progesterone and the progestins in birth control. Is natural progesterone safe? What other natural treatments are found to be helpful for perimenopause? What are the effects of OCPs on the gut microbiome? Lara Briden runs a hormone clinic in Sydney, Australia…and you can check out the first 2 chapters of her book for free, her gift to my community…just click here