I bet all those years ago you never would have thought that you'd be – you would have written a book about perimenopause and that you would be a women's wellness advocate.

No, no, no.

So the thing is I went into perimenopause six years ago and there was a little thing going on back then called a pandemic.

So I kind of wrote off all of my symptoms as stress and Now, that's because I had never heard the word perimenopause before.

My mother hadn't discussed it with me.

My girlfriends are all different ages, so it wasn't something that was really coming up.

And there was such a stigma about talking about perimenopause and menopause because it does, for some women, they feel like it shows their aging.

The WHI study,

So why is female inclusive data so critical for the future of medicine?

Because we've been left out for so long.

Women are 51% of the population and yet we just haven't been involved in the data.

I mean, you look at the amount of money spent on erectile dysfunction and it's like 5 billion times more than on endometriosis.

And we know that if we can just get our scientists focusing on female health and not seeing our hormones as a problem or rather than something that, you know, upsets their trials to actually that is exactly what's going on in our bodies.

And that's why we need to be part of it.

So for me, I think it's just going to benefit, you know, it's going to be for everyone.

How can our listeners get involved and what is the ultimate goal here?

So why is female inclusive data so critical for the future of medicine?

Because we've been left out for so long.

Women are 51% of the population and yet we just haven't been involved in the data.

I mean, you look at the amount of money spent on erectile dysfunction and it's like 5 billion times more than on endometriosis.

And we know that if we can just get our scientists focusing on female health and not seeing our hormones as a problem or rather than something that, you know, upsets their trials to actually that is exactly what's going on in our bodies.

And that's why we need to be part of it.

So for me, I think it's just going to benefit, you know, it's going to be for everyone.

How can our listeners get involved and what is the ultimate goal here?

So mum hit it

and mum's 76 now.

So she's of that age where you don't discuss women's health.

You don't talk about things.

I found out that she actually went into medical menopause because after she had my brother, she ended up having a full hysterectomy and having her ovaries removed.

So that means you go bang into menopause.

You don't get perimenopause.

So what are the common symptoms that people know about perimenopause and what are the symptoms that people don't expect with menopause or perimenopause?

How did you have that conversation, Shelley, when you were getting serious with your current husband?

Oh, Darren and I are very good at communicating, and so he knew my background.

He knew how, exactly what had gone down in my previous marriage and why I felt that way.

So he in no way feels threatened.

He knows I have an account, but he does not know how much is in there.

I make the decision of how much I put in there, um, and we put in the same amount into our joint accounts.

So for me, it might just be that I wanna have some extra money to spoil my nephews, or I wanna buy a ridiculously expensive pair of shoes that [laughs] no human being would actually, you know, agree to.

... how is that making you feel?

"What was I thinking?" So Shelley, I've gotta ask you, is this a no boys allowed club? 'Cause it sounds like Dennis and Paul wanna be part of it.

Look, I am surprised that Dennis and Paul wanna join in.

Of course they wanna join in, because this is simply letting go and, and just having fun.

So you know what? I'm not going to ban them, but I am gonna say that we do have a real sisterhood in this, in this club, because there are some women who are struggling, and I am getting messages from women in Nigeria, and I got a message from someone from the south of France.

Like, this is really a worldwide movement, and I really think that just knowing that you're not alone going through the hormonal chaos of perimenopause is something that's really bonding, and that we can support each other and love each other and have a laugh, because sometimes when you've been searching around your house for your phone while you're on your phone-

Tell me about, tell me about the book.

So I had a pretty terrible time with my perimenopause, and part of it was because of the shame and silence.

So when I went into perimenopause at 45, I'd never even heard the word before.

That's a staggering number.

It's a huge number.

And that audience is growing.

I think actually last month it was just under 13 million.

So it's growing by the day, by the month.

And in addition to that, there are now maybe one in three people tracking their property, keen to know what it's worth.

So over 4 million people tracking their property across the relevant experiences, keen to know what that's worth.

We're short of it,

Like it was astronomical for you, your experience.

Yeah.

So it was, I think for me, my worst two symptoms, one was the perimenopausal depression, which now that I've researched the book, I know happens to one in three women in perimenopause.

And So that is the highest time in a woman's life for mental health issues, higher than postnatal depression.

This is the highest risk of suicide in a woman's life is ages 45 to 54.

So I don't know why we don't have more education campaigns about this and national campaigns warning women to keep an eye out for it.

And then the second symptom that was horrific was the heavy bleeding symptoms.

It's not medical jargon, although you have a beautiful collection of really highly renowned specialists and experts in the field.