Ep. 25: Shirlee's story & menopause, steel maces, and crying over HRT

Shirlee Williams ran a successful yoga and spin studio for 14 years — she was in the wellness industry and still spent her first year of menopause convinced she was dying. Joint pain, funky blood work, a mysterious itch her doctor kept treating as a yeast infection four rounds running, before anyone thought to check for lichen sclerosis. She even went to her family doctor certain she was pregnant, only to find out she was actually in menopause. It took years of being told she was "fine" before she finally started hormone therapy — and cried the day she began it, feeling like she'd somehow failed her own body. Now she's a strength and mobility coach on a mission to change how women think and talk about aging, and she's doing it by handing women literal weapons: steel maces, in her words, an "ancient weapon" that builds strength and confidence at the same time. Amy and Shirlee get into perimenopause, testosterone, the exhausting work of medical self-advocacy, and why "good enough" is no longer good enough for either of them.KEY COMPONENTSShe thought she was pregnant when she was actually in menopause: What her family doctor's blood test revealed instead.Four rounds of yeast infection treatment for something that wasn't a yeast infection: The diagnosis her naturopath caught that her doctor initially dismissed.She cried the day she started hormone therapy: Why beginning estrogen and progesterone felt, at first, like letting her own body down.Why she's teaching women to swing an ancient weapon, and what happens to a woman's confidence when you put a steel mace in her hand."When you know better, you do better. I wouldn't go to my GP for a root canal — so source out the people that are doing the things you have questions about."Connect with Shirlee on Instagram Visit Shirlee's website Check out the Wild Hearts Tulum retreat 👉 Click here to join the movement at downthereaware.org🩲 Subscribe, like, and share to show us you care!🤘 Podcast produced by Binge-Worthy Studio For informational and entertainment purposes only — not medical advice. We're here to get loud, not to play doctor.