Menopause Mystery Series - Realistic Expectations and Evidence-Based Care

If you’ve spent even a few minutes on social media looking up menopause, you’ve likely seen what happens next: your Instagram feed becomes flooded with menopause content as the algorithm starts feeding you more and more of the same.

Some of it is helpful. Some of it is empowering.
And some of it… is overpromising.

Menopause hormone therapy (MHT), sometimes called HRT, is often presented online as a solution for everything—fatigue, brain fog, weight gain, mood changes, aging, sleep, and long-term health risks.

While MHT can be truly life-changing for the right person, it’s important to say clearly:

Menopause hormone therapy is a tool—not a cure-all.

This Work Isn’t New for Me

I’ve been active with The Menopause Society since 2018 and Menopause Society Certified Practitioner (MSCP) certified since 2019. This isn’t new territory for me—it’s work I pursued because my patients needed it, at a time when hormone therapy was still treated as a taboo topic and many women were being scared away from it.

Today, the conversation has shifted. Instead of fear, we often see hormone therapy being marketed with urgency and certainty. Women deserve a middle ground: balanced, evidence-based guidance without overpromising.

It’s Great Menopause Is Finally Being Talked About

It’s genuinely a good thing that menopause is getting more attention. Women deserve support, options, and real education.

But increased awareness has also created a flood of content and marketing. Not everything being shared online is accurate or individualized—and women shouldn’t feel pressured into any treatment because it’s trending.

Not Everything Is Menopause

Menopause can affect sleep, mood, energy, weight patterns, libido, and how you feel in your body.

But menopause has also become a catch-all explanation for everything happening in midlife, and that can be a problem.

Some symptoms are blamed solely on menopause, when many times they’re multifactorial—and deserve a fuller, more individualized approach.

What Evidence-Based Menopause Care Should Look Like

Evidence-based care means:

• using research and established guidelines

• personalizing treatment to your symptoms and health history

• discussing benefits and risks honestly

• choosing the right therapy for the right person

• following up and adjusting over time

Symptoms MHT Helps Most

MHT has strong evidence for improving:

• hot flashes and night sweats

• sleep disruption related to night sweats

• vaginal dryness and painful sex (especially with local estrogen)

• urinary/vaginal tissue symptoms

• bone protection in appropriate candidates

The Bottom Line

MHT can be incredibly effective—but it’s not one-size-fits-all, and it isn’t the answer to every symptom.

Women deserve menopause care that is:

evidence-based, realistic, individualized, and honest