{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Menopause Unscripted Podcast","title":"Everyday Women: I Looked Fine… But I Was Falling Apart: Emma’s Hidden Perimenopause Story | #0106 | The Menopause Unscripted Podcast","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3461,"description":"\nIn this first episode, I sit down with Emma, a 52-year-old mum of two living in Nairobi, Kenya. \nEmma is not the “typical” story people expect when they think perimenopause. \nShe’s always exercised, she’s always cared about her food, she looks fit on the outside, and she didn’t arrive with an obvious list of physical symptoms. \nBut that’s exactly why her story matters.\nBecause for Emma, the biggest shifts weren’t visible. They were happening in her mind.\nShe describes that unsettling moment so many women recognise: the feeling that your usual coping skills have disappeared. \nThe mental bandwidth shrinks. Small things feel enormous. Overwhelm becomes constant. \nAnd when the struggle is happening internally, people around you can easily misunderstand it as moodiness, “being difficult”, or just stress. \nEmma speaks with real honesty about how hard that is, especially when you’re still functioning, still showing up, still being a wife and a mum… but privately wondering why you don’t feel like yourself.\nWe also get into the realities of seeking help when the system isn’t set up to support you. \nEmma shares a shocking experience with a doctor’s questionnaire that flagged suicidal feelings, yet came with no meaningful follow-up or care. \nThat moment alone is worth hearing, because it exposes a bigger issue: women are being assessed, labelled, and medicated, without being properly held, guided, or supported.\nFrom there, we talk through her decision to try HRT, the relief of finally doing something, and the frustrating truth that it still requires review, tweaking, and proper medical oversight—something that’s particularly difficult and expensive where she lives. \nEmma’s experience will feel familiar if you’ve ever thought, “Why is it so hard to find someone who actually understands menopause?”\nBut this episode isn’t just about the hard parts. \nIt’s also about what’s possible.\nI unpack what we worked on when Emma was in my world: the foundations that help a woman feel...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/i9gr5pa-XDNs6KPC_Oyy2ckLYaRMVoij_QkWymN0h-g/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8zMWJl/YTAwN2Y4NmY1NjRl/ZTc1ZTc4MmMyNTU5/NWM4My5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}