It’s Not in Your Head, It’s in Your Hormones!

Cris Amato on ending the gaslighting and taking the damn reins.

NOTE: Cris Amato and I spoke just two days before the FDA dropped its latest update on hormone therapy and menopause, and for the first time ever, I listened live to a government panel and thought: this is personal. (P.S. Missed it live? You can catch the recording here.) Talk about timing. Our convo hit me personally, right in the middle of a fresh wave of symptoms nearly seven years after my last period, and just days after I was prescribed vaginal estrogen for some oh-so-fun bladder surprises. What follows are my real-talk takeaways from that chat. They helped me, and in true Real Girls fashion: we don’t gatekeep, we share.

If you’ve ever sat on the couch staring into space wondering where the hell your mojo, memory, or interest in sex went, this one’s for you.

Let’s get one thing straight: you’re not broken, you’re not boring, and you’re not alone. Midlife doesn’t mean you're fading. It means your hormones may be throwing a tantrum, and Cris Amato, Nurse Practitioner, sees it every day.

She works with women who suddenly feel anxious AF, forget what they’re saying mid-sentence, or look at their partner and think… meh. Cris says it loud: this is real, and it’s treatable.

I chatted with Cris at the perfect time, right as I’m knee-deep in the fresh hell of a third wave of symptoms.

Brain fog, irritability, isolation, zero libido?
That’s not “just stress.” That’s a hormonal red flag.

Told to meditate and hydrate?
“Nope. You deserve labs, options, and doctors who listen, not ones who gaslight you with yoga mats and green juice.” (And I get it. At a recent appointment, I had to insist on getting labs, offering to pay out of pocket, because my doctor was “certain” insurance wouldn’t cover them. I wanted a damn baseline. I’m in my mid-50s, haven’t had a period since 47, only then did I find out: no one had run labs back when it all started. I didn’t even ask. And no one offered. So now, no baseline. No data. Just me, some guesswork, and a handful of dismissive shrugs designed to make women stop asking. Never. Again.)

Belly bloat that won’t quit?
“Watch your sugar, sneaky stuff like oat milk and ‘healthy’ breads are often loaded with hidden junk.” Cris helps her clients cut through the label BS and actually feel better. Read her take on bloating and how to restore gut health over 40: Restore Gut Health.

Sex got painful or nonexistent?
Vaginal estrogen. Pelvic floor therapy. A sprinkle of testosterone. There are options, girl. And if your doctor won’t talk about them? Cris says: “get a better doctor.”

And here’s her mic-drop moment:
“Why do men get Viagra, and who do you think they’re having sex with?” Because women deserve just as much support, care, and firepower when it comes to pleasure, intimacy, and feeling good in our own damn bodies.

Midlife isn’t the end of anything, it’s the beginning of a power move. So if your body’s waving the white flag? Don’t ignore it. Treat it. Love it. Reclaim it.

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We’ve earned every wrinkle. Might as well make more laugh lines together.
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