Best of The Body Pod: Should We Be Taking Estrogen, Progesterone, AND Testosterone with Dr. Heather Hirsch

**Hailey** (0:00)
We're back with the Best of the Body Pod episode, and this is one of the most requested episodes in the Body Pod history. Our conversation with Dr. Heather Hirsch, menopause specialist, founder of the Hirsch MD Collaborative, and creator of the Reclaiming Menopause Masterclass. If you've ever walked out of a doctor's appointment more confused than when you walked in, or have been told your labs were normal when you knew something was off, or felt like the hormone conversation was way too complicated to even start, this episode cuts through it all. Dr. Hirsch breaks down her THRIVE method for navigating estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, one hormone and one symptom at a time.
Debunks the myth that you have to wait until you're fully post-menopausal to start HRT. Gives testosterone the full conversation it deserves, and makes a compelling case for why vaginal estrogen belongs in virtually every woman's future.
You're going to finish this one feeling genuinely equipped, knowing what to ask, what to expect, and what you actually deserve from your care. Let's get into it. This is the Best of the Body Pod.

**Laura** (1:22)
Dr. Heather Hirsch, we are thrilled to have you on. I have been counting down for this podcast, and I literally have just been perusing everything that you've ever written in your menopause course, the THRIVE Method. I mean, I have been just diving deep into all of it.
And I have to say, I was just at a conference last weekend with Kelly Casperson, who's my favorite, and, you know, Vonda Wright and everyone there was just amazing. But Kelly was like, she got asked a bunch of times. People are like, well, what about, you know, a menopause course? And she was like, Heather, Heather, Heather.

**Hailey** (2:04)
So incredible.

**Laura** (2:06)
Okay, I'm going, I'm buying it right now and getting in there. So thank you for being on.

**Heather Hirsch** (2:12)
Oh, I am so, so excited. This is my favorite topic. And yeah, let's get into all the things.

**Laura** (2:21)
Yes. Okay. So, all right. Let's talk, first of all, about your menopause masterclass and why you, I mean, because it's available to any female. This isn't just like for trainers and coaches. And I love that because I feel like there's so much information that clients ask me. And I'm like, I don't know.
I'm not quite, I mean, I'm definitely perimenopausal, but, you know, it was just a wealth of information. So tell us about how you came up with this course and what reclaiming menopause is.

**Heather Hirsch** (2:59)
Yes. Okay.
I was just telling my last patient that I saw that I love teaching so much. And for so many years, you know, especially when I worked at Harvard, I really felt like they really wanted me to become a researcher. And I tried and I tried and I tried, you know, to fit in and to fit the mold. But I loved teaching. I was just such a natural at it. And I really, really loved it. And so I really started to lean into it. And so during the pandemic, I started, you know, YouTubing, podcasting, making TikToks. And that turned into just so many women from all across the country asking me all these questions that I just felt like every woman should know what their body is going through in the perimenopause to menopause transition. So from there, I came up with the concept of just making a course. I even went and took a really fancy course on how to make a course, which actually was really, really helpful.
And so the Reclaiming Menopause Masterclass really was a way to get help with your own clinician. This was back when I worked at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, because I wanted all women to have access to this knowledge. And I knew that their clinicians also needed this knowledge. So then I went on to make a course for clinicians as well. And I hope that I can in some way, shape or form help women who maybe even never seen me as their clinician, per se, but get them to where they need to go with all that I've learned along the way.

**Laura** (4:36)
Yes, I love it. So the THRIVE Method, let's break that down, because again, all of these questions about when to take hormones, what hormones to take, I feel like everyone kind of gets into progesterone and estrogen, but then testosterone is kind of like the little sister that doesn't get invited to the party a lot of the times. When would we change those and when would we apply any and all of them?