Ha, i was about to do the same! Immediately thought of this thread when i saw the video
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Jumping in after a Forum search for menopause. I’m perimenopausal and have struggled with insomnia for most of 2019. After taking ibuprofen PM and a basic over the counter “sleep aid”, a friend told me about Somnapure. It’s all natural and gives me at least six hours of deep sleep.
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I’m glad you have found something to help you sleep 
I did start taking valerian, but found out it increases / acts as estrogen, which is obviously what most people need. Unfortunately I have a lot of fibroids and have been told to avoid taking estrogen “supplements”.
I do wake up in the night but am getting better at going back to sleep.
I realise this has no scientific basis, but taking saunas has significantly reduced hot flushes. May be it’s coincidence…
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I didn’t know that about valerian and estrogen. Fascinating, but that’s unfortunate for your situation.
A friend mentioned this weekend that she’s finally trying THC (via gummy candies) for her symptoms, primarily to help her sleep.
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This is interesting, I’m visiting the UK and stopped into a health food store to pick up Melatonin only to find out it’s banned here. They gave me Valerian instead, I’m not too worried about the estrogen as I’ll just be using it for a short time but it does seem to be effective in helping sleep better and get over jet lag.
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Wow, I’ve heard melatonin is banned (or was anyway) in Canada as well. Before I go googling, does anyone know why?
BTW, I am in the same boat as @Bullseye, as I had an estrogen-dependent form of breast cancer so am a no-go on the estrogen supplements, or compounds that may act as such.
Great subject here though - I wish there were more female-focused threads on the Forums!
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I was surprised to hear that it was banned too. I ended up googling… looks like they determined it was a “medicine” and only available by prescription, although I found something else that said there were too many incidents of products having the wrong amount of melatonin vs what was stated on the bottle.
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The lady at the health food store here said it was banned due to potential drug interactions. I need to research more as I’ve used it consistently.
Here’s another very recent podcast featuring Dr. Sims, this time with a specific focus on menopause and training.
Her next book will be focused on the topic.
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I’ll listen to this soon. thanks!
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Dr Stacy Simms clearly has indepth knowledge of female physiology and the differences from men.
However I hav begun to question her motivations recently.
I am due to have a full hysterectomy soon and will need to take HRT afterwards. Dr S frequently posts on FB about the dangers of HRT and suggests taking adaptogens instead, which she says have solid research to validate their use as an alternative to HRT.
I have frequently requested the links to such research, but she has not provided any. I did some googling and found information from Cancer Research UK which states that natural remedies are no less harmful than HRT and are actually worse as they are unregulated. When I posted this on her FB thread, her only response was to click “like”, even though it was in contradiction of her advice.
I am coming to the conclusion that Dr S purposefully creates confusion around female nutrition to encourage people to pay money for an online course or consultation.
Edit: I have noted further incidences of women becoming frustrated by her very selective response to questions, including not being given a straight answer to how much a course costs…
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@Bullseye, I too have found this to be true about Dr S. Some of her advice in her book simply does not work for me or my body. I have to be honest - my body responds favorably to intermittent fasting and also doing workouts prior to eating my first meal of the day, which lately she has been very adamant that women never do these things. Perhaps it is due to my past weight issues or my personal estrogen -blocking medication history, but in the end I am coming to the conclusion each of us is going to be an experiment of one.
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It does seem like Dr. Sims is focused really heavily on promotion and marketing right now, and I’m not sure how much of her social media presence is actually her, and not like an intern trying to drive engagement. @Bullseye I went on my own research spree the other day with adaptogens and ended up in the same places you ended up. It’s frustrating that the specifics she mentions in Roar don’t show up in the bibliography for that chapter.
@PattiPepper I do workouts before I eat too! I never really had trouble completing them, but I have noticed that since I started eating something carby about twenty minutes before, I feel better during. You’re right, personal experimentation is going to be way more effective than applying study conclusions like gospel.
I hope one of the eventual effects of Sims’ work will be a much larger body of research on this stuff, so she stops functioning as a pseudo-gatekeeper.
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“Each of us is going to be an experiment of one”
So much truth in this.
I think it’s in our nature to look for patterns and categories, so we can predict outcomes. Even when this proves not to be relevant to us as an individual it’s hard to let go of, because uncertainty is anxiety provoking. We constantly try to fit the mould.
When I do manage to let go of expectations I see my own patterns and needs much more clearly.
Thanks for the reminder 
I have found that I have to fuel workouts and make sure I have appropriate recovery protein/carbs, or I get a drop in mood later in the day. I think it’s to do with seratonin levels. But that’s just me…
Dr S not providing links to studies she refers to is really disconcerting. There seems to be many women who place a great deal of trust in her and are enthusiastic enough to follow any advice she offers. One of her recent posts on FB critiques the following study:
She may well be making valid points regarding protocol and it’s good that she raised these. But I feel it is important to note that these findings contradict her own view point and the concept on which she has built her marketing campaign.
As you say @ellotheth, the hope is that more studies are conducted to explore female physiology. A gatekeeper with particular biases is less than helpful.
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I am also disappointed with how commercial SS appears to have become. I also find it difficult how many women put her on a pedestal, without thinking a bit more about what she says. I DO like how SS has raised the issue that women are different and we should have more research done on women, rather than just assuming all conclusions apply equally to both sexes. I hadn’t asked her questions directly, but that is very troubling about her lack of response/ignoring the question/avoiding anything that conflicts with her statements/opinions. I’ve stated before that I find her complete and blanket objections to birth control to be frustrating and annoying. I’m glad you started this conversation because it’s hard to bring up criticism of SS with so many women. I’m sure she has helped many women realize that they don’t need to follow what men do, but I think we ALL need to learn to think critically and consider/question what we read.
@PattiPepper, that’s interesting you have found intermittent fasting to work for you. I like your statement about “each of us is going to be an experiment of one.” So true. Figuring out what works for us AT THIS POINT IN TIME is important. I’ve also found what worked for me 15 years ago doesn’t necessarily work for me now. I used to be able to do all of my workouts without something to eat ahead of time; now I have a hard time getting through intense workouts without something. I still don’t eat much, and am now experimenting with trying to eat a little bit during very intense, sugar-using workouts (such as microbursts) to see if it makes a difference. I’m also looking at how I feel after the workout and through the rest of the day, rather than just during the workout. For example, I’ve found if I don’t eat something right after my workouts, I’m ravenous for the rest of the day, regardless of how much I eat.
@ellotheth, I am totally with you on this one:
Especially the “pseudo-gatekeeper.” That is what I likely find the most frustrating. When I bring up something with certain people, the first question some people ask is, “what does Stacy Simms say about it?” If it works for me, does it matter?
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Today’s AACC episode got me thinking about collagen supplementation, mainly for bone and joint health. Are any of the women here supplementing with it? I tend to avoid supplements and try to meet nutrition requirements through actual food but would like to hear people’s views.
I still need to listen to the podcast episode, but now my interest is piqued regarding collagen if you’re now considering it, @Scheherazade! I do like bone broth, and a friend of mine was drinking it a lot when she had an injury (I forget what injury…). I need to check in with her to see what she thought. I have some nice beef bones from a friend’s cow in the freezer, and should probably boil them up into a nice stock soon.
@dhellman I must second your emphasis of AT THIS POINT IN TIME. Today I went to the emergent care facility nearby to get tested for the flu (I could not believe that a simple cold could cause me to feel so crappy) and found that not only am I at a new PR in weight, but I tested twice as pre-hypertension. I am attributing the high BP readings today to the ridiculous amount of Dayquil I have drank in the past week, but luckily I do have a home monitor that I will be using to track it. This aging thing is no picnic.
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I hope you feel better, and quickly! And it’s good to track your BP. Dayquil has so many drugs in it that it’s highly likely to be a source of issues. I think they got rid of pseudephedrine in Dayquil, but whatever the replacement is could potentially be a cause.