Menopause changes a woman’s body, her sleep, her mind, her face. And yet, it remains one of the least discussed transitions in a woman’s life.In this episode of Menopause: It Was This All Along, Roshini Sanah Jaiswal sits down with Ruchika Mehta, a veteran editor and fashion and lifestyle voice, to talk about experiencing menopause in an industry that has long placed youth, beauty and perfection at the centre of how women are seen.From unexpected weight gain, bloating, puffiness and acidity to body image, ageing and the pressure to keep looking young, Ruchika speaks candidly about the changes she experienced, and the process of learning to accept her body rather than constantly fight it.The conversation also looks at why menopause education needs to extend beyond women themselves. Ruchika shares how openly discussing menopause with her son helped him understand the physical, mental and emotional changes she was experiencing.Roshini and Ruchika also unpack ageism, the fashion industry's obsession with youth, comparison between women, body image, weight training for bone health, HRT and menopause supplements, and the complicated relationship between wellness, longevity and our desire to resist ageing.At the heart of the conversation is a bigger question: What if ageing isn't something to defeat, but something to understand, and live well through?

What really happens to our hormones during perimenopause and menopause, and why does it affect so much more than our periods?In this episode of Menopause: It Was This All Along, Roshini sits down with Dr. Sukhpreet Patel, an HRT specialist, to unpack the hormonal changes that happen during perimenopause and menopause, and what they can mean for women’s health beyond the reproductive years.From estrogen and progesterone to HRT, bone health, cardiovascular health, sleep, mood and sexual health, this conversation looks at menopause as a whole-body transition — not simply the point when periods stop.Dr. Sukhpreet also breaks down some of the biggest questions and misconceptions around hormone therapy: what the evidence actually tells us, how to understand relative versus absolute risk, what the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study really found, and why not all estrogens, progesterones or hormone therapies are the same.The conversation also explores bioidentical hormones, individual risk assessment, shared decision-making, lifestyle, weight, supplements and why there is no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to menopause or HRT.Most importantly, Dr. Sukhpreet explains why women need to understand their “why” before making decisions about hormone therapy — and why menopause care should be built around the individual woman, her symptoms, her risks and her quality of life.

Sometimes it begins with crippling body pain. Brain fog that makes you fear Alzheimer’s. Exhaustion that no amount of sleep can fix. Symptoms that send women from one specialist to another—without anyone connecting the dots.In this deeply honest conversation, renowned journalist Shoma Chaudhury shares her personal experience of menopause for the very first time. She speaks candidly about years of unexplained pain, memory loss, thyroid issues, fibromyalgia, emotional changes, family, intimacy, and why even someone with access to the best doctors didn’t realise menopause was at the root of it all.