My HRT Journey - My Questions, Symptoms and Plan

In this personal episode of Meet Your Body, Jessica Valant shares her own HRT journey: the symptoms that finally pushed her to consider hormone therapy, the questions and concerns she had before starting, what she tried first, what helped, what didn’t, and where she is now eight months later.

Jessica talks openly about the physical changes that were affecting her quality of life - joint and muscle pain and significant mood changes - and how she began trying to understand what role hormones might be playing.

She shares:

Why vaginal estrogen was a game-changer for some of her symptoms

The adjustments she made concerning her endometriosis

Why she initially started testosterone and estrogen and later added progesterone

The questions she asked about HRT given her breast cancer history and the conversations she had with her medical team

What she learned from tracking symptoms, making adjustments and giving the process time

The importance of using exercise, nutrition and nervous system nourishment as foundational health habits

Where she is now after eight months of HRT

Jessica also shares the emotional side of the decision: fear, uncertainty, weighing potential risks and benefits and accepting that there may not always be one perfect answer.

This isn't a prescription for what anyone else should do. Jessica is a physical therapist and women’s health expert, but in this episode she is sharing her experience as a woman navigating her own complicated hormonal transition.