Why the first weeks of HRT matter most

Dr Carla DiGirolamo, a physician-scientist consulting for women’s hormone health and menopause, tells us HRT can take 2 to 3 months to fully work.

Some people feel relief in weeks. Others take longer to equilibrate.

But the first few weeks and months are most important. The time from when you start your treatment to the next appointment with your doctor.

In this time, women must try to see:

• What symptoms have they been feeling?
• Which ones got better and which ones got worse?
• How often did you take and miss doses?
• What side effects did they experience?

Dr Carla’s seen women struggle to remember. And for her patients, she’s built a system that nudges patients to do regular check-ins.

It uses a messaging portal for side effect reports between visits. One place to send a reminder message. To ensure women know they’re not alone. To help them trust the process. And wait to see results.

Because think about it. It’s not that the patients are not trying. They want to remember how their days have been.

But when poor sleep and brain fog hit, they don’t just impact daily life. But also your ability to remember that day.

This is the key insight for Yellow’s HRT companion. One that meets a woman on the day she’s prescribed therapy. Reads her data through Apple Health. Helps her log her dose. Do simple check-ins. And meet her doctor with answers!

We’re still in testing. Talking to women on both sides to get feedback. And create something useful.

I’m learning and building Yellow in public. As we figure what it takes to help women live their best 30s, 40s, and 50s.