Dom 0:00

Hey hotties, thanks for joining us on Bitches and Heat Podcast. This is part two of the Origin Stories episode, which first aired on July 21st, 2026. Thanks for joining us, hotties.

Marni 0:13

Welcome everyone to Bitches and Heat, a podcast where middle-aged hotties bitch about Perry Metaphaz, metaphors, and the shit that surrounds it.

Dom 0:22

Also, hotties, there will be swearing. So maybe wear headphones or go in a different room if you've got kiddos and sensitive ears. But do grab a glass of your favorite beverage besties. I'm Marnie. I'm Dom. And today we are bitching about our menopause origin stories.

Marni 0:41

So finding a peri-menopause or a menopause specialist that believes in you is huge, which you already know. Like you've found this amazing woman who doesn't take insurance. However, NAMS, North American Menopause Society, National Association of Menopause Specialists, it's one of those things. Again, brain fog, who knows what it is, but it is NAMS. Put that in the chat, NAMS.org. You can go down state by state and then like find your area and then find who has been vetted to be a good menopause specialist in your area. It is hugely helpful. Especially if you run into the three doctors that you had who were like, oh, you're too young to be in perimenopause. You know?

Dom 1:24

Yeah, it took a primary physician who's not a specialist or an OBGYN to believe me. And I also, I'm sorry, I maybe it's some of my own bias because I'm Filipino, but I also think it's because she and I share a culture.

Marni 1:38

Yeah, sure. I mean, like, I'm sure that's the time to listen.

Dom 1:42

So, okay, let's say you, me next week. Yeah. I find the specialist.

Marni 1:50

Yes.

Dom 1:50

I make the appointment. Yes. I go.

Marni 1:54

And the angels sing.

Dom 1:57

And like, is there anything that you did in your journey or you've heard other people do of like questions that you asked or things that you prepared before going, things that you logged before going?

Marni 2:10

You might want to have just a record of like of what your cycles have been like and tell them the story that you just told us.

Dom 2:18

Yeah.

Marni 2:18

Or just say, hey, here's the link. Go watch my podcast. Like hashtag also not believed at 40, says Colin. Also not believed at 40. Yeah. Like nuts. It is nuts. Yeah. And I'm so sorry to anybody who is listening to this who has had that experience because it's incredibly common. And anyone who you've seen now as a doctor who's been practicing any amount of time maybe got a day's worth of instruction on menopause. They are trained to deliver babies and deal with fertility issues. And menopause. It's like, well, you know, you don't have any fertility issues anymore. So, like, so yeah, when you go see them, I got super lucky with mine just because I love my OBGYN. She is amazing and she does happen to be an NAMS specialist. Incredible. Um, but Dr. Heather Hirsch, go on her her Instagram or any of her social media, get on her email list because she sends out all kinds of stuff, educate just education on menopause and perimenopause. The worst is when the healthcare BS comes from a female identifying practitioner. Yeah.

Dom 3:31

Every doctor that told me I was too young was a woman.

Marni 3:34

Had they been through menopause yet? That I don't know. I'm not sure. Were they younger doctors or were they older doctors?

Dom 3:40

I would say they were all two of them, I would say maybe were a little bit older than me. And then one was, I would say, just from eyeballs. Look younger, but I'm I'm not I'm not sure. Yeah.

Marni 3:51

Part of me like Oh, please. You're glistening. You're glistening.

Dom 3:54

Great. I have a natural glow happening.

Marni 3:56

I know. People pay a lot of money for that, I'm just saying. Okay, so 51 is the median age for perimenopause. For perimenopause. And I think it's actually for menopause for the actual time frame, the day. I think for 51 is the median age for that. But a lot of thank you for Leslie for putting that in the Heatherhirs MD.com in the chat. I believe that doctors see that and think, oh, that's the age when it starts. That's that's you know, just like me bitching about it. But I think that's what most people who aren't versed in it think.

Dom 4:34

Yeah.

Marni 4:35

But I again, I went through it 44 to 49. And then, you know, my doctor went through it at 40. I don't know how she went through it. My my good friend was done by 35. Like it's it is insane. And she also happens to be a woman of color. So maybe that you know that there is something to the studies that you were seeing. And also it's harder for women of color to get good care in in many, many, many areas.

Dom 5:00

Yeah.

Marni 5:01

So it's why I sought out one. I'm glad you do it. I was tired of it. Yeah. So NAMS, maybe just ask them how many people have you seen through their menopause journey? How long have you been on the NAMS register? It's like trying to find a therapist, right? Like you almost want to want to have uh speed dating with these people. Be like, how long have you been on NAMS.org? And how many have you seen through their journey? How many have you seen through their journey? What is your first line of defense? Do you believe in hormone replacement therapy? Because it's generally safe for most people now. Again, not for me and not for anybody with blood clotting issues, but but it's generally safe for most people. Sarah says, mine is an older doc. I chose for her for that reason, but you've been having issues with her too. That's too bad. So it comes with its own baggage. You can also ask them if they've had, like, you know, this is a little bit personal, but have you had a hysterectomy? Did you go through menopause yourself? And at what age did you go through? What was your menopause journey like? You know, maybe is there a trust pilot for menopause doctors, right? Do you have Yelp reviews? Maybe go on Yelp and see what their reviews are like. Can we make our own Yelp reviews? Oh my gosh, yes.

Dom 6:19

Menopause specialists.

Marni 6:20

Yes, we can. We absolutely can. That would be, you know, that would be amazing if we could start like a section of a new section of the bitches in the podcast where it's like people who have done good by us who are, you know, menopause specialists.

Dom 6:36

Yeah. Oh, Kara said once I found a GP I liked, I asked her who her gyno was. Hergyno was nice. Oh, Kara, thank you. I'm seeing my GP, a new one, because I moved in a couple of weeks, and I love her because I used to see her when I still when I lived in this state before. I'm going back to her. I'm gonna ask her that question.

Marni 6:58

Thank you so much for that, Cara. That is a good tip. If anybody else has tips or people that they really, really love, my doctor's name is Ingrid Winterling. She is in the Falls Church, Virginia area, northern Virginia area. She is just amazing. And she reminds me of my bestie, who is also in the chat, Adrienne. And she she is just like, no bullshit. Like, here's what's gonna happen. You know, this is what you're going through, this is what I went through. This she, yeah, you should find somebody who's willing to talk about their own journey too. She's got a wicked cool name too. Ink River.

Dom 7:32

So, Marnie, so when Dr. Winterling said, This is what's happening, how often did you see her? Like, did you how often were you going in for appointments and having check-ins? Was it a lot? Was it just your annual visits, or what kind of care was that?

Marni 7:50

That is a really good question. So I remember that I asked her for an appointment because I was, it was so unlike me. Like anybody who knows me, I'm like happy go lucky. I'm smiling all the time. I'm usually always in good spirits. But I was so unlike myself. I was so angry and so sad all the time. It felt like, you know, this huge weight on my chest. And I called the office and I said, Can I come in? I don't know what's happening. And I was getting so dry. And again, there's no two TMI on this podcast, right? I was getting so dry that I had had a tampon. Um, plug your ears if you don't want to hear this part. But it when I pulled out a tampon, it actually ripped the inner lining of yeah, yeah. And because there wasn't enough, there wasn't enough fluid there to allow for a safe egress.

Dom 8:43

I'm just imagining what it was like pulling out a tampon when we didn't have enough blood for it. Oh that's and that's awful.

Marni 8:51

It's stuck. Oh Marnie. So I um that was one of the reasons that I went and saw her, but I think it started with the mood, and the hormones were really affecting my mood. Aw, Adrienne says, can vouch Marnie is the sunshine. Thank you. Marnie is the sunshine. I love you. So I went to her because I was just like, this is not like me, what is happening? And so she came and saw me, and she's like, Yeah, no, you're fully in it. Would you like me to prescribe you um something for mood? And so I started on Certraline through my O B G Y N. Wow. Surtraline is, yeah, Remy's mama says, ouch, 100%. Yes. Aw, thanks, Leslie. Um, what's what's citrulline? Surtraline is Zoloft. Oh, Citrale is Zoloft.

Dom 9:36

I should know that.

Marni 9:36

I've been on it. I forgot. So, okay, Certraline is the generic name of Zoloft.

Dom 9:43

I've been on that.

Marni 9:44

Yes.

Dom 9:44

That's not it sounded familiar.

Marni 9:46

And fun fact, I am now titrating myself off of it, but your body goes through withdrawal like it does with any other drug. So let's talk about weight gain for a second. I have gained 35 pounds since the pandemic, and I'm only five foot two, y'all. So, like I am five foot two, almost 170 pounds, and I can barely eat anything as it is because I have food intolerances. So I'm celiac. I've been gluten-free for 22 years. I can't have sugar because it um reacts badly with my system. Um, so I can't have anything that comes from cane sugar. So brown sugar, regular sugar, powdered sugar, none of that. Nothing baked with sugar that comes from sugar cane. I can have honey, thank God. I can have date sugar, so I can have sweets. So I haven't had cane sugar on purpose in two and a half years. So it's not like I'm overeating. That's not what's happening. And so I was exercising a lot. I was walking, I was lifting weights. I was like, and nothing was happening, and I was still gaining weight. And so I'm like, you know what? I think I'm gonna start titrating off of my sertraline because it can lead to weight gain.

Dom 10:54

That's actually why I went off of it. Yeah. Was I gained 20 pounds on it within a year? Oh man, I'm hoping is I don't know if it was this, I don't know if it was the medication or if it was perimenopausal related.

Marni 11:08

True, yeah. Yeah.

Dom 11:09

Who knows? Who knows? But yeah, that's gonna be another segment is how our body gain changes. Yeah, weight gain.

Marni 11:15

Another fun fact when you lose estrogen, your fat cells go towards where the estrogen used to be and be like, oh, let me help you out here, which is why you start gaining weight in your midsection. When up until now, like if you gain weight, it's usually like in your butt or your thighs. And so your fat cells are congregating around where the estrogen used to come from to be like, I didn't ask for that help. I don't want it. I don't want it, I don't want that help.

Dom 11:38

Um I didn't I do not consent to that kind of assistance. Thank you.

Marni 11:42

No, and I just got a nutritionist who I love.

Dom 11:45

Oh, good.

Marni 11:46

Yes, and Nourish, Nourish N-O-U-R-I-S-H. I think I have a link where you give ten dollars off your first thing or something, but I'll I'll look for that. Nourish, this is not sponsored by nourish, but hey, nourish, if you want to sponsor us, we can do that. It's like speed dating, but for nutritionists. And the nice thing about them is that you don't, they don't have to be in your state. Amazing. So my my nutritionist is actually in a different time zone. But after going to a nutritionist who was like, Well, you're already not eating a lot, so we can't really bring down your calories too much, but why don't we bring you down to a thousand calories a day and see what happens? I'm like, no, that's not what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to find out how to eat healthily within the things that don't hurt me. And so I was like, bye-bye.

Dom 12:28

Um Jesus.

Marni 12:29

And yeah, it's like your doctors, right? Your OBGYN. So nourish is like speed dating, and you can put in all the things that you need from your nutritionist, and then um you can whittle it down until there are people who specialize in what you need. And my nutritionist is amazing. She starts with education and she's like, Do you know how the uh digestive system works? And I was like, You know what? I kind of do, but why don't you tell me? And she pulls up like this diagram of the entire digestive system, and she's like telling me, Well, here's where the food comes in, and then this peptide and this peptide does this, and then you go down to this other thing, and then this happens and this happens. And I don't have a gallbladder either, so that's another whole nother thing. And then if you don't, uh, this is why they tell you to chew up your food. If you don't get your food down to small enough bites, it starts to ferment in your intestines, which is how you get gas, yeah. And stuff can like hang out in there. Yeah.

Dom 13:22

Is this why I heart so much? Sometimes. Am I not chewing my food enough? No, like I'm wicked, I'm a wicked gassy girl. Like, do you eat a lot of beans? I do. You know what? We're vegetarian in this house. We eat a lot. Okay, so maybe I am chewing enough. Maybe I am chewing enough. It's just the beans.

Marni 13:39

It's probably just the beans. There are some foods that are gassier than others. So it's like, you know, again, we're not doctors. We're not doctors. This is as I understand.

Dom 13:48

Also, like just you know, feel free, ask your doctors. Ask your doctors. Feel free to fact check the stats we've shared.

Marni 13:54

Yes, yes. But it's super important to find a specialist or just an OBGYN or a primary care physician who believes you, yeah, who believes in you, who doesn't automatically say, Oh, you're too young to be in perimenopause without listening to what you're going through. Yeah. So that is huge.

Dom 14:14

And it is okay to walk away from them. It's okay to walk away. And say this is not the right, not the right doctor for me. Yes.

Marni 14:22

Yeah. Just like you, if you don't drive with a therapist, you don't have to stay with them. It's the same, same thing for, yeah, you're not stuck. If you have a friend who's going through the same thing and they like their doctor, check them out. Yeah. Now, I have a very good friend who I sent to my doctor and they didn't jive, and that's okay too. But she found another person who understands her and put her on HRT, and she's feeling better than ever. Amazing. So, yeah. As the hundred plus symptoms aren't enough, the weight gain is so HRT added three cup sizes, which would have been fine back in the day, but no, womp womp. Thanks, Sarah. Oh man, Sarah. Also, a reproductive endocrinologist can help. Thanks, Remy's mama. That's that's perfect. Reproductive endocrinologist. That would be what does that mean? Yeah, Remy's mama, can you put that in the chat? Like, explain it to us like we're six years old.

Dom 15:13

Because that's for those of us who don't know what those words. I know what reproductive means. Yeah, endocrinology.

Marni 15:18

Your endocrine system, like I know the endocrine system, like my kiddo is taking PE over the summer, so they don't have to deal with the um high school locker rooms. Amazing. I know they had that option. Best thing ever. And now they can take it a whole nother elective, which is like genius. But the endocrine system, I know, is like all the hormones and stuff, everything that deals with all the all the things that your body releases into the bloodstream, right? Hormones. Hormones. So the the hormone specialist, a reproductive endocrinologist, a hormone doctor. Amazing.

Dom 15:50

See, guys, this is how bad, like how much anxiety I have when it comes to the medical world. Is it takes me, I don't look at anything anymore. It takes me so long to get my ass to a doctor. This is extremely helpful.

Marni 16:03

Ah, Remy's mama said the same people who help younger women get pregnant are also trained at the other end of the spectrum. So that's good to know. So, yes, reproductive endocrinologist. Amazing. Look in your area for like on your insurance, see what is what is covered. And if it's bad enough that you can't find somebody who is covered. See if you can save, like you'd say for a vacation.

Dom 16:27

Yeah. I'll just it's worth the money at this point. If you can, if I can swing it, if anybody can swing it, it's to feel better.

Marni 16:34

To feel better, yeah.

Dom 16:35

Fertility specialist, Remy's mama says.

Marni 16:38

So that's awesome. I had to go through that whole thing, like to even get pregnant. So maternal fetal medicine specialist is what mine was called. But she was great. So yeah.

Dom 16:48

Do you need to if you've never had a child? Like I we we chose to not have children. So yes, yes, yes. And I have I have not made it a lot of people.

Marni 16:56

Yes, no, it's all good. So uh Sarah, by the way, goodbye, Sarah. It's been a fire. Gotta go feed the dog a happy hot flash free weekend all. In New York, go to Natalie Portman's father, Dr. Hershlog. Oh, there you go, Dr. Herschlog.

Dom 17:10

I mean, that's a nice excuse to go to New York. I like going to New York. Let's just trip to New York to also to see Natalie Portman's dad.

Marni 17:19

And that is amazing. We're also so conditioned to just suck it up. It's hard to motivate to seek help. It's so true.

Dom 17:25

It's so true.

Marni 17:27

Yeah. I mean, like we're not believed, so why would we go to another person?

Dom 17:31

Yeah. And then I feel like we're also, you know, people convince us, or maybe the right word, and this is gaslighting us to think that we're overreacting or the pain isn't that bad, or we're just complaining too much.

Marni 17:46

I love to watch those videos where they attach electrodes to guys and show them what period pain is like.

Dom 17:51

I would watch the same ones over and over again, and I get I get so much joy.

Marni 17:57

Oh, it's just so satisfying, isn't it?

Dom 18:00

So much joy.

Marni 18:01

Oh my god. For sure. Does anybody have any other questions about finding a menopause specialist that believes in you? NAMS.org is really the best thing to go into. Women's experience of pain is consistently underestimated. So true. So true, Leslie. Yeah. So true. 100%. Though it is weird when you're in the stirrups thinking about Bat May. I love that Ruby's mama. Oh my God. We got a snort at a Dom. I love it. That should be like a game. Can we get Dom to snort? Favorite. My favorite. Does anybody have any questions on finding a menopause specialist? Because we're going to move on to the next segment, which is. Got any questions, Hoddies? For you listening at home, we do have a live in studio audience. They are on YouTube across the world, actually. There are people across the world who are in our live taping, I guess that's what you'd call it, a live recording of our podcast. And if you'd like to join the hotties, um, you can become a supporter of the podcast. If you go to bitchesinheat podcast.com, you gotta add that podcast. Don't just go to pitchesinheat.com. You're gonna see boobies. Totally different website. Lots of boobies.podcast.com. You can become a supporter of the podcast, and then uh we will give you the link for when we are recording, and you can come and join the other hotties as a support group so that you can find out more while we're actually recording the podcast. Why don't I talk about while we're waiting what we are going to be talking about in upcoming podcasts? Yes, please in other hotties podcasts. We are going to be talking about perimetopausal rage, obviously, hot flashes and night sweats. We're gonna talk about changes in your period, heavy periods, decrease in libido, which is a huge issue, dryness everywhere, weight gain, restless legs, itchy ears, other skin changes, changes in smell, because that can happen, changes in your smell or in the way you smell things, both things are true. Brain fog or losing words, books that have helped us, inspirational accounts, food tolerances, exercise, frustration with uneducated doctors. We've already touched on that, but we can have a whole long discussion about that. The fact that you're not too young to be in perimenopause. Some friends have started in their 20s. It's crazy. Yo, yeah. My pelvic floor is a shit show, it's gonna be a whole like episode and peeing yourself. So there's and we've got like our eye on so many special guests. Um, so uh Tina says, I've learned so much tonight, so much. Kara says she has to jump off fellow hotties. This is so needed, off to an outdoor baseball game. And I'm needing an entire change of clothes from when I sweat through my first. Yes. Have you heard of taste aversions come up during perimenopause? I have not, but you know what? We're gonna talk about it.

Dom 21:04

Um interesting.

Marni 21:06

And if you're listening and you want to suggest ideas for another podcast episode, or if you're having a symptom and you want to know if other people are having it, please write to bitchesandheapodcast at gmail.com. Bitchesandheatpodcast at gmail.com. You can also go to bitchesandheatpodcast.com and we have a fan mail uh segment on there, and you can send information. You can either send a voicemail or you can send a text message um in fan mail. And if you have a question, we might play it on the podcast.

Dom 21:37

And tell stories, stories as well.

Marni 21:39

We want to hear about your experiences. Please, yeah, this is huge. No one talks about this, right? It's just recently that now that Gen Zers even millennials, Gen Zers, Gen X's, we're all in menopause and perimenopause together and postmenopause. And I don't think that we all. Are the kind to sit back and just take it when nobody's talking about it. So we're like, we're not gonna take it. Right. So I think that telling stories, tell us your horror stories.

Dom 22:10

We want to hear them. And your recommendations. I didn't know I could carry a fan around with me until Marnie told me to.

Marni 22:17

I now I always have a fan on me. And you would not believe this. Like I went to a convention and we were in Texas. We were in the middle of like a movie theater and I whacked out my fan and started fanning myself. Everybody was jealous because every single woman in that theater was in their midlife and knew what I was going through. You guys should sell copper lined PJs, which are cooling for night sweats and meadow merch. I've never heard of this. That would be amazing. Gotta do and drop Jay over to his dad. Love you hard. Oh, thank you. I'm equally delighted to meet all the other hotties. Adrian, thank you so much. I'm so glad you were here. My childhood bestie, everybody. Oh, I love you. Um, yeah, so we are now a support group for each other. Yes. All of the hotties are part of this conversation. Hand fans are a thousand percent stronger than any mini electric fan, and they don't run out of batteries when you need them all.

Dom 23:14

This is true. I do have them both because I will I'll put the I'll put the neck fan on while I walk around my house and I'm doing chores and stuff. Yeah. But I carry my hand fan in my purse with me. I have neither with me at this moment, which is why I'm soaked in sweat.

Marni 23:29

I actually have an ice vest that I made myself out of a hospital gown. What I should do like a demo on how I made it. Like literally, I made it up. They do sell them, they can run pretty expensive, but they're like a vest that you stick, you know, those ice packs that come with your food if you order them from Instacart. You can stick those in pockets in a vest and they don't make noise when you're like in the booth, like we are. And it keeps you cool, especially like both Dom and I are audiobook narrators. So, like we have these amazing booths. However, they're also like four by four coffins and they get really hot really fast. And so I usually wear an ice vest.

Dom 24:11

I have been known to wear the ice vest out and about, and people are just official request for a demo on how to make the ice vest.

Marni 24:20

Yes, okay. Ice vest demo coming up. I will talk about, we will talk about ice vests. I'm writing this down in our show notes. Um, ice vests and how to make them, especially if you're crafty. I gotta say, I was a theater major. Ice vest demo, please. Also, peppermint oil drops on your pulse points, your neck, etc., helps keep you cool. Thank you, Reggie Mama. Oh my god.

Dom 24:43

If anybody's got more tips, please. Yes, please put them in the chat. I'm so going to order myself some peppermint oil. Doesn't that just is peppermint the one that also repels bugs too a little bit?

Marni 24:53

Yes, it does actually. Peppermint oil does repel bugs.

Dom 24:56

So it does two things and it smells really good.

Marni 24:58

Double duty.

Dom 24:59

And you'll always smell minty fresh.

Marni 25:01

There you go. You'll smell minty fresh. I saw this cool thing on TikTok that was um an ice cube tray with little teeny ice cubes. And they took a blank necklace and with the water in it, they ran the blank necklace across the ice cubes. And then when the ice cubes firmed up, they pulled out the necklace and it had all these ice cubes attached to it, and then put the necklace on. I was like, that is genius. Yes, for all the mini spiders in your bag.

Dom 25:32

So, so that is amazing, but then it'll melt on you, right? Yeah, but I mean, you'll also sweat. So yeah. That's true. It's like I'm soaking I'm soaking wet right now. So actually, that kind of wet's probably better.

Marni 25:45

Oh my god, I know, right? Exactly. Ice cube necklace is genius. Yes. Yeah, I don't remember who um who came up with it, but you can look for ice cube necklace. Does anybody else have any craft ideas for menopause, perimenopause that they've come up with that they found helps? Like, I know we all have to watch out for our and and also like dryness being a thing. I've got my lip balm in my booth, which I am now going to reapply. I have oh yes, you got that at um Bad Bath and Beyond, right? The little one, or was it Sephora? Which one? This which one? The little one, the blue one. The blue one.

Dom 26:22

I don't remember. Probably Ulta or Sephora. What's it called? It's called my glasses are fogged up. It's called Intense Therapy Lip Balm. Shea Butter. That's not the name of it. JB, Jack Black. Not to be confused with Jack Black, the actor.

Marni 26:38

I think that's Jack Black. Oh, yes, Remy's mama. There are metal ice cubes for scotch. So they don't, so they don't. Um, you know what? I bet you could find a necklace that's made out of metal cubes. Oh my god.

Dom 26:51

Okay, so this thing, this thing there on my neck, you freeze.

Marni 26:55

Mm-hmm.

Dom 26:56

But they're liars because they say it's supposed to last three hours.

Marni 27:00

It does not.

Dom 27:01

It lasted like 10 minutes, and now I just have a flo had a floppy thing around my neck this whole time.

Marni 27:06

It comes in a pack of three when I got mine. Mine is upstairs. Do you have a pack of three? Yeah. So, like, if you have a little freezer outside your booth, you can always swap them out. But like uh but yes, I wonder if the metal, like if it would um if it would stay cold for longer, or would your the heat from your skin make it hot?

unknown 27:27

I don't know.

Dom 27:28

But it's worth a shot. It's worth a shot. I mean, at this point, I'll try anything because right before we got in the booth, I was sticking my head in the freezer.

Marni 27:35

Right. Oh my god. Not joking. I I have been known to open our refrigerator and just stand there. And it is like my car right now, when I start the air conditioning, it's not fast enough. And I'm like, please, please, please, oh my god, please get started. I have to get out of the car and go back in the house because it's just not fast enough.

Dom 27:54

I mean, it's also really fucking hot right now outside. Depending on where you live, but it's really hot on the east coast.

Marni 28:00

Yeah. If you're in Antarctica or in the Arctic right now, I am so envious of you.

Dom 28:06

I legit Googled last night with a friend of mine. We were texting about the heat. We Googled where can we go that feels like October year-round. And what did you find? So not a lot of Norway right now is at the top of the list, as long as you don't go too far inland or too far south.

Marni 28:26

Okay, okay. So I mean it would be nice.

Dom 28:28

And you know, and they've got the Krampus Parade there, I think.

Marni 28:32

Krampus, the San Francisco Bay Area, Dom.

Dom 28:35

Bay Area. Okay. That's where Leslie lives. And there's a lot of Filipinos there. I'm here for it.

Marni 28:41

Okay, okay. So the Bay Area. Does the Bay Area feel like October year-round, Leslie? Because that would be amazing. I would love that.

Dom 28:48

I want, I just want, I want permanent October.

Marni 28:50

I want permanent October too. That's my favorite time.

Dom 28:52

Permanent, proper October, like it was though in the 90s, not with climate change and how it's fucking everything up. I'm so sad about that. So sad about that.

Marni 29:01

So, yes. Does anybody have any other burning questions? You guys have been amazing. It has been incredible to have all you here and to have all of you who are listening at home. Thank you so much for joining us. You have been a dream, dream audience. Yes. Um, so Dom has a commitment to reach out to a meta specialist by the time we record next. We're recording again in two weeks. Yes.

Dom 29:28

So I've got two weeks to do a reach out.

Marni 29:30

Got two weeks to do a reach out. This particular episode will be split in two so that we have two segments to the menopause origin stories. Any tips that you want to give people before we go, Dom? Like any anything else that you've found lately that's been amazing? What's what's changing your life right now?

Dom 29:45

What is changing my life right now is actually my neck fan.

Marni 29:47

Your neck fan.

Dom 29:48

I realized so Tina's right that the hand fan definitely works better. However, when I need both my hands, the neck, I just got the neck fan a week ago and it's been a game changer for me.

Marni 30:00

Is it the one that wraps around or is it the one that just hangs around my neck?

Dom 30:04

Talk about it. And it's just like it's really, it's like a thick neck fan. It almost looks like you're wearing headphones around your neck and it's got vents at the top of it, and it just you hit the little button, it's got three settings, and it just blows the air up. And it's mine's pretty, it's pretty strong. Um, so I usually only even need it on setting two, and it's not like hot air. So it's not like it's just taking the hot air and pulling it into your face. But it actually, it's actually really helped me this last week. And we just had that horrible heat wave. And while it didn't, you know, obviously nothing was gonna fully combat that heat wave besides air conditioning, but it definitely was helpful. If you're listening to this later, Profan, Profan.

Marni 30:41

Um, if you're listening to this later, it is July 2026 right now, and we just had like a hundred and five degrees in the northeast of the United States. It's been awful. Um, like handbag hand fans are superior, but propellers and batteries are great, really, for sure. Um yes, uh Leslie, can I make a wreck for Dom to consider? Please do, please, please. There's a couple weeks in spring and a couple weeks in fall in San Francisco Bay Area where it gets hot, but other than that, it's lovely, she says. Ooh, okay.

Dom 31:11

This is this is good data. Yeah, very good.

Marni 31:14

I'll talk about while while she's talking about that. I have a clip-on fan because the back of my neck is what activates my um hot flashes. So if I have anything on the back, like even putting my fingers on the back of my neck makes me hot. So I have a clip-on fan and you're supposed to clip it onto your clothes, but I found that because I wear such lightweight fabrics, it like pulls it down. But fun fact and tip if you clip it to your bra strap, it you can you can aim it directly at your neck. I got mine on TikTok for like 10 bucks.

Dom 31:49

You clipped that on me at the last event that we were at together. Story time, real quick, ladies, or and hotties, I should say, is the last event Marnie and I were at together. I was having a fucking hot flash and I was about to perform in front of a bunch of people, and Marnie takes out her little clip fan and puts it on me, and so I could sit and cool down for a minute. It was incredible.

Marni 32:14

I clipped it to your bra strap.

Dom 32:15

You clipped it to my you clipped it to my bra strap. Other thing is too, I I will report back on this, but I read that wearing, because I'm a sweaty bitch, wearing merino wool undergarments are actually better.

Marni 32:29

Interesting. I'm allergic to wool, so oh okay.

Dom 32:32

Well, so if you can't do wool, don't tell everybody else. But I'm gonna report back. I've ordered some merino wool undergarments because I also don't want to wear bras with underwires anymore.

Marni 32:41

No, I'm done.

Dom 32:42

Um, so I will report back on how my bits feel after I wear them when I'm sweaty.

Marni 32:50

Ever the mama lol. Um, Dom, if someone hasn't already provided this as a resource, MIDI Health is Leslie's go-to for Perimenopause, menopause focused service providers.

Dom 33:02

Amazing thing.

Marni 33:02

MIDI Leslie.

Dom 33:03

And MIDI Health.

Marni 33:05

MIDI Health. We're big fans of the We Do Not Care Club here. Yes. And Melanie is doing ads for MIDI Health. So so yeah, that's it. That's another good resource. We're if anybody has like tips and tricks, please put them in the chat, put them in the like in the comments below this video, put them in the comments on the podcast if you are listening to it later. We want to hear everything because we are just individual people trying our best to survive in perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause. And we don't know what we don't know.

Dom 33:38

Yeah.

Marni 33:38

And that's true of everybody, right? Which is why we have to turn this into an international conversation because it transcends boundaries, it transcends borders, it trans like perimenopause doesn't care who you voted for. Perimenopause doesn't care where you live. Perimenopause doesn't care. Like it just doesn't care. It doesn't care. And we shouldn't care either. We should all talk to each other about how to feel better because it's important.

Dom 34:03

Perimenopause don't give a fuck. Perimenopause is like the honey badger.

Marni 34:10

Perimenopause don't give a fuck. Perimenopause don't give a fuck. So I guess in closing, we want to say special thanks to our editor, John Detty. And thank you, John. Yes, and to Leslie for being our moderator. Thank you so much.

Dom 34:22

Thank you, Leslie. All those, all the messages from Bitches and Heat Podcast. That has been the fabulous Leslie. Thank you.

Marni 34:29

And to our hotties. Yes.

Dom 34:31

To our hotties, thank you for being here for our premiere, our very first live streaming. Thank you for participating. Thank you for your patience and love as Marnie and I do our very first podcast episode together.

Marni 34:46

Um, I just wanted to say too, yes, I'm sorry to interrupt you. We are so happy for you to be here. And I just wanted to say that we will have merch available. Shop.bitchesandheatpodcast.com. We have baseball caps that have our show logo with the little bitch that is shouting out lightning and it says B-I-H on it. And then on the back it says hottie. We have hottie shirts, and hopefully we'll be wearing them next time. And you can too. For anybody going through it, anybody who's an ally of anybody going through it might want to get their person going through it a present. But shop.bitchesineat podcast.com. That's our that's our merch site. See, words are hard, but um until next time. Talk to each other.

Dom 35:34

Because nobody else is going to.

unknown 35:37

That's right.

Marni 35:39

Thank you all so much for being here. You are amazing. Bitches and Heat Podcast is a co-production of Marnie Perrin Nurration LLC and Dom Salvation. Dom and Marnie are not medical professionals, and their advice should not be construed as such. They're just a couple of middle-aged hotties bitching about perimetopause and everything that surrounds it. If you'd like to join us for a live recording, you can become a supporter of the podcast and check out our Hottie's merch at bitchesandheatpodcast.com. Make sure you add the word podcast or you won't reach us. The other's a very different website. If you have a suggestion for a future podcast, write to us at bitchesandheatpodcast at gmail.com. Or if you just want Hottie's merch, go straight to shop.bitchesandheatpodcast.com. Our podcast is edited by John Debbie of Deddy Studios. Please note that no part of this audio may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence, technologies, or systems. Copyright 2026, all rights reserved.