Still slightly taboo in the workplace, and still often unrecognised by medical professionals, perimenopause is a long and difficult stage of life for many women. Lisa and Sasha are joined in the Today Radio studio by a dream team of guests to discuss this long-overdue topic — including a menopause coach, a preventative health entrepreneur, a medical and health management specialist in menopause, as well as a sexologist and perimenopause specialist. Perimenopause and menopause are stages of a woman's life that are becoming more present in conversations socially and even in the workplace. But still, so many women go through perimenopause, suffering a multitude of symptoms, without realising it. It’s difficult to untangle symptoms from the heavy stressors of life sometimes, as perimenopause hits us during particularly intense periods of our lives, and continues for years. During this time, we many be raising children, managing a household with a career, caring for parents or other family members, living away from ‘home’,  and so there is very little time for ‘us’, to listen and feel what is going on inside our own bodies. The irony is that when life demands all of us, perimenopause can significantly diminish our natural capacity for work and resilience. After a weekly news round-up with Sasha, my guests this week are Guy Brandenbourger, Diane Elsen, Annabelle Parkhouse and Victoria Honey. Guy Brandenbourger was a Partner at PwC Luxembourg from 2011, led their healthcare sector including the government and public sector practice in Luxembourg.  Guy is now the founder and Partner of his own company called Health A Gesondheet, Luxembourg Blue Zone (HAG) dedicated to developing a preventative health care structure in Luxembourg, aiming to become the 6th blue zone in the world. Diane Elsen is a certified menopause coaching specialist. After 26 years working within a European institution, raising 2 children, helping her partner manage a successful restaurant she was hit by post traumatic depression at 48, at the peak of her career. With no answers from her GP, Diane threw herself into researching peri-menopause. Annabelle Parkhouse has just completed Medical School at Imperial College London. She also completed an MBBS diploma and an Intercalated bachelor’s in health management at Imperial Business School. Her thesis was on “Making Menopause Manageable, barriers regarding the safe discussions of menopausal symptom experience and management." Victoria Honey, a sexologist and perimenopause specialist, supports female executives, who want to manage the emotional changes that come with peri/menopause so that they can flourish in their careers and live unshakeable lives. Menopause is still rather a taboo topic in Luxembourg, and the symptoms of perimenopause are still catching women by surprise. It is frequently only after a woman hits menopause that they realise they have lived with many of the symptoms. 86% of women aged 50 to 65 experience at least one symptom (of a list of at least 34), and almost half have not discussed the subject with their doctor, 60% talk to their gynaecologist and only 39% talk to their partner. As Annabelle says, going through the period of perimenopause to post-menopause is actually a privilege, but it’s not always easy for women. Medication alters depending on where you live and who your doctors are. There is so much more to learn about the effects of menopause on the body and we are a long way from personalised hormonal treatment. Although, we have moved on from the WHI study to disband the link between HRT and breast cancer. Moreover, HRT used at the right time can reduce cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. Diane Elsen talks about her own very difficult experience of perimenopause, not knowing what she was going through at the time, and nor did any of her healthcare professionals spot it. During her many years of research, Diane has found number of sources she wo