PUT ON PAUSE

A growing number of women are coupling hormonal treatment with GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic to slow menopause weight gain. Fiorella Valdesolo investigates.

- Fiorella Valdesolo

BETTER PATH

"These drugs are addressing different problems, but they work together," says Karen Mann, MD. Photographed by Tamara Aptekar.

It was night sweats, wild mood swings, and, ironically, significant hair loss that first sent Kate, 54, a New York-based hairstylist, to her doctor in her late 40s looking for relief; she was prescribed an estrogen patch. “It made me feel like myself again,” says Kate, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy. “I was sleeping, I wasn't losing my temper, and my mood really evened out, but I was still overweight.” Despite a healthy diet and regular exercise, there were a dozen or so pounds that just wouldn't budge. So she started taking Wegovy. For Shelby Meade, 55, an LA-based publicist, regular doses of estrogen helped temper her sometimes 30-day periods but did nothing for her perpetually bloated state. “I was heavier than I'd ever been and there was a constant pressure on my lower abdomen,” says Meade, who, like Kate, exercised regularly and had a healthy diet. A family doctor suggested Wegovy. “I just wanted to feel better in my body, and that flipped a switch,” says Meade. “It was a game changer.”

The hormonal changes of menopause can make the weight gain more resistant to traditional diet and lifestyle adjustments, says Peminda Cabandugama, MD. But studies have found that GLP-1s can be a very effective reinforcement of diet and exercise