Published on Jul 14, 2025
Last modified on Jul 14, 2025
Brain Fog, Mood Swings, and Hot Flashes: How This Elektra Patient Took Back Control
4 min read
As a longtime fifth grade teacher and New Yorker, Stephanie Pastor is no stranger to the unpredictable. Between classroom surprises and subway fiascos, she’s gotten used to rolling with the punches. That was, until menopause. We spoke with Stephanie about navigating the tumult of the menopause transition and its unwelcome symptoms, and how Elektra supported her to take back control of her body.
How it all started
It started with irregular periods. I’d have a period, and then miss a month, then have a period, then miss another month. It was just all over the place. Eventually, all of the symptoms got worse, including hot flashes. If I was mid-conversation, I would have to stop talking to compose myself. I was carrying a fan around with me everywhere and moving it from classroom to classroom throughout the day. And I was having brain fog, trouble finding words, and my mood swings were just insane.
As the hot flashes got worse, the irritability became harder; it was all coming to a head all the same time. There was one night where my husband and I had just come back from vacation and got into a huge fight. At the end of the fight, he gave me this funny look, and I said “this isn’t just the hormones,” and we both started hysterically laughing because it was such a stupid fight. The next day, I was like “you know, I’m really sorry. I definitely think that was the hormones.”
On seeking support
I went to my gynecologist about a year ago, and she told me “yeah, that’s pretty much what’s gonna happen. We just kind of have to live with it.” I said okay and moved on. A few months later, I realized I couldn’t do it.
I started doing my own research. I started reading. I started listening to doctors’ podcasts. And I really started looking into hormone therapy, which I had stayed away from for a long time due to a lot of misinformation out there. I went back to the drawing board and decided to look through my insurance to see what care was covered, which is how I found Elektra.
Finding a treatment plan that worked
I found a doctor here and when I spoke with her, she did a really thorough rundown of my options. She prescribed me estradiol cream, estradiol transdermal patches, and progesterone. At first, my insurance would only cover the progesterone pills and the estradiol cream. According to the policy, you have to be 49 to get the transdermal patches covered, and I was 363 days too young. I reached out to my Elektra clinician, and she wrote me a letter of necessity; the insurance then covered it.
I’ve been on it for a little over three months and it’s amazing. No more hot flashes, no more mood swings. I’m not waking up at three o’clock in the morning and staring at the ceiling for an hour every morning; it’s been life changing. Dr Edmundson was amazing. She listened to me, she heard me, she validated me, and then she helped me get the medication that I need.
What she wishes she knew before
I wish I recognized the perimenopausal symptoms because when you’re going through life, sometimes it’s hard to stop and focus on yourself, to try to figure out what’s going on. And I wish that more people would talk about it. I went out to brunch with my friends recently, and they’re all still getting their periods, but I was telling them about my experience on hormone therapy. They’re like, “it’s good you know all this because then you can help us when we get there!”
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