# Dr. LaKeischa McMillan on How Perimenopause Affects Sex, Skin, Stress, and More

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-trusted-pharmacist-7273150/dr-lakeischa-mcmillan-on-how-perimenopause-affects-sex-skin-stress-and-more
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-trusted-pharmacist-7273150/dr-lakeischa-mcmillan-on-how-perimenopause-affects-sex-skin-stress-and-more.md
Podcast: [The Trusted Pharmacist](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-trusted-pharmacist-7273150)
Published: 2026-07-09T07:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://0ff9d500-e90f-4e0d-b3fb-3684324fb4d0.libsyn.com/dr-lakeischa-mcmillan-on-how-perimenopause-affects-sex-skin-stress-and-more
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/0ff9d500-e90f-4e0d-b3fb-3684324fb4d0/Trusted_Pharmacist_-_Ep_69_-_Dr._LaKeischa_McMillan_-_Audio.mp3?dest-id=4960320
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Duration seconds: 3104

## Resource

Perimenopause and menopause are inevitable. But you can either crash into this transition or glide into it, and a few key factors make all the difference. This phase can feel like your entire body changed overnight and you didn't get the memo. Suddenly, you feel like a foreigner in your own skin. The clothes that used to feel fine suddenly feel irritating. Words disappear mid-sentence. You walk from one room to another and forget what you were doing. You're used to being sharp, capable, and dependable, but now getting ready, getting out the door, leading a meeting, keeping up at work, or holding the day together can feel harder than it used to. Then there is the part many women are least prepared to talk about: intimacy. Libido can shift. Sex can become painful, with burning, dryness, and discomfort showing up in ways they never used to. Then there's the impact this can have on your relationships and how this phase can leave you feeling confused, disconnected, and alone. But it doesn't have to be this way. Women are often told they have to push through or just accept this as a part of aging and carry the blame for how their bodies are changing. To glide into perimenopause and not crash, you need healthcare practitioners who understand that "normal labs" do not always tell the whole story. You need real conversations about estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, vaginal health, stress, sleep, metabolism, and the nervous system. You need a partner who listens without making the changes personal, and families, workplaces, and communities that understand this transition is real and support you. And you need to face an uncomfortable truth: that the stress, over-functioning, and constant responsibility that you used to carry effortlessly just won't work the same way anymore. I…

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