Can't Take Estrogen? Dr. Corinne Menn on Who Can, Who Can't & What's Changed

In this episode, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. corinne Menn to tackle one of the most common questions in women's health: "Can I take estrogen?" As a board-certified OB-GYN, certified menopause practitioner, and 24-year breast cancer survivor, Dr. Menn brings both professional expertise and lived experience to this conversation about who can take hormone therapy, who can't, and what's changed in recent years.

Dr. Menn's own story provides powerful context for this discussion. At just 28 years old, during her second year of medical residency, she discovered a lump in her breast just one week before learning her mother had recurrent ovarian cancer. Within days of her mother's sudden death, Dr. Menn received her own devastating diagnosis: breast cancer. What followed was a grueling journey through mastectomy, chemotherapy, and induced menopause while simultaneously completing one of medicine's most demanding training programs.

Throughout this conversation, Dr. Menn shares the profound gaps in survivorship care that she experienced firsthand and continues to witness in her patients today. The medical system, she explains, is focused on treating cancer but often fails to prepare women for the marathon of side effects that follow, particularly the devastating impact of estrogen deprivation on sexual health, mental health, bone density, and cardiovascular risk.

Guest links:

• Dr. Corinne Menn
• Dr. Corinne Menn (Instagram)
• Dr. Corinne Menn (Facebook)
• Dr. Corinne Menn (Alloy Health)
• Dr. Corinne Menn (LinkedIn)
• Dr. Corinne Menn (TikTok)
• Dr. Corinne Menn (YouTube)
• Dr. Corinne Menn (Substack)
• Dr. Corinne Menn (Young Survival Coalition)

Recommended Books:

• “The New Perimenopause,” by Dr. Mary Claire Haver
• “You Are Not Broken: Stop ‘Should-ing’ All Over Your Sex Life,” by Dr. Kelly Casperson

Articles:

• Interrupting Endocrine Therapy to Attempt Pregnancy after Breast Cancer (New England Journal of Medicine)
• Women's Insights on Sexual Health After Breast Cancer (WISH-BREAST) Survey (JCO Oncology Practice)

Other Resources:

• Young Survival Coalition
• AUA Guidelines (American Urological Association)
• ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology)
• The Menopause Society
• Trends in Multiple Chronic Conditions Among US Adults, By Life Stage, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2013–2023 (CDC)
• NIH Fact Sheets On Women’s Health Research (NIH)
• NCCN Guidelines (NCCN)
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• Dr. Rachel Rubin
• Dr. Mike clip on public health and social media (YouTube)
• Menopause and Cancer
• The management of estrogen deficiency symptoms, arthralgia and menopause diagnosis in women treated for early breast cancer (British Menopause Society)
• Non-hormonal-based treatments for menopausal symptoms (British Menopause Society)
• Dr. Shannon Klingman (Lume)