Your Go-To Source for Women’s Health Insights
Tune in for expert insights, actionable advice, and the latest in women’s health, with Dr. Jolene Brighten and top professionals from around the world.
Ready to elevate your health and wellness journey? The Dr. Brighten Show brings you fresh, evidence-based knowledge with every episode. From hormone balance to gut health, fertility, and beyond, we deliver the research, tips, and expert perspectives you need to take control of your health.
With 15 episodes available and more on the way, you can dive into topics that matter to you now. Whether you're looking for actionable strategies to boost your energy, improve your hormone health, or live with more vitality, our episodes are designed to inspire and empower.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Don't miss the full video experience on YouTube for an even deeper dive.
What You Can Expect:
- Conversations with health experts, scientists, and thought leaders who bring you the latest research
- Relatable, practical insights for real-life health improvement
- Tips and tools to help you balance hormones, boost energy, and enhance your wellness
- Timely topics that speak directly to women’s health in today’s world
- A supportive community that empowers you to take control of your health journey
Estrogen and Dopamine: Why Your Brain, Motivation, and ADHD Symptoms Can Change With Your Hormones
If you’ve ever felt like your brain suddenly changed operating systems before your period, postpartum, or in perimenopause, this episode on estrogen and dopamine is going to help you understand why your focus, motivation, and emotional regulation can feel completely different from one week to the next. In this episode of The Dr. Brighten Show, Dr. Jolene Brighten breaks down …
PMDD vs PME: How to Tell the Difference and Why It Changes Treatment
I recorded this episode because I keep seeing the same thing in my clinic: women who've been told they have PMDD, but something about the diagnosis doesn't quite fit. Their symptoms don't actually go away when their period starts — they just get a little easier. That's not PMDD. That's PME, premenstrual exacerbation, and it changes everything about how we …
Autoimmune Disease Management with Dr. Terry Wahls: Nutrition, Mitochondria, and Women's Hormone Transitions
Autoimmune disease management is often reduced to one question: which medication comes next? This episode pushes back on that narrow frame. For listeners living with fatigue, brain fog, pain, or gradual loss of function, that frustration is real. The conversation with Dr. Terry Wahls centers on a different idea: autoimmune disease is not only about immune signaling, but also about …
PCOS Has a New Name: What PMOS Means and What Still Hasn’t Changed
PCOS has a new name, and a lot of people are asking the right question: does this actually change anything? In this episode, I break down the shift from PCOS to PMOS—polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome—and why I see it as directionally positive, but nowhere near sufficient on its own. The old name was misleading. It made “cysts” the focus, even …
Why Perimenopause Hormone Therapy Can Make Symptoms Worse: Gut, Liver, Thyroid, and Toxin Factors | Pamela Langenderfer
Have you ever started perimenopause hormone therapy and expected relief, only to feel more bloated, more irritable, more tired, or more in the grip of insomnia instead? If that sounds familiar, you are not imagining it. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Pamela Langenderfer about why hormones can be an important tool, but not the whole story. A prescription …
Why PMDD Treatment Fails: SSRIs for PMDD, Birth Control, and What Your Doctor May Be Missing
If you have PMDD and feel like you’ve tried everything—SSRIs, birth control, progesterone, gut protocols, antihistamines, supplements, cycle tracking—and you’re still crashing every luteal phase, this episode is for you. In this episode of The Dr. Brighten Show, Dr. Jolene Brighten breaks down why PMDD treatment is not one-size-fits-all, why some women feel better on standard care while others feel …
PMDD Antihistamines: Why They May Help — and Why Histamine Isn't the Whole Story
It seems like everywhere women turn lately, someone is talking about using Allegra or Pepcid to get through the worst days of their cycle. The stories are consistent: a few pills, and the dark cloud lifts. The question is — is it real? The short answer is: histamine can be involved in PMDD. But the longer, more important answer is …
Normal Labs but Still Stuck? A Hormone AMA on Insulin, PMS, Fibroids, and Postpartum Anxiety
Many women are told that lab work is normal while symptoms keep getting louder. Weight-loss resistance can worsen even with a normal A1C. Mood can crash before a period even when routine testing shows nothing unusual. Anxiety can intensify after birth and still be brushed aside as part of new motherhood. Digestive symptoms can flare every luteal phase and still …
Progesterone Resistance and GLP-1s in Endometriosis: What the Research Means
Can a GLP-1 medication change the way progesterone works in endometriosis? That is the central question Dr. Brighten explores in this episode, and it is not a throwaway idea. It sits at the intersection of inflammation, hormone receptor signaling, and the reality that many women are told to manage endometriosis with options that reduce symptoms without stopping the disease process. …
