HRT, antidepressants, testosterone: Yes, it works. But at what cost?

A reflection on relief that comes with conditions
By Lucia P.

Let's speak the truth that makes everyone uncomfortable: for some of us, the treatments do help.

The hot flashes fade to a whisper.
The 3 AM panic attacks stop clawing at your throat.
Your libido wakes up from its long sleep, even if just barely.

So you stay on the HRT patch that leaves marks on your skin.
You swallow the SSRI that dulls more than just the pain.
You rub in the testosterone gel and hope for the best.

Because finally, finally, something seems to work.

But then.

What they don't put in the pamphlets: relief often comes wearing a disguise.

You wanted your nights back.
Instead, you got bloating that makes your clothes feel like punishment.
Nausea that turns food into an enemy.
Migraines that split your skull.
Spotting that reminds you your body is still a mystery.

Maybe you got rage that feels like someone else's anger living in your chest.
Or brain fog so thick you can't remember why you walked into a room.
Or the terrifying sensation that the body you're living in doesn't belong to you anymore.

For some women, these trade-offs are worth it.
For others, they're another kind of hell.

But we rarely get to say this out loud, do we?

In a world that's spent centuries ignoring menopausal suffering, you're supposed to be grateful for any lifeline. Even if it's pulling you under in a different way.

We don't need judgment. We need permission to say: "This is messy."

You're not ungrateful when you question whether the cure is worse than the disease.
You're not weak when you wonder if there's another way.
You're not "too sensitive" when you mourn the parts of yourself that disappeared with the symptoms.

You're just a woman trying to navigate a medical landscape that treats your body like a chemistry experiment.

Where every solution comes with a list of "may cause" longer than the list of benefits.
Where your relief is always conditional.
Where you have to choose: Do you want sleep, or do you want to feel like yourself?
Less physical pain, or emotional stability you can trust?
Hormonal balance, or the ability to cry when something actually makes you sad?

There's no perfect answer.
Just a series of impossible choices that no one prepared you for.

Ceceloom doesn't pretend to replace your medical team. But it doesn't ask for trade-offs.

We created our night bralette not as a medical intervention, but as something much simpler: care without conditions.

No hormones that might flood your system.
No pills that might change how you feel about feeling.
No side effects to weigh against benefits.

Just breathable softness that understands when your chest feels tender.
Just enough support to hold you without adding pressure to an already pressured life.
Something that doesn't promise to fix everything, but doesn't risk breaking anything either.

Because some nights, you need comfort that's quiet.
That doesn't interfere with whatever delicate balance you've managed to create.
That doesn't ask you to choose between one kind of relief and another.

Maybe you're on treatments that help. Maybe you're not. Maybe you're somewhere in between, still figuring it out.

Wherever you are in this journey, your body deserves gentleness that doesn't come with fine print.

Lucia P.
Still weighing the costs. Still choosing myself, one night at a time.