The Laura Dowling Experience cover art

The Laura Dowling Experience

The Laura Dowling Experience

By: Laura Dowling
Listen for free

This Season's Biggest Deal | £0.99/mo for 3 months + £10 Audible bonus

£5.99/mo after 3 months - terms apply. Cancel monthly
Summary
 Conversations about health, science, wellness, life, love, sex and everything in-between. Laura is a Pharmacist who loves to talk to interesting people about their unique life and work experiences. See @fabulouspharmacist on instagram for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

© 2025 The Laura Dowling Experience Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Social Sciences
Episodes
  • His Parkinson's Started With Depression with Ian O'Brien #194

    His Parkinson's Started With Depression with Ian O'Brien #194
    Nov 5 2026
    Ian O'Brien was 38 when a neurologist told him, within a couple of minutes, that he had Parkinson's disease. For about a year before that he had been on antidepressants for anxiety and depression, and for two years he had been finishing sentences with his left hand holding his right. His first question was whether Parkinson's could cause the anxiety and depression. When the answer was yes, he says it felt like a weight off his shoulders.Now 46 and nearly ten years in, Ian, who co-founded EOPD Ireland, tells Laura what early onset Parkinson's is really like: medication that now lasts him about an hour, switching "off" like a light, planning his day around tablets and protein, and the evenings his daughters help him get ready for bed. He talks about telling his eldest with a poem and letting her interview him on camera, and about Parkinson's being one of the factors in his recent separation.He also explains dopamine in plain language, the gambling and compulsive behaviour dopamine agonists can trigger in some people, deep brain stimulation, why exercise should be the first thing a neurologist mentions, and why talking to other people with Parkinson's has been his best education of all.🔑 Key PointsDepression came firstHis first symptoms were anxiety and depression, and he spent about a year on antidepressants before a physio friend told him to ask his GP for a neurologist.The movement signs he missedFor around two years his handwriting shrank and stopped mid-sentence, and he would reach across with his left hand for the keys in his right pocket.A diagnosis can bring reliefIan says he almost wanted something physically wrong with him to explain how he was feeling, and he walked out of the neurologist's office feeling better.Medication is a daily balancing actLevodopa now lasts him about an hour, and eating close to a dose, especially protein, can stop it working, so he plans tablets, meals and work around the times he needs to be on.Exercise should come firstHe says neurologists don't always lead with it, but high-intensity exercise made him feel almost as if he didn't have Parkinson's, and he has got worse since slowing down.Your whole family gets Parkinson'sHe regrets being a bit selfish at the start and sees the condition as one of the factors in his recent separation, though he and his wife still raise their girls together.Telling his daughter with a poemIan read his eldest a poem about Parkinson's, then a week later let her interview him on camera with questions she wrote herself.Life isn't overHe knows people living well 20 to 30 years after diagnosis, and his advice to anyone newly diagnosed is that you just need to make adjustments.📚 ResourcesEOPD Irelandthe charity for people with early onset Parkinson's that Ian co-foundedParkinson's Irelandthe national charity supporting people with Parkinson'sThe Michael J. Fox Foundationthe Parkinson's research foundation Ian mentionsSamaritans Irelandfree support, any time, if you are struggling⏱️ Timestamps00:00 — Welcome back to the podcast02:17 — Anxiety and depression came first04:16 — "It was like a weight off my shoulders"06:30 — The movement signs he missed09:18 — Why exercise should come first10:22 — Parkinson's and dopamine, explained12:17 — Levodopa and planning the day14:40 — Telling his daughter with a poem17:15 — Dopamine agonists and compulsive behaviour24:59 — Playing soccer for Ireland28:15 — The whole family lives with it33:44 — Deep brain stimulation37:00 — Setting up EOPD Ireland38:52 — "Life isn't over"Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    42 mins
  • Bitesize Moment: "My Sensitivity Was Actually My Power." — Lynn Mac on Empaths and Boundaries

    Bitesize Moment: "My Sensitivity Was Actually My Power." — Lynn Mac on Empaths and Boundaries
    Nov 3 2026

    In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, Lynn Mac explains how her sensitivity works, how it once left her overwhelmed by other people's emotions, and how healing and boundaries let her choose when to switch it on.


    Ever been told you're too sensitive? Lynn Mac used to think so too, until she realised it was never a weakness. Here's how she learned to protect her own energy without shutting herself off.


    🔑Key Points

    • Lynn describes her gift as a heightened version of the sixth sense everyone already has, like a gut feeling

    • She used to absorb other people's emotions so heavily it felt overwhelming, especially early on

    • She names this as being an empath: soaking in the energy and emotions of everyone around her

    • Her people-pleasing meant she gave endless support to others until she couldn't cope anymore


    🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

    Thanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    6 mins
  • Why Prescribing HRT Made Her a Target with Dr Louise Newson #193

    Why Prescribing HRT Made Her a Target with Dr Louise Newson #193
    Oct 29 2026
    Dr Louise Newson is a GP who has spent more than a decade campaigning for women to get access to hormone treatment. She set up her own clinic, the Balance app and an education programme for doctors, and her work has made her one of the most polarising figures in her profession.In this conversation she tells Laura how it started: rereading the 2002 Women's Health Initiative study when NICE published its first menopause guidance in 2015, and realising HRT prescribing had fallen off a cliff. She explains why she believes the risks of hormone treatment have been overstated, from testosterone to starting HRT after 60 to women who have had breast cancer.Louise also talks about the backlash: 350 pages of British Menopause Society emails she obtained through a subject access request, the BBC's Panorama, and the inspection that ended with her clinic rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission. And why, with only 5% of menopausal women worldwide prescribed hormone treatment, she says most women who would benefit still aren't getting it.🔑 Key PointsHRT prescribing fell off a cliff after 2002Louise kept prescribing HRT as a GP for decades and only realised after NICE's 2015 guidance that many colleagues had stopped, while her friends were being given antidepressants instead.Guidelines are only a guideShe says the NICE guidance mentions risk 22 times more than benefit and groups synthetic and bioidentical hormones together, which leaves busy clinicians confused.The over-60 risk came from synthetic hormonesThe heart attack signal in the Women's Health Initiative study was in women given horse-derived oestrogen and a synthetic progestogen, not the estradiol and progesterone she prescribes.Testosterone has a long history in womenIt was prescribed in the 1940s and '50s for period problems and menopausal symptoms, and she says its reputation comes from the synthetic anabolic steroids of the '60s and '70s.Some women need more than the licensed doseSkin varies in how much estradiol it absorbs, and her clinic's published data shows about a fifth of patients need a higher than licensed dose.Progesterone changed her thinking on PMDDA colleague's own postnatal illness led Louise to Katharina Dalton's work, and her clinic now prescribes progesterone for PMS, PMDD and postnatal depression.Ten years of being targetedLouise says the emails she obtained show people trying to silence her, and the pressure on her and her family brought her close to giving up.Only 5% of menopausal women get HRTEvery menopause guideline calls HRT first-line treatment for most women, yet she says only 14% of menopausal women in the UK and 5% globally are prescribed it.📚 ResourcesNewson ClinicThe hormone clinic Louise co-founded with Dr Rebecca LewisBalanceLouise's free app for tracking symptoms and learning about hormone healthConfidence in HormonesThe hormone health education programme for doctors and healthcare professionals⏱️ Timestamps00:00 — Welcome to The Laura Dowling Experience03:47 — Rereading the WHI study after NICE's 2015 guidance11:18 — Why HRT is scrutinised like no other medicine15:43 — Testosterone's forgotten history in women20:43 — Starting HRT after 6024:43 — "A body of people trying to take me down"29:33 — If she were a male gynaecologist32:07 — Are her doses too high?35:45 — HRT after breast cancer39:43 — Progesterone, PMDD and postnatal depression42:16 — The Care Quality Commission inspection45:47 — Running a private clinic48:27 — Has the pendulum swung too far?53:02 — Advice for young people and the meaning of lifeThanks for listening! You can watch the full episode on YouTube here. Don’t forget to follow The Laura Dowling Experience podcast on Instagram @lauradowlingexperience for updates and more information. You can also follow our host, Laura Dowling, @fabulouspharmacist for more insights and tips. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review—it really helps us out! Stay tuned for more great conversations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    55 mins
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet