Perimenopause and menopause are not just about hot flashes. You may experience changes in your period, mood, sleep, weight, joints, skin, vaginal and bladder health, and more. 

If you’re navigating mid-life, before or after menopause, this episode will help you understand what’s happening and what you can do about it using a natural approach.

As a woman in my 50s going through this transition myself, so I get it. It can be quite frustrating and unpredictable to live in a body that is changing. Many of you ask which supplements I take, so I’m sharing that information in this episode as well.

The First Signs: Menstrual Changes

Women usually first realize perimenopause is happening when the menstrual cycles changes, and those changes can be very different for each individual. Your period might come every two to three weeks instead of every four weeks, or it could shift to every other month or every three to six months. Bleeding can be heavier, lighter, in between, or constant.

Your need for contraception, whether a pill, patch, or IUD, also fades. Some of you lost your cycle earlier, in your 30s or early 40s, or through a hysterectomy or an ablation for heavy bleeding. Once your period disappears, however that happens, from then on is medically considered menopause, even if you’re in your 70s, 80s, or 90s.

Symptoms Beyond the Menstrual Cycle

Estrogen, progesterone, and the other ovarian hormones, like testosterone and DHEA, don’t just affect the uterus; they affect receptors throughout our bodies. That’s why women often experience:

– Fatigue and weight gain

– Anxiety, depression, or irritability

– Difficulty falling asleep and waking up at night to pee

– Hot flashes and night sweats

– Acne, hair loss, and breaking nails

– Joint pain, frozen shoulder, injuries, and fractures

– Gas, bloating, constipation, and hemorrhoids

– Bladder infections, burning, and irritation

– Vaginal dryness, burning, or pain, and conditions like lichen sclerosus

– Vaginal yeast, BV, and HPV

It’s so important for women to keep getting Pap smears and HPV tests after 50 because it is quite common for women to test positive for HPV for the first time after age 50. 

Midlifeis also often a time of other changes: children moving out, caring for aging parents, and losing loved ones. It can be a big emotional shift. A patient told me, “Wait a minute, I didn’t sign up for this. Nobody told me this could happen.” Know you’re not alone; there’s help.

Acceptance and Support

It’s not about trying to prevent aging, which is impossible. There has to be a balance: accepting ourselves and our bodies while also supporting ourselves, whether with hormone therapy, nutrients, herbs, or other approaches. 

Menopause doesn’t mean you have to be miserable, be in pain, or have recurrent infections. I’ve helped women through menopause for over 26 years, and I’ve learned so much from them.

Start Early With Stress Recovery

I’ve observed what research shows: supporting your body to recover from stress is one of the best things you can do for a smoother transition. My Stress Recovery Protocol is perfectly designed to help. Even a natural transition like menopause is a stress on your body, and combined with life stress, it adds up.

The first step is to know your stress hormone levels. I find the most accurate approach is measuring cortisol in saliva or urine four times a day (morning, midday, evening, and bedtime) to see your cortisol curve, plus adrenaline in urine. Otherwise, we’re guessing. 

Then I guide you through a three-phase process, starting with calming the system: supporting calming neurotransmitters, decreasing stimulating ones, and rebalancing cortisol. 

It’s about balance, not perfectionism. Midlife is when we realize “go, go, go” mode won’t work anymore; matching recovery to stress allows you to keep going.

Start with my book, *Master Stress, Reset Your Health*, available on Amazon, to identify your stress type. My one protocol can help you in a hundred ways. We can also support mood, energy, focus, and sleep with nutrients and herbs, even alongside medications.

Hormone Therapy

You’ve likely heard about estradiol patches, usually with progesterone and sometimes testosterone. It’s worth considering at any age, especially for preventing bone loss, but it isn’t the end-all, be-all. Women often still have symptoms and still need to prevent heart disease and dementia, so we need a comprehensive approach. More about that below. To learn more about Hormone Therapy (estrogen, progesterone, etc) and the latest research updates, you can find more videos/episodes where I’ve covered that topic here.

Vaginal and Bladder Health

When estrogen drops vaginally, you become more susceptible to discomfort and infections. Studies show vaginal estrogen, used once or twice a week, is safe and effective ongoing. If you have a cancer history, check with your oncologist. 

Other options include hyaluronic acid, vitamin E, DHEA, and testosterone used vaginally, and we can test the vaginal or bladder microbiome to determine whether a natural approach to restoring a healthy microbiome is needed. 

I plan to cover more on this topic in a future episode so stay tuned!

The Natural Supplements I Love to Reduce Symptoms

These are trending for good reason: they’re natural, easy, safe, and effective. Links to my favorites are below.

• Collagen: Choose one powder with both type 1 and type 2 to cover bones, joints, ligaments, skin, hair, and nails. One scoop a day is worth it.

• Creatine: Monohydrate is more often associated with water retention, so I prefer hydrochloride, in powder or capsules. It helps with muscle and energy.

• Amino Acids: Not everyone needs them. First, get enough protein at each meal. If you’re highly active exercising, it can be worthwhile to add. Tablets may be easier than flavored powders with sweeteners.

• Magnesium Threonate: For anxiety, muscle tightness, pain, headaches, and blood pressure, effective dose can be one capsule a day.

• Black Cohosh: One or two capsules twice a day for hot flashes and night sweats. Also available in combined formulas like Women’s Phase 2.

• Women’s Phase 2: To help reduce menopause symptoms and support the change in hormones naturally.

• Lavender: Capsules, found to be helpful for anxiety.

• Saffron Extract: At 28 milligrams a day, research shows, helps for low mood.

• NMN 300: To support anti-aging and cellular health, in particular for preventing cognitive decline.

• Maca formula: Specific post-menopause formulas for mood, weight gain, fatigue, hot flashes, and libido (REQUIRES A PATIENT ACCOUNT AND LOGIN).

• Beta-Glucan: For immune support (REQUIRES A PATIENT ACCOUNT AND LOGIN).

• Pycnogenol: A pine bark extract, for inflammation and pain, also helps the health of blood vessels to prevent heart disease.

• Omega Support: To support cardiovascular health and healthy blood sugar metabolism, while also supporting cognitive function and development. It helps maintain healthy skin, joints, and connective tissues, supports visual and ocular health, and helps maintain a healthy inflammatory balance.

• Bone Support: Essential vitamins and minerals for healthy bone density.

• Vitamin D & K Support: For supporting and maintaining bone, cardiovascular and immune health.

• OstaDerm-V: cream for vaginal dryness and/or dryness near the opening.

• Hydration ovals: To support vaginal estrogen levels with estriol in a cocoa butter base. (REQUIRES A PATIENT ACCOUNT AND LOGIN).

• Hydration pearls: Vitamin E for vaginal use.

Even reducing symptoms by 20% makes a big difference.

Get Comprehensive Blood Work

When I meet with a woman for the first time, I look at her history, symptoms, and family history, then prioritize. I recommend new blood work, including cardiovascular risk beyond cholesterol. Heart disease is still the number one cause of death in women, and while preventing it, we can often prevent diabetes, dementia, and cancer too.

Take Your Health Back

If you would like to learn more about how you can navigate through menopause, address symptoms using natural approaches, the importance of recovery from stress to minimize symptoms and prevent future health issues, and all you need to know about choosing bio-identical hormones and having conversations with your practitioners about all this… you can learn more in my Mastering Menopause Masterclass here for free.

What I find in my practice – helping women for over 26 years – is that with proper support, beyond the standing testing to identify underlying causes and exactly what your body needs, you can maintain your health and vitality throughout menopause and beyond. 

Remember, investing in your health is not selfish – it’s necessary. Women often arrive at mid-life having spent most of their time taking care of others and realize it is time to take care of you!

It is also important to know that it is possible to recover from stress and trauma and truly heal, because you’re not likely to hear that from your standard doctor’s office. Keep in mind, they are not educated about diet, exercise, supplements, or stress recovery. 

I am living proof that it is possible to heal holistically and naturally. It’s possible to balance your hormones or to use bioidentical hormones safely and effectively, as well as to clear HPV and get a normal pap result, and to eliminate the effects of stress, trauma, anxiety and depression. I help patients with to do this in my practice every day – by phone and zoom, anywhere in the world. You can set up a one-on-one appointment here.

Once I meet with you one on one, we will create a strategic plan based on your health needs during menopause, including sessions with the health coach on my team to help guide you to implement my proprietary C.A.R.E. and Stress Mastery programs. 

If you’re dealing with persistent HPV I welcome you to join my next FREE How to Get Rid of HPV online workshopwhere I help you to create a plan to get HPV out of your life for good. From there, you might choose to join the Heal HPV Kickstart Program, for the initial steps of my protocol, including diet changes and supplements, over the next 30 days.

Or you can begin with the comprehensive Say Goodbye to HPV Program, which is 3 months and includes everything you need to implement my full protocol and address all eight susceptibilities with live, group support, and access to testing and vaginal suppositories.

You can also go to clearhpvnow.com. There, you’ll find lots of resources and stories from women who’ve followed my protocol and cleared HPV to negative. 

Thank you for joining me today for this episode of How Humans Heal®. Make sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode! You can access it on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you prefer. You can also watch at doctordoni.com.

I look forward to connecting with you soon! 

Dr. Doni

Disclaimer: This specific article and all other Content, Products, and Services of this Website are NOT intended as, and must not be understood or construed as, medical care or advice, naturopathic medical care or advice, the practice of medicine, or the practice of counseling care, nor can it be understood or construed as providing any form of medical diagnosis, treatment,  natural HPV cure, or prevention of any disease.