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Am I in Perimenopause? How to Tell What Phase You’re In

The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women's Midlife Health

Release Date: 03/07/2026

Am I in Perimenopause? How to Tell What Phase You’re In

The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women's Midlife Health

If you had told me at 40 that perimenopause would turn my world upside down, I would’ve laughed. As a nutritionist specializing in women’s hormones, I thought I had it handled. So why did I gain 15 pounds, lose my sleep, and feel like a stranger in my own body? In this episode, I’m sharing what I wish someone had told me before the storm hit. Why are so many intelligent, health-conscious women still confused about where they are in perimenopause? Why are we being offered antidepressants, birth control, or told we’re “too young” instead of getting real answers? I break down the...

Quick Hits: Navy SEAL Health Hacks: Sleep, Peptides, Psychedelics, Brain Health, and Hormones with Dr. Kirk Parsley

The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women's Midlife Health

Welcome to Quick Hits — where we bring you the most impactful moments from past episodes in under 15 minutes. Today’s clip comes from one of our most replayed conversations. If you want the full episode, check the link in the description below. In this quick hits episode you will hear a clip from my interview with Dr. Kirk Parsley — former Navy SEAL physician and one of the leading voices in sleep optimization — to unpack what chronic sleep deprivation is really doing to your body. We dive into: Why Ambien and common sleep medications can damage long-term brain and hormonal health...

The Peptide Revolution: GLP-1s — What Works, What’s Hype, What’s Risky with Jay Campbell

The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women's Midlife Health

Jay Campbell—five-time international bestselling author, founder of BioLongevity Labs, and one of the original voices in the peptide world—is here to unpack what’s really going on behind the GLP-1 explosion. Are these drugs miracle tools or misunderstood villains? And why are so many smart people still getting them wrong? We go way beyond the hype and fear, diving into microdosing, metabolic repair, thyroid changes, and why dosing may be the make-or-break factor. Could peptides actually rewire the brain, quiet food noise, and permanently improve metabolism? And what happens when midlife...

Menopause Ages You 9–20 Years… Unless You Do This with Nikolina Lauc

The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women's Midlife Health

In this episode, I sit down with Nikolina Lauc, CEO and Co-Founder of GlycanAge, and we dive into a questions that should stop every midlife woman in her tracks: is menopause actually accelerating your biological aging? What if the shift from perimenopause to menopause could age you up to nine years in just six months? And more importantly, what can you do about it? We unpack what biological age really means (and why it’s not the same as your chronological age), how inflammation quietly drives aging and disease, and why estrogen may be one of the most powerful longevity tools we have. Is...

Estrogen Dominance… or Estrogen Deficiency? Is It Safe to Start Estrogen in Perimenopause?

The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women's Midlife Health

Welcome to the very first Hormone Hotline episode of The Hormone Solution! I’m getting straight into your real-life questions about estrogen—because why, in 2026, are we still being told we’re “estrogen dominant” with rock-bottom levels? If your doctor has warned you against HRT, this episode is for you. Have you been told you can’t start estrogen until you hit full menopause? Or that perimenopause is just too much of a “hormone rollercoaster” to treat? I break down what’s actually happening in your brain and ovaries during late perimenopause, and why adding estrogen might...

From Toe Curling Orgasms to Healthy Poops: Why Oxytocin Is Essential for Midlife Women with Dr. Lindsey Berkson

The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women's Midlife Health

What if your mood swings, anxiety, sleep issues, or loss of motivation aren’t just “getting older?” What role does oxytocin really play in midlife, and why has it been overlooked for so long? In this episode, I’m joined by the brilliant hormone scholar Dr. Lindsey Berkson, and we dive into a part of menopause that almost no one is talking about—what’s happening in your brain. We explore how hormones act as the body’s Wi‑Fi system, and what happens when that signal gets disrupted. Could environmental toxins be hijacking not just estrogen and progesterone, but oxytocin too? And...

Inflammaging Is Hijacking Your Hormones: The Ancient Reset Women Need in Midlife with Dr. Shivani Gupta

The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women's Midlife Health

Do you know whether you’re Vata, Pitta, or Kapha...and could that explain your stubborn symptoms in midlife? In this episode, I’m joined by my brilliant friend Dr. Shivani Gupta, and we dive into Ayurveda, inflammation, and why your body might be asking for a completely different approach right now. Have you ever wondered why turmeric seems to work like magic for pain, migraines, or inflammation? Or why the same routines that used to work suddenly don’t anymore in perimenopause? We unpack how ancient Ayurvedic wisdom meets modern science—and why that combination matters so much for...

Why So Many Hormone Providers Get It Wrong (And How to Find One Who Doesn’t)

The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women's Midlife Health

This episode comes straight from my own lived experience of spiraling before doctor’s appointments and feeling dismissed when it comes to hormones. I dig into why so many hormone providers get it wrong and what’s actually happening behind those rushed, frustrating conversations. Why does advocating for ourselves feel so hard? I walk you through what most doctors are (and aren’t) trained to do when it comes to perimenopause and menopause. How much of this is about lack of education versus lack of time? And how do you stop blaming yourself when you’re told your labs are “normal,”...

Why You’re Not Healing: Stress, Insomnia, Weight Gain & the Vagus Nerve with Dr. Navaz Nabib

The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women's Midlife Health

Have you’ve tried everything from protocols, to supplements, to experts and the healing still hasn’t happened? Why do so many of us stay stuck despite doing “all the right things”? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Navaz Habib, aka "The Vagus Nerve Doc," to explore what might be missing. What if the real issue isn’t another diagnosis, hormone imbalance, or gut protocol? What if it’s your nervous system itself? I share my own journey of chasing answers and why discovering the vagus nerve made me question everything I thought I knew about healing. Why does stress seem to override...

Why Waiting for Menopause Is a Mistake: The Case for Earlier HRT and Replacing Hormones the Right Way

The Hormone Solution | Perimenopause, Menopause, HRT, Weight Loss & Women's Midlife Health

I’m diving into why waiting until menopause to address hormones can be an incredibly costly mistake for so many women. Why are we told to “wait it out” when symptoms often start years earlier? And what’s really happening inside our bodies long before our periods stop? I walk through the often-missed perimenopausal years and explain why this phase matters more than most of us realize. What if heavy periods, anxiety, weight gain, or insomnia aren’t things you just have to tolerate? Could early hormone shifts be driving them? We also explore timing, myths, and fears around hormone...

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Why are so many intelligent, health-conscious women still confused about where they are in perimenopause? Why are we being offered antidepressants, birth control, or told we’re “too young” instead of getting real answers? I break down the three phases of perimenopause in a way that finally makes sense, and explain how to know which phase you’re actually in.

Is it just progesterone? Is it estrogen? Do you really need HRT—and if so, when? I walk you through what’s happening hormonally in each phase, why symptoms can feel so chaotic, and how to stop guessing your way through this decade-long transition.You don’t have to suffer, and you definitely don’t have to do this blindly!

In this episode, we uncover:

How to identify which phase of perimenopause you’re in.
Why progesterone drops first and what that means for sleep.
What estrogen swings really feel like in midlife.
When HRT might be supportive, and why timing matters so much.
How thyroid, cortisol, and insulin interact with your changing hormones.

If you’ve been wondering what on earth is happening to your body, this episode is your starting point. Let’s make sense of your hormones!

Not sure if this is perimenopause — or just stress, aging, or something else? Perimenopause isn’t one phase. It unfolds in stages — and each stage requires a different approach. This quiz will help you identify where you are in the transition and what hormonal shifts are most likely driving your symptoms.

Take the quiz: What Phase of Perimenopause Are You In?

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