Purely Menopause Blog

Most women associate hot flashes with menopause, but many are not aware that menopausal changes in skin, hair, and nails are not uncommon. These changes often appear in peri-menopause and continue through menopause as a result of declining levels of estrogen. Women experience skin sagging, itching, and dryness, slower hair growth and more shedding, and brittle nails. Estrogen regulates hydration, as well as keratin and collagen levels. Keratin is a protein that makes up nails

Everyone keeps saying that menopausal women need to do things differently than when we were younger. We hear "Eat more protein, lift weights, reduce stress" - that's all well and good, but LIFE IS BUSY! Menopausal women have teenage/college-age kids, hectic jobs, and aging parents to juggle. And our bodies just keep changing in ways most of us aren't happy about no matter how much we reduce our food intake. How are we supposed to manage all this? It's no wonder we feel overw

Peri-menopause is the time leading up to your last period. It usually starts for women in their mid-40s and lasts, on average, four years, but 8-10 years is not uncommon. One year after a women's final period, she is considered to be menopausal. During peri-menopause, sex hormone (estrogen and progesterone) levels change erratically, resulting in hot flashes, brain fog, trouble sleeping, mood changes, and vaginal dryness and pain. Periods become irregular because ovulation do

The Roles of Estrogen in the Female Reproductive System

During our reproductive years, there’s a predictable ebb and flow to our hormones. Once women are fully into menopause our hormones are low, but steady. The peri-menopausal period, on the other hand, is a time of hormonal chaos, with levels of estrogen and progesterone varying wildly. In studies, mood changes have been observed in up to 23% of peri-menopausal women. Additionally, symptoms of anxiety—tension, nervousness, panic, and worry—are reported more frequently during p

Nutrition is always important. But during menopause, your body is particularly reliant on vitamins and nutrients to keep you healthy and strong. Eating a healthy diet and living a healthy lifestyle should always be your first line of defense. Supplements should be viewed as an addition rather than a substitution. Choose wisely as some supplements are more harmful than helpful.

Studies suggest that half of women age 50 and older will break a bone due to osteoporosis, a condition in which bone density is significantly lower than normal. In postmenopausal women, fractures that result from osteoporosis are more common than stroke, heart attack, and breast cancer combined, and fractures can result in disability or death. Notably, the symptoms of osteoporosis may not be noticeable until a bone is fractured.

Reducing stress is a key component to feeling and performing your best through menopause. Anxiety is a common symptom of menopause. Hormone changes, life stresses, and sleep problems may all cause anxiety at this time. Conversely, anxiety can worsen sleep disturbance. In addition to generalized anxiety, menopausal women may also experience sudden, intense panic attacks.

The weight-loss plateau is basic biology. When your body registers something threatening its survival, it automatically triggers a series of physiological responses to protect against the threat. When you reduce your food intake to try to compensate for the weight gain associated with menopause, your body believes it's under threat and reduces your metabolic rate to use less energy, which slows the rate at which you lose weight. Unfortunately, the common response by women is

In the first two parts ( here and here ) of our series entitled Let's Talk About Sex & Menopause, we discussed a woman's anatomy, the sexual response cycle, libido changes during menopause, medical treatments for common issues with sex for menopausal women, and scheduling sex and mindfulness as ways to improve desire and arousal. This blog focuses on a few other ways to increase your sex life.

In the first part of our series entitled Let's Talk About Sex & Menopause, we discussed a woman's anatomy, the sexual response cycle, libido changes during menopause, and medical treatments for common issues with sex for menopausal women. This blog focuses on other therapies and self-care practices to increase your desire and arousal.

Low libido during menopause is common, and women are two to three times more likely than men to experience a decline in sexual desire as they age. For many women, changes in desire can feel sudden, confusing, and distressing — particularly when sex was previously enjoyable. Understanding why libido changes during menopause is the first step toward reclaiming intimacy and sexual well-being. Low Libido During Menopause: Why Desire Changes The mechanism of libido decrease in wom

Some menopausal women report chronically dry and scratchy eyes, sometimes with light sensitivity, blurred vision, or swollen or reddened eyelids—a condition called chronic dry eye. Because the eye produces more tears to compensate for the eye condition, some women report more tearing. The mechanism by which menopause causes dry eye is unclear, but it does appear that decreased androgens (which women have little of to begin with but also decrease after menopause) reduce tear p

Menopause plays havoc with a woman's temperature control system. Studies have shown that as many as 80% of women report moderate to...

Menopause affects every woman a bit differently, but few escape without a few bothersome symptoms and some suffer debilitating symptoms. For all women, the reduction of estradiol produced by the ovaries during reproductive years can significantly increase the risk of some serious, life-altering (sometimes life-ending) conditions such as heart attack, stroke, osteoporosis, depression, diabetes, and dementia. Much has been said about the use of MHT for symptom relief and to red

Menopause marks a time of dramatic hormonal and social change for women. And if you are one of them, know that you are far from alone....

Menopause sleep problems  are one of the most common concerns I hear from women in perimenopause and menopause. Many women who once slept well begin struggling with falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking too early — and the effects reach far beyond fatigue. Poor sleep contributes to irritability, brain fog, low energy, and difficulty maintaining healthy habits, creating a cycle that can feel impossible to break.

No, you are not imagining it. Your body composition begins to change at peri-menopause, and those changes persist throughout the rest of your life. It's not your "fault," and there is no more reason to be alarmed than when your body underwent changes during puberty. Menopause is a normal process for women. It's not a disorder, and it doesn't need to be fixed. You just need to learn how to work with the changes.

Vaginal dryness and itching are common symptoms for menopausal women. Some doctors disregard the problems as simply being annoying and "part of getting older." But there is help, and you should not take no for an answer. In short, as women approach and move into menopause, ovarian production of estradiol drops dramatically, which causes thinning of the vaginal walls and inflammation. The most direct solution is to use estradiol applied directly to the vagina to correct the de

Most trends are not well supported by science and the keto diet as a solution to manage unwanted weight gain in menopausal women is no exception. To be fair, there is some data to support using the keto diet to improve health in men, particularly those with obesity or diabetes - those men reduced their weight and controlled their blood sugar on a keto diet.