Perimenopause and hormonal health

What is perimenopause?

Perimenopause is the transition leading up to menopause. It usually starts in a woman's mid to late 40s, though it can start earlier. During this time, oestrogen and progesterone levels swing up and down, and the pattern can be quite different from one woman to the next, before they eventually fall. [1] These changes can go on for several years before the final period, and the symptoms can be easy to miss or put down to something else.

Perimenopause is more than a fall in oestrogen. It's a hormonal change that interacts with your thyroid, adrenal function, gut health, insulin sensitivity and inflammation, so Reece looks at the whole picture.

Symptoms people often bring to Reece

• Hot flushes and night sweats. Acupuncture may help some women with menopausal symptoms.
• Sleep changes, including trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep
• Mood changes and irritability
• Brain fog and difficulty concentrating
• Changes to your periods (see your GP first if they're heavy)
• Low libido and vaginal dryness
• Fatigue that doesn't resolve with rest
• Weight gain, particularly around the abdomen
• Joint pain and muscle aches
• Hair thinning and skin changes

How Reece works with you

Reece looks at perimenopause through several clinical frameworks at once. Instead of reaching a single diagnosis and prescribing a single treatment, the aim is to understand the whole picture of your hormonal and metabolic health.

Functional medicine assessment

Reece goes through your health history and recent pathology with you. If more tests might be useful, he'll explain why and what they cost, and the choice is yours.

Classical Chinese medicine

Reece practises the classical Jingfang tradition, working from the foundational texts of the Shang Han Lun and the Jin Gui Yao Lue. Herbal formulas are chosen for your constitutional pattern, not from a generic menopause protocol. Acupuncture is used to settle the nervous system, support sleep and work with the cyclical nature of hormonal symptoms.

Diet, lifestyle and nervous system support

Perimenopause is very sensitive to lifestyle. Chronic stress, poor sleep, unstable blood sugar and inflammatory diets all make symptoms much worse. Reece works with you on practical, evidence-informed changes to your diet, your stress response and your sleep habits, as foundations of treatment, never afterthoughts.

Understanding your hormone results

Hormone levels swing a lot during perimenopause, so a single blood test taken on one day may not show the whole picture. Reece goes through your results with you and explains what each one measures alongside your symptoms.

Your first consultation

Your initial consultation is up to 180 minutes. That's long enough to understand your health history, review your pathology and start on a treatment plan. You'll fill in detailed questionnaires before you arrive, so the consultation time goes on clinical reasoning. Treatment may include acupuncture, classical herbal formulas, targeted nutritional supplements and suggestions for functional tests.