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thefunctionalredhead

@thefunctionalredhead

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FNP-BC, MSCP
For Women 40+ Who Refuse to Decline~
I’ve got you! 🤍
FUNCTIONAL WELLNESS, LLC
⬇️ Work with me: NY, Montana

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Women deserve better. Period.

There are extremes in women’s healthcare, and too many women are getting lost between them.

On one end, we have clinicians who practice strictly within guidelines and randomized controlled trials. If the research hasn’t caught up to your symptoms, your options may be limited.

On another, we have clinicians who simply haven’t received adequate training in perimenopause and menopause. Women are told their labs are normal, their symptoms are just part of aging, or that there’s nothing more to offer.

And then there’s an increasingly concerning extreme: clinicians capitalizing on vulnerable women who are desperate to feel better. Expensive pellets, peptides, supplements, and protocols marketed with promises that often go far beyond the evidence.

But there is a middle ground. And that’s where I believe good medicine lives.

We can respect guidelines without being confined by them.

We can value randomized controlled trials while recognizing that not every important clinical question has been answered by one.

We can combine the best available evidence, clinical experience, and the patient’s lived experience to make thoughtful, individualized decisions.

And we can acknowledge uncertainty without either dismissing a woman’s symptoms or selling her an expensive, unproven solution.

Because women are not algorithms. They are not lab values. And they shouldn’t have to fit perfectly into a clinical guideline to deserve meaningful care.

Women deserve medicine that is evidence-informed, not evidence-limited. Individualized, not one-size-fits-all. And compassionate, not exploitative.

That’s the kind of women’s healthcare I’m fighting for.

@drmondona

#WomensHealth #Perimenopause #MenopauseCare #HormoneTherapy #EvidenceBasedMedicine

Tagging some amazing clinicians below——>

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2026 has been a BIG year for menopause and perimenopause research. And we’re finally seeing some important shifts in how women’s health is being addressed.

Here’s what stood out to me:

✨ Hormone therapy is getting the recognition it deserves. New guidance from ACOG and ACP reinforces hormone therapy as an effective, evidence-based treatment for hot flashes and night sweats in eligible women.

🧠 Mood and mental health matter. Research continues to explore the relationship between hormonal changes, anxiety, depression, and the potential role of hormone therapy.

💉 Hormones and GLP-1s: Emerging observational research suggests women using hormone therapy alongside semaglutide may experience greater weight loss. Interesting, but we need more research before drawing conclusions.

💪 Exercise matters beyond muscle and bone. New research links regular physical activity with fewer perimenopause symptoms, including psychological symptoms.

💊 More treatment options are emerging. Newer nonhormonal medications are expanding the options available to women who cannot or prefer not to use hormone therapy.

My biggest takeaway?

We’re making progress, but there is still so much we don’t know about perimenopause. Women deserve more research, more treatment options, and clinicians who take their symptoms seriously.

And importantly, we shouldn’t have to wait for decades of perfect research before acknowledging that women are suffering and deserve thoughtful, individualized care.

The future of menopause care should be about more options, not fewer.

Save this post to stay informed on the latest research. 🤍

#Perimenopause #Menopause #HormoneTherapy #MenopauseResearch #WomensHealth

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Menopause isn’t just a reproductive transition. It’s a neurological one. 🧠

Brain fog is one of the most common symptoms women bring to me in midlife, and one of the most dismissed.

“It’s just stress.”
“You’re doing too much.”
“It’s part of getting older.”

The science says otherwise. Neuroimaging research from Dr. Lisa Mosconi and colleagues shows the female brain measurably changes during the menopause transition¹ ²:

🧠 It uses less glucose for fuel
🧠 Mitochondrial energy production drops
🧠 Gray matter, white matter, and connectivity shift, beyond what aging alone explains

In most women, these changes stabilize, and some recover. The brain isn’t failing. It’s adapting.

After 15 years in medicine, that changes how I practice:

👉🏼 Brain fog is a symptom, not a character flaw
👉🏼 Perimenopause is the window to look at sleep, metabolic health, stress, and hormones
👉🏼 Estrogen matters, but it’s not the whole story

Women don’t need to be told it’s “normal.” They need clinicians who understand how the brain, hormones, and metabolism connect.

Brain fog deserves curiosity, not dismissal.

🖊️ Sign up for early access to @lumara_healthhub

Follow @ashleymadsenofficial for more educational content on women’s health.

💾 Save this & send it to a woman who’s been told it’s “just stress”

📚 Sources in the comments

⚠️ Educational purposes only. Not individualized medical advice.

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Your providers are always doing their best to be the most up-to-date menopause specialists! Here are Michele, Dr. Strollo and Sarah in San Diego this week learning with @menopause_society 🙌🏻

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More options for women navigating menopause! 👏

The FDA has approved the first generic version of Climara Pro, a once-weekly combination hormone therapy patch.

What makes this patch different?

It contains BOTH:
• Estradiol 0.045 mg/day — estrogen to help manage menopausal symptoms
• Levonorgestrel 0.015 mg/day — a progestin that helps protect the uterine lining

This means women with a uterus can receive both hormones through ONE patch, changed just once a week, without needing a separate oral progesterone prescription.

Climara Pro is FDA-approved for moderate-to-severe menopausal hot flashes and prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Why does a generic matter?

More treatment options, potentially better affordability, and hopefully improved access to hormone therapy.

A few important points:
• This is not a new hormone formulation — it’s a generic version of an existing treatment.
• Levonorgestrel is a synthetic progestin, not micronized progesterone.
• Approval doesn’t necessarily mean it’s available at pharmacies immediately.

More options and better access to individualized menopause care are always welcome.

@drmondona

#Menopause #Perimenopause #HormoneTherapy #Estradiol #MenopauseTreatment WomensHealth ClimaraPro

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The chart of symptoms is back. I hear new symptoms of perimenopause every day, and the list just keeps growing…

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The medication costs less than 20 dollars. The prior auth took longer than my lunch break. If you’ve ever spent 40 minutes justifying generic estradiol or progesterone to an AI bot or someone who has never met your patient, you know this exact energy!!

Drop your most ridiculous PA request or below 🫠

Thank you @drellediaries for gracing my feed with the perfect Jersey girl audio 😭😅

#priorauthorization #nursepractitioner #menopause #hrt #primarycare

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This comes up so much, it’s worth reposting.

“Your hormone labs are normal, so it can’t be perimenopause.”

Not so fast.

During perimenopause, estrogen doesn’t simply decline in a straight line. It can fluctuate dramatically—sometimes reaching levels even higher than those seen during your reproductive years.

One day your estrogen may be high. Another day it may be low. And the day you get your blood drawn? It may fall perfectly within the “normal” range.

Here’s what you need to know:

✨ A normal estradiol level does NOT rule out perimenopause.

✨ FSH can fluctuate significantly, too. A normal FSH doesn’t exclude perimenopause.

✨ Hormonal fluctuations can contribute to anxiety, irritability, sleep disturbances, night sweats, and other symptoms—even when labs look normal.

✨ For most women over 45, perimenopause is diagnosed clinically, based on symptoms and menstrual history—not a single hormone test.

You don’t need abnormal labs to validate your symptoms.

And you don’t need to wait for your hormones to reach menopausal levels before discussing treatment.

We treat the patient, not just the lab results.

@drmondona

#Perimenopause #MenopauseHealth #HormoneHealth #WomensHealth #MenopauseEducation

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‼️doctor patient relationships— it’s a tough state of affairs right now… As I say often, the only two players that really really matter in this healthcare Landscape are the patients AND their clinicians —BUT who gets the biggest squeeze? Higher premiums, and less covered care on your part of the patient, higher malpractice and lower reimbursement on our part as the clinician…

😥 so what does that lead to? Less time together because the only way for doctors to recoup the lost revenue from Lower reimbursements is.—SADLY— increase Patient volume, which means—TERRIBLY—decrease TIME together

‼️ listen up for what I think YOU want from your clinicians and what I believe WE want from our patients. It’s not perfect given the broken system we’re dealing with. AND it means taking agency and responsibility on BOTH sides.

💙BUT listen up AND let’s do better together.

#letswomantogether

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The men not pausing , so don’t understand that one 😂 ….. #perimenopause in the building.
#natural #beets #vitamins #mentalhealth

When the black woman doesn’t talk…. DANA 🗣️
Sex turns UP, not off. So for me it means up all night….

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Comment GUEST and I’ll send you the details. Know someone who belongs on the show? Tag her below.

Want to be a guest on This Meno Life? I’m booking now.

I want every corner of midlife women’s health on this show. Doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, therapists, health coaches, sleep psychologists, and anyone else doing real, evidence-based work for women in midlife.

I also want to hear from women who’ve lived it. The ones who got brushed off, figured it out, or are still figuring it out.

And yes, we’re going to talk some trash about the patriarchy, because why not?!?!

You don’t need to be polished. You need a story, or something worth teaching.

#ThisMenoLife #menopause #perimenopause

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