What if everything I believed about menopause was wrong? This was the question I was asking 10 years ago after my midlife journey went off the rails.

I'm embarrassed to tell you that one of my first memories of menopause was having heart palpitations, being told my blood pressure was high at the doctor's office, and then being asked by a much older female coworker (who was also a nurse) if I was going through menopause. My response was one of shock and disgust.

I told her, "What are you f***g talking about! I'm not in menopause." I stormed out of her office and thought how dare she say that to me. I was only 40 years old for God's sake. This was 13 years ago.

Looking back, I realize, I was almost certainly in at least the early stages of perimenopause then and my related symptoms (although I didn't recognize them as related) were about to get a whole lot worse.

Shortly afterwards, I started losing a bunch of hair, put on weight that wouldn't budge using my usual methods, couldn't sleep, and I had CRUSHING anxiety. I chalked it up to the high amount of stress I was under.

Still, losing my hair was not an option. So but I went to the doctor in a panic.

What I was told during that doctor's visit led me down the long path of studying hormones and metabolic health. I eventually went back to school for learning nutritional therapy after learning everything I could about functional medicine and holistic and integrative health.

While I was fascinated by what I was learning, I was getting ticked off by the run-around women were getting at the doctor's office - even by the gynecologists who were supposedly women's health experts. More and more I realized the OBGYNs, primary care providers and endocrinologists knew almost nothing about updated menopause health and the honest ones admitted they had received almost no training on menopause in medical school or even in advanced specialty trainings.

Filling this gap, I saw loads of false promises made by health practitioners claiming menopause supplements or extreme diets were the answer. I watched as many friends fell for these claims only to realize they didn't work. I'm ashamed to admit that in desperation for help, I was duped as well.

Some providers (and other women) were still scaring women about replacing lost hormones with HRT while others were claiming HRT was the answer to everything for every woman. In my gut, I knew the truth wasn't so black and white.

My work for over 25 years representing health care providers gave me a different perspective and taught me not to accept any recommendations or opinions at face value, no matter the credentials or expertise of the person sharing. I've spent over two decades pouring over the latest medical literature, speaking to leading medical experts around the country and examining the conflicting information on medical standards of care and evidence based medicine. From my work, I also know the back-story - the one the public doesn't see about medicine and health care and that often is never revealed.

In my earlier career, I was a neuroscience research associate with a focus on dementia. I studied neuroscience and spent several years reviewing medical literature, designing research studies and gaining expertise in statistical evidence. So, when it came time for me to figure out what the hell was going on with my own health and aging, let's just say I dove in deep!

I know how terrible it feels to not understand what's going on during this rollercoaster called midlife. It's confusing. And when you feel like crap, at times it feels overwhelming and hopeless. I remember wondering whether I could ever get back to the person I was before. I didn't recognize myself in the mirror and no one seemed to really get how I felt.

Once I turned things around, I realized you CAN celebrate your hormones and nourish them instead of fighting them. No more late nights going down rabbit holes.

Stop wasting time. I will be your dedicated partner on your journey to feeling like your healthy, happier you. I want you to feel empowered because I know you can make this the best half of your life.