Perimenopause

MICHELLE'S STORY:

I run a startup, and I’ve built my career on being able to handle whatever comes my way. But when perimenopause hit, I couldn’t think my way out of it.

I was gaining weight even though nothing had changed. My energy was gone. My doctor ran labs and told me I was pre-diabetic, which scared me more than I wanted to admit. I’ve always taken care of myself. I exercise, I eat well, I don’t drink much. None of it made sense.

The hardest part was watching it affect everything else. My husband and I were distant. I didn’t have the bandwidth to connect with my kids the way I wanted to. At work I was functioning, but barely. I felt like I was failing at everything that mattered to me, and I couldn’t figure out how to stop the slide.

I had worked with Angela years ago for secondary infertility. It took some time, but eventually I was able to have my youngest. So when everything started falling apart, she was the first person I thought of. I knew she wouldn’t just hand me a protocol and send me on my way.

Working with Angela helped me understand that my body wasn’t suddenly failing me. I had been overextended for a long time, running on stress and willpower, and perimenopause brought all of it into sharper focus. She helped me connect the pieces, my metabolism, exhaustion, hormonal changes, and the way my nervous system had been running in overdrive for years. For the first time, it felt like someone was looking at the whole picture and helping me understand what actually needed my attention.

My blood sugar is normal now. I have energy for my family and my work without feeling like I’m constantly running on empty. But honestly, the biggest change is that I feel like a person again, not just someone holding it all together and hoping no one notices.