Functional medicine support for menopause and perimenopause
We take a personalised, root-cause approach to perimenopause and menopause. Your care focuses on identifying how declining oestrogen and progesterone, metabolic health, and lifestyle factors may be contributing to symptoms such as poor sleep, mood changes, fatigue, and weight gain. Practitioners use targeted investigation to determine where you are in your perimenopause or menopause journey and build a plan around your specific stage and symptoms.
Is our menopause care right for you?
If hot flushes, disrupted sleep or low mood or other symptoms have gone from occasional to affecting your daily life, a more comprehensive deep dive can help make sense of what may be contributing. Our approach may suit you if:
You feel frustrated by hot flushes, night sweats, mood swings, or energy crashes
You want to understand where you are in the perimenopause or menopause transition
You're looking for a more thorough, personalised approach beyond managing individual symptoms
You want to investigate what may be influencing oestrogen and progesterone levels and overall wellbeing through this transition
Why menopause symptoms can vary so much
In the years leading up to menopause (perimenopause), oestrogen and progesterone levels often fluctuate significantly, which can contribute to changes in sleep, mood, energy and metabolism.
Conventional care often focuses on managing symptoms or using hormone therapy, which can be appropriate for some women. How you experience this transition also depends on how well you’re sleeping, how your body handles stress, whether low-grade inflammation is present from rising visceral fat or gut changes, and whether you’re getting enough of the nutrients that become more important after menopause, such as calcium, vitamin D, magnesium and B12.
Our approach to perimenopause and menopause support
We begin with understanding your individual experience of perimenopause or menopause. Your practitioner reviews your symptoms, health history, lifestyle and stage of the transition to build a personalised picture of your needs.
Care may involve supporting stable energy and mood through nutrition, addressing poor sleep, improving stress resilience and ensuring nutrient sufficiency during this life stage. Attention may also be given to metabolic health, bone health and cardiovascular wellbeing, which become increasingly important after menopause.
We can also work alongside conventional therapies such as menopausal hormone therapy, where that fits your situation.
Depending on your presentation, care may include:
Adjusting your diet
Small dietary changes can ease vasomotor and mood symptoms while supporting how your body metabolises oestrogen through this transition.
- Reducing refined carbohydrates and inflammatory foods that can worsen hot flushes, night sweats and mood symptoms
- Increasing cruciferous vegetables, which support liver oestrogen metabolism, and phytoestrogen-containing foods such as legumes, flaxseed and fermented soy
- DIM (diindolylmethane), a compound found in cruciferous vegetables and available in supplement form, which can help the body clear oestrogen more efficiently
Correcting nutrient deficiencies
Targeted nutrients address deficiencies that commonly emerge during perimenopause and menopause and affect sleep, mood, bone density and energy.
- Magnesium for sleep, stress and muscle function
- Taurine to support nervous system calming and reduce adrenaline activity
- Vitamin D to protect bone density, given that women can lose up to 10% of bone mass in the first five years after menopause
- B vitamins and zinc, where deficiencies are identified
Herbal medicine
Herbal medicine can reduce hot flushes and support nervous system regulation, sleep and mood.
- Black cohosh for vasomotor symptoms including hot flushes and night sweats
- Red clover, which contains standardised isoflavones that reduce the frequency and severity of hot flushes
- Sage, for reducing hot flushes, calming the nervous system and supporting memory function
- Ashwagandha and other adaptogens to support adrenal function, reduce anxiety and improve sleep quality
Ashwagandha has direct clinical trial evidence in menopausal women. A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial found improvements in menopausal symptom scores, including sleep, mood and anxiety.
Restoring gut health
Supporting gut health can ease inflammatory load and improve how your body metabolises oestrogen through this transition.
- Addressing gut microbiome health, specifically a collection of bacteria known as the oestrobolome, helps regulate how oestrogen is metabolised and recirculated in the body
- Identifying and treating gut inflammation that may be creating additional symptom burden. Where gut inflammation is present, addressing it directly can reduce it.
Calming the nervous system
Optimising your circadian rhythm and nervous system is important to address poor sleep and heightened stress reactivity common during this transition.
- Specific nutrients and lifestyle strategies address how deeply and restfully you sleep, not just how long you’re in bed
- Vagal nerve support, including breathwork, meditation and mindfulness practices to reduce the physiological effects of chronic stress
Exercise, metabolic function and bone health
Movement supports bone density, cardiovascular health and metabolic function, all of which become more important as oestrogen declines.
- Movement appropriate to your capacity and goals, with particular attention to bone density, cardiovascular health and metabolic function
- Resistance and weight-bearing exercise, to offset postmenopausal bone loss and support healthy body composition
- Glucose regulation for better energy, weight management and preventing insulin resistance can be optimised with insights from a continuous glucose monitor (CGM)
How we look more closely at menopause-related changes
Testing is guided by your history, symptom pattern, and stage of your hormonal transition. Testing is used to clarify what may be contributing to your symptoms and to rule out other conditions that can overlap with this stage of life. Investigations may include:
- Advanced hormone profile
- Advanced thyroid panel
- Nutrient deficiency testing
- Comprehensive cardiovascular profile
- Blood glucose and insulin regulation testing
- Microbiome testing
Case study
See how our approach helps our patients achieve better health and richer lives.
Brenda is a married 55yo woman who runs a busy company. She was stressed about her weight gain of 10kg in 2 years, even through she was eating half the kilojoules required for her age, was going to the gym three times a week, plus walking and gardening on weekends. Sleep was fitful, and she knew she couldn’t ‘push through’ her fatigue for much longer. Her daughter, who we’d treated for food intolerances, referred her.
Read Brenda’s story by hitting the button below
Brenda’s story
A married 55yo woman came to see us. She runs a company, is married and her children are out of home. She was stressed about her weight gain of 10kg in 2 years.
An in-depth analysis of the problem
She was eating about half the kilojoules required for a woman her age, was going to the gym three times a week, as well as walking and gardening on weekends. Her sleep had become fitful, and whilst she was able to ‘push through’ her fatigue, she knew she couldn’t do this for long. Her flushes and sweats were manageable for her. Her daughter, who we had treated for food intolerances, referred her.
Implementing the solution
The treatment focused on ironing out the oestrogen fluctuations through modulation with herbs and dietary changes (phytoestrogenic rich foods), and investigating her thyroid function. We discovered that she had developed an autoimmune thyroid condition, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, since her menstrual cycle changed. This is unfortunately not so uncommon for women to experience as a result of a significant transition in hormonal development (it often happens after childbirth too).
Her thyroid function was probably also being affected by the excess oestrogen (menopause) and cortisol (high stress job). And there was now the autoimmune aspect to manage. Autoimmunity generates inflammation when the body is attacking itself by mistake.
We used herbal medicine to lower her antibodies, modulate oestrogen and support the adrenals by lowering cortisol. We also focused on stress management techniques, and she reduced her work hours for a period of time to allow her body to recover.
Achieving an incredible result
After 3 months, Brenda had lost 5kg, was eating more and doing the same amount of exercise. She felt energised and clear headed and lost the remaining weight over the following months.
We support women through perimenopause and menopause to feel like themselves again
Every care plan is personalised to your symptoms, history and stage of the transition. Start your care journey today.
Your women’s health care team
GETTING STARTED
Choose how you'd like to begin
3-hour initial apt
3-hour initial appointment
- Comprehensive deep dive into your health picture
- Ideal for complex or long-standing concerns
- Root-cause mapping and strategy session
- Get your personalised health mindmap
Start with a deep dive
1-hour initial apt
1-hour initial appointment
- Review your health history and current concerns
- Receive testing and treatment recommendations
- Leave with an initial plan to get started
A focussed starting point
WHAT PATIENTS SAY
Why Melbourne Functional Medicine is trusted for Menopause
Patient experiences
Our award winning approach is personalised, collaborative and focused on your health.
See what past patients say about their experience below.
Frequently
Asked
Questions
Can menopause symptoms improve naturally?
Yes, mild to moderate menopause symptoms often improve through changes to sleep, stress management, nutrition and metabolic health. Improvement is usually gradual rather than immediate, and can take several weeks to notice. Severe symptoms, such as persistent hot flushes or significant mood changes, may need additional support from your GP such as hormone therapy alongside this approach.
Can I get treatment during perimenopause, or do I have to wait until menopause?
No, you don’t need to wait. Most women begin care during perimenopause, in their forties, when hormone fluctuations and symptoms such as poor sleep, mood changes and fatigue can start years before periods stop. Addressing these changes earlier often makes the transition easier to manage long term.
Does functional medicine care work alongside hormone therapy?
Yes, functional medicine care can work alongside hormone therapy that has been prescribed by your own GP. There’s no need to stop or change your current treatment to begin, care is designed to complement what your GP or specialist has prescribed. Your MFM practitioner can liaise with your hormone prescriber where useful, focusing on nutrition, sleep and stress factors that hormone therapy alone may not address.
What if hormone therapy hasn't worked for me?
Hormone therapy doesn’t resolve symptoms for everyone, often because factors such as sleep, stress, nutrition or metabolic health are also contributing. If symptoms have persisted despite treatment, further investigation with Melbourne Functional Medicine can help identify what else may be involved, and care can be tailored around those findings alongside your existing treatment.
What can functional testing tell me that a standard blood test might miss?
Standard blood tests often check only basic hormone levels, while functional medicine testing looks more broadly at hormonal patterns, thyroid function, nutrient status and cardiovascular markers. This wider picture can help identify contributing factors, such as nutrient deficiencies or metabolic changes, that a standard panel may not pick up.
Where can I learn more about perimenopause and menopause?
For a deeper look at how menopause affects your hormones, sleep, mood and long-term bone and heart health, and why symptoms can continue for several years, read our detailed guide to menopause.
Ready for a more personalised path forward?
We take the time to look more deeply at your health and work with you toward feeling like yourself.
