Empower The Pause

13/06/2026

This was meant to go out earlier this evening but faaaaaack the power of learning about social media!!!! Makes you want to have a drink!!

But….. truth be told I had 3! And I’m back home now fighting with my tv stick that doesn’t want to show me the World Cup!!

I’m one of many that reach for a drink to take the edge off a stressful week, a busy day, World Cup anxiety or quite frankly the bo****ks of what is menopause or andropause.

But let it be told that alcohol can increase cortisol during the night, disrupt sleep quality, and leave us waking at 2am or 3am.

If you're waking multiple times a night, like I used to be when I used to be on the tear it might be worth asking whether hormones are the whole story. Newsflash…. My research into menopause and andropause means I drink a lot less these days. I still have the same ol fun mind 🥸🥳🤠

Have you ever noticed a difference in your sleep after a few drinks?

health

12/06/2026

1 in 3 women have considered leaving their job because of menopause symptoms.

Think about that for a moment.

This statistic comes from the UK, where menopause is now openly discussed, workplace policies are becoming more common, and employers are facing increasing pressure to support their people.

Yet despite that progress, women are still considering walking away.

In Australia, there is currently no specific legislation requiring employers to support workers experiencing menopause.

The risk isn’t just to the women being overlooked, misunderstood or labelled as underperforming.

The risk is to organisations.

Because as awareness grows, the question will no longer be whether employers knew menopause could affect people at work.

The question will be what they did about it. And whether they did enough.

We cover all this and more on the podcast coming up soon (in a couple of weeks to be precise). Follow us on Insta

And help me grow this community please where I share information, insights, and how to cope as we move through this unavoidable life change. Please share far and wide!

11/06/2026

Was your stress and fatigue already there before menopause (or andropause), or has menopause (or andropause) brought these and more on? What if this was all more of a loop?

Your hormones were doing a job you never knew they were doing.
And when they start to change, that job does not get handed to someone else.

It just stops getting done.

Watch this and tell me in the comments, does this explain something you have been feeling but could not put into words?

08/06/2026

🚨 A menopause revolution is underway.

This week, Melinda French Gates committed another $215 million to women’s health, including menopause and perimenopause care, taking her investment in women’s health to more than $600 million in just two years.

Why?

Because women’s health has been underfunded, under-researched, and too often dismissed for decades. French Gates says women can’t step into their full power if they’re battling poor health without answers or support.

For far too long, women experiencing perimenopause and menopause have been told:

❌ “It’s just part of getting older.”
❌ “Your tests are normal.”
❌ “You’ll just have to get on with it”

The tide is finally turning.

When one of the world’s most influential philanthropists calls for a “menopause revolution”, the conversation is no longer niche. It’s global.

And it’s about frickin time!!

Read the full article here

https://www.facebook.com/664422372/posts/10162172172297373/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Her investments will focus on improving health in women's reproductive and midlife years.

08/06/2026

Would you let a builder who wasnt fully trained build your house for you?

But yet we see our GP for hormone health advice and subscriptions who is not likely to be trained in women’s hormonal health?

This isn’t a dig at GPs. Most of them are doing their absolute best with what they were given. The problem is what they were given…….

What has your peri or menopause support from your GP been like? How confident are you that they know what to prescribe?

07/06/2026

Keeping those cortisol levels in check part 2

Hydration…. Part 2A. Ignore the Kilkenny! Alcohol isn’t good for cortisol but I didn’t say not to be human. All in moderation. The aim is to give up but it’s a journey. Small incremental change leads to one big shift. Rome wasn’t built in a day 💪

What are you doing to maintain your cortisol at a decent level to help your “pause” symptoms and mental health this fine Sunday? 😇

# perimenopause # health

06/06/2026

Cortisol…….. it affects everything!
-

05/06/2026

25 years of not being done.
For us and every one coming up behind us.

03/06/2026

What if the hardest part isn’t perimenopause, menopause or andropause?

What if it’s trying to explain it to everyone else while you’re still trying to understand it yourself?

Ready when you are.

What’s the biggest hint you’ve dropped… and did anyone actually get it?

01/06/2026

If you have PMDD, here's something nobody told you.

PMDD, Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, is a clinically recognised condition where the normal hormonal shifts of your cycle trigger something far beyond mood swings. Severe depression, explosive rage, crippling anxiety, a complete loss of yourself. It arrives before your period and lifts when bleeding starts. Every single month.

That sensitivity to hormonal shifts you've been living with your whole cycle? It doesn't switch off when your periods start getting irregular. In fact perimenopause, which can kick in years before your periods actually stop, is one of the hardest chapters for PMDD bodies.

Because perimenopause is basically hormones doing whatever they want. Up, down, unpredictable. And if your system already reacts hard to those drops and swings, that ride gets rougher before it gets smoother.

Many women with PMDD hold on to the hope that when their periods stop, so too will the symptoms. And for many once they are in post menopause, they do.

But the years of perimenopause, can be the hardest stretch of all. Things can get significantly worse before they get better, and most women are never warned about that.

If you're in your late 30s or into your 40s and things suddenly feel worse rather than better, that's not you falling apart. That might be your body moving into perimenopause and your PMDD reacting exactly how it was always going to react to it.

You are not broken. You are not untreatable. Even though those feelings may feel very real to you. Please know that you are not alone in this.

The Guardian published a piece last week on PMDD and the explosive rage and emotional chaos it can cause for women and the people around them. It is worth a read.

Keen to hear your thoughts in the comments 💜

And if any of this feels familiar, please know you don't have to figure it out on your own.

Sometimes the biggest relief comes from finally understanding what's happening and having someone help you connect the dots.

My inbox is always open.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/may/30/pmdd-premenstrual-dysphoric-disorder-diagnosis-women-families-explosive-rage

TThe Guardian

Mothers with PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) explain how it has affected their relationship with their families