Hello Hormones with Dr. Carrie Jones

You can spend years holding everything together with anxiety, urgency, perfectionism, or sheer willpower, then hit perimenopause and suddenly feel like your brain stopped cooperating. Trouble focusing, emotional overwhelm, forgetfulness, procrastination, and feeling like you have completely lost your ability to multitask can all overlap with ADHD, which is exactly why so many women start asking questions in midlife. In this episode of Hello Hormones, Dr. Jolene Brighten and I break down the connection between ADHD and perimenopause, including how shifting estrogen can affect dopamine, memory, motivation, and cognitive flexibility. We also talk about testosterone, blood sugar, sleep, exercise, thyroid and iron testing, and why symptoms that look like ADHD still deserve a full evaluation. Dr. Jolene Brighten is a women's health expert, author, and clinician who specializes in helping women better understand the connection between their hormones and their brains. If you have ever wondered why the strategies…

You can be told your labs are "normal" while still dealing with fatigue, hair loss, weight changes, brain fog, or feeling like something is clearly off. Sometimes the bigger issue is that the right markers were never tested in the first place, or that falling inside a wide reference range does not tell the whole story. In this episode of Hello Hormones with Dr. Carrie Jones, Dr. Tiffany Lester and I break down the biomarkers women should know before and during perimenopause, including ferritin, fasting insulin, thyroid markers, ApoB, testosterone, inflammation, and more. Dr. Tiffany Lester is a board-certified integrative medicine physician and the Women's Health Medical Director at Function, where she leads the clinical strategy for women's health. If you have ever been told everything looks "fine" on paper while you still do not feel like yourself, this episode will help you understand what else may be worth looking at and what questions to start asking. What's Discussed: (1:22) Why persistent fatigue…

You can have "normal" thyroid labs and still feel exhausted, foggy, stuck with weight changes, or like something is clearly off. That is where a deeper look at thyroid function can start to change the conversation. In this episode of Hello Hormones with Dr. Saadia Mian, we break down what TSH may be missing, why free T3 can matter so much for how you feel, and how thyroid health connects with metabolism in midlife. Dr. Saadia Mian is a board-certified endocrinologist with more than 20 years of clinical experience who is also trained in functional medicine. If you have ever been told your thyroid is "fine" but you still do not feel like yourself, this episode will give you a much clearer understanding of what else may be worth looking at. What's Discussed: (7:42) Why "normal" labs do not always explain how you feel. (9:15) Why Dr. Mian often starts with gut health. (13:55) The thyroid labs she checks and when she orders an ultrasound. (17:03) The thyroid ranges she considers more optimal. (19:17) When…

Progesterone can be one of those hormones you do not think much about until your period gets heavier, PMS suddenly feels louder, you are waking up at 3 a.m., and your anxiety seems to have developed a personality of its own. Then you start wondering, "Wait, could low progesterone actually explain some of this?" Especially in your late 30s and 40s, the answer may be yes. Here's where things get interesting. You make most of your progesterone after you ovulate, which means progesterone can start dropping as ovulation becomes less consistent during perimenopause. And the clues can show up in places you may not immediately connect to hormones. Think shorter or longer cycles, heavier bleeding, spotting before your period, breast tenderness, trouble sleeping, feeling more anxious, and even histamine symptoms like itching, stuffiness, headaches, flushing, or a racing heart that seem to get worse at certain points in your cycle. Progesterone also has to be looked at in context with estrogen, because estrogen can be…

Perimenopause can be especially confusing when your symptoms look nothing like the hot flashes and night sweats you were told to expect. Suddenly you are waking up at 4:30 a.m., forgetting words you have known forever, smelling things nobody else smells, or dealing with heart palpitations and wondering what on earth your body is doing. In this episode of Hello Hormones, I am sharing seven things going through perimenopause has taught me firsthand. We talk about the weird symptoms nobody warns you about, why brain fog can feel more like losing everyday words, and why perimenopause can look completely different from one woman to the next. Going through this transition myself has completely changed how I understand what women have been telling me for years. If perimenopause has left you wondering whether what you are experiencing is normal, I hope this episode helps you feel more informed about what may be happening in your body and more confident asking for the support you need. What's Discussed: (00:00) Why…

Testosterone still gets treated like the hormone women only need to think about when their sex drive disappears. But when women start talking about lower energy, slower workout recovery, brain fog, mood changes, or feeling like their body is responding differently than it used to, testosterone may deserve a closer look. And once testosterone therapy enters the conversation, another question comes up quickly: What is the best way to actually take it? That is where my conversation with Angelina gets really interesting. She works extensively with testosterone therapy and sees firsthand how differently women can respond depending on the dose, the delivery method, their symptoms, and what their labs are actually showing. We get into testosterone beyond libido, why total testosterone does not tell you the whole story, how SHBG can affect free testosterone, and why subcutaneous injections may offer another option for women who do not love creams, gels, pellets, or traditional intramuscular injections. We also talk…

Perimenopause has a way of making you wonder where you are in the process and how much longer this hormonal roller coaster plans to keep going. Your period disappears for two months, comes back like nothing happened, your joints suddenly hurt, your brain feels foggy, and now you are waking up sweaty at 3 a.m. wondering if you have officially entered a new stage. Here's where things get interesting. Late-stage perimenopause actually has a research definition, and one of the biggest clues is going 60 days or more without a period. But your cycle is only part of the picture. As estrogen and progesterone start spending more time on the lower end, symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, joint pain, dryness, recurrent UTIs, brain fog, and changes in body composition can become more noticeable. And while we love a good lab test, there is no single blood test that can neatly tell you, "Congratulations, you are now in late-stage perimenopause." In this solo episode of Hello Hormones, I am breaking down the seven…

One thing I hear all the time from women is, "I tried the patch," or "I tried the cream," followed by some version of: It didn't work for me. Maybe they did not feel better. Maybe they had side effects. Maybe their symptoms improved at first and then came right back. But does one delivery method not working mean hormone therapy itself is off the table? That is what made this conversation with Lexi Yoo so important. She has spent years treating women with hormone therapy using pellets, injections, creams, gels, and oral options, and she sees firsthand how differently women can respond depending on the hormone, the dose, the delivery method, and what their labs are actually showing. We also get into testosterone beyond libido, why "normal" total testosterone can hide low free testosterone, and why hair loss during perimenopause may have you looking at iron, thyroid, stress, rapid weight loss, or GLP-1 use before automatically blaming your hormones. Lexi Yoo is a nurse practitioner who treats women and men…

One thing I hear all the time from women in perimenopause is how confusing weight loss can suddenly become. They try the diet everyone online is swearing by. The scale does not move. They tighten things up. Still nothing. And somehow the advice keeps coming back to the same thing: eat less. But how long can "eat less" be the answer before we start asking a better question? That is what made this conversation with Dr. Bill Campbell so interesting to me. He is studying women who already exercise and pay attention to nutrition to figure out whether weight loss resistance during the menopause transition is actually real, or whether something else is getting blamed on hormones. In his preliminary survey, roughly 75 to 80% of peri- and postmenopausal women reported experiencing weight loss resistance. The number is huge, but the WHY behind it is what he is trying to uncover. Dr. Bill Campbell is a professor and director of the Performance and Physique Enhancement Laboratory at the University of South Florida. He…

Perimenopause has a funny way of making your supplement cabinet grow overnight. Magnesium for sleep. Something for hair. Vitamin D for bones. A multivitamin because you are trying to cover your bases. Maybe another bottle for energy, digestion, or whatever new symptom decided to join the party this month. And I get it. When your hormones are changing and your body suddenly feels different, supplements can be incredibly helpful. But the bottle marketed to "women 50+" is not automatically the one I would choose, and the nutrient you recognize on the front may not tell you much about what you are actually getting. In this solo episode of Hello Hormones, I am sharing seven types of supplements I personally do not love and the things I look at before spending money on them. I have spent more than 20 years in women's hormone health and the supplement field, worked with hundreds of companies, and gotten very familiar with production, manufacturing, testing, and quality. So yes, I have opinions. And if your midlife…

Headaches, brain fog, fatigue, dizziness, anxiety, poor concentration, sinus problems, and feeling worse in certain buildings can easily be blamed on stress, hormones, or perimenopause. But mold exposure can create many of the same symptoms, which makes it difficult to know what your body is actually reacting to. In this episode of Hello Hormones, I am talking with Jason Earle about the signs that your home or workplace may have a moisture and air-quality problem, why a musty smell matters even when you cannot see mold, and the four questions to ask before spending thousands of dollars on testing or remediation. We also get into air purifiers, HEPA vacuums, mold inspections, ERMI testing, urine mycotoxin panels, and why Jason believes food may explain more mycotoxin exposure than most people realize. Jason Earle is the founder of GOT MOLD?® and has spent more than 20 years helping people understand mold, moisture, and indoor air quality. His work began after his own health improved when he left a…

Most women are taught to associate testosterone with libido and muscle. So when they begin feeling depressed, anxious, emotionally flat, unmotivated, forgetful, or unlike themselves, testosterone may never enter the conversation. In this episode of Hello Hormones, I am talking with Dr. Terri DeNeui about why this hormone has a much bigger role in women's health than most of us were taught. We get into the relationship between testosterone and mood, what Dr. DeNeui found during her doctoral research on depression, and why hormone changes may sometimes be missed in women who develop new symptoms after childbirth or during perimenopause. We also talk about vitamin D, thyroid function, hormone metabolism, and why a woman may not respond well to therapy when the rest of her physiology has not been considered. Dr. Terri DeNeui is a hormone optimization expert, founder of EVEXIAS Health Solutions, author of Hormone Havoc, and a doctorally prepared nurse practitioner who has worked in the hormone space for more than…

Only a small percentage of women use hormone therapy during perimenopause and menopause. Some cannot take it, some do not want it, and others simply want additional support alongside it. But when someone says she wants to manage menopause "naturally," what does that actually mean, and which options are genuinely worth considering? For this episode of Hello Hormones, I searched through thousands of women's comments, messages, and conversations to find the strategies they repeatedly said made a difference. I am breaking down nine categories, including dietary changes, herbs, nutrients, acupuncture, resistance training, cooling tools, and something women mentioned far more often than I expected: setting boundaries and protecting their time. We will talk about which options may be most useful for hot flashes, sleep, anxiety, mood, breast tenderness, and early perimenopause, along with important cautions around dosing, supplement quality, and choosing the right approach for your stage. You do not have to try…

Hot flashes, poor sleep, mood changes, irregular cycles, and lower stress tolerance can make women over 40 feel like their hormones changed overnight. That is often when the search for a "natural" solution begins, but herbs are not commonly used to replace the estrogen and progesterone declining during perimenopause and menopause. So what can they actually do? In this solo Q&A, I am answering the questions midlife women keep asking. Are there herbs that may help with low-estrogen symptoms and hot flashes? Can progesterone be supported naturally when ovulation becomes less consistent? And is there any herbal option that can truly work like HRT? We also talk about saffron, ashwagandha, vitex, and shatavari, including where they may fit, what their limits are, and what to look for before spending money on another supplement. Plus, I walk through a listener case involving debilitating period pain and why severe symptoms should never be written off as "just perimenopause." What's Discussed: 2:01 Herbs for low…

Have you ever heard that women in other countries do not struggle with menopause the way women in North America do? Or that menopause is somehow easier in certain cultures because women do not talk about it as much? In this episode of Hello Hormones, I'm talking with Zora Benhamou about what women around the world are actually saying when someone finally asks them. We get into why menopause is global, but the way women experience it, talk about it, and get support can look very different depending on stigma, culture, socioeconomic status, access to care, and fear of doctors. We also talk about the symptoms women are rarely warned about, including joint pain, frozen shoulder, hip pain, bone loss, osteoarthritis, and why so many women are told they are "just aging" when hormones may be part of the picture. Zora is a gerontologist, host of the Hack My Age podcast, author of The Longevity Master Plan, and creator of the Menopause Around the World series, where she has interviewed over 350 women across the globe.…

Have you been thinking about estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, or cortisol, but still feel like something is missing? Maybe you feel anxious, disconnected, burned out, emotionally flat, in pain, stuck in food noise, struggling with libido, or like your body cannot fully shift out of fight-or-flight even when you are doing so many of the "right" things. In this episode of Hello Hormones, I'm breaking down why oxytocin is a hormone we may be completely sleeping on, especially for women over 40. Most people know oxytocin as the hormone connected to childbirth, breastfeeding, bonding, and love, but it also plays a role in cortisol, the nervous system, mood, pain, gut function, inflammation, food cravings, sexual health, bladder symptoms, bone, brain, metabolic health, and more. I also walk through what I learned from Dr. Devaki Lindsey Berkson's work on oxytocin medicine, including natural ways to support oxytocin, what can interfere with it, and how it may be used as a compounded hormone. We get into…

If you have been eating well, moving your body, doing what you were told, and your belly fat still will not budge, this episode is going to explain why. So many women hit their 40s and suddenly feel like their body changed the rules. The same foods, workouts, and routines that used to work no longer feel like enough, and the advice to eat less or work harder only leaves them more frustrated. Today, we are getting into what is really happening behind stubborn midlife weight gain, especially when inflammation, insulin resistance, cortisol, poor sleep, cravings, and stress are all sending the body a signal to hold onto fat. This conversation challenges the idea that weight loss is only about calories and looks at why the body may be protecting itself, storing visceral fat, and staying stuck in sugar-burning mode. I'm joined by Ben Azadi, functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner, bestselling author, and metabolic health educator who lost 80 pounds, reversed his own metabolic dysfunction, and has helped…

If you have been doing "all the right things" for your hormones and still do not feel better, this episode is for you. Maybe you tried a detox, added supplements, cleaned up your diet, worked on your gut, or followed the protocol that helped your friend. Not knowing that if your body is depleted, inflamed, or not ready for that next step, doing more can actually keep you stuck. In this episode of Hello Hormones, we talk about why the order you heal in matters more than the protocol itself. We get into why hormone detoxes, gut protocols, supplement stacks, and social media fixes can backfire when you do not know what your body actually needs first. If you have been trying harder and still not feeling better, this episode will help you understand why the next step may not be doing more. It may be doing things in the right order. I'm joined by Dr. Beth Westie, functional medicine practitioner, chiropractor, educator, and author of The Female Fat Solution and The Female Menopause Solution. She has lived this…

Have you hit midlife and suddenly everything feels dry, itchy, or irritated in places that make no sense? Your inner ears itch. Your shins itch. Your scalp itches. Your eyes feel dry and scratchy. Your back has that one spot you cannot reach. Even your private areas may feel itchy when there is no obvious infection, rash, or clear reason why. In this episode of Hello Hormones, I'm breaking down why this may not be solved by more lotion, more water, or another steroid cream. As estradiol and progesterone shift in midlife, your skin barrier, oils, mast cells, histamine response, inflammation, and nerve sensitivity can all change, which may explain why itching can come and go, show up in random places, or feel worse at night. I also walk through options to talk about with your healthcare provider, whether you are using hormones, not ready for hormones, or looking for additional support. We get into ceramides, urea cream, omega-3s, borage oil, black currant seed oil, quercetin, vitamin C, DAO enzymes, sea…

If you are in perimenopause wondering why you suddenly cannot handle the same life, stress, schedule, or people you used to manage, this episode will give you a completely different way to look at your symptoms. We are taught to blame every hot flash, rage spiral, night sweat, brain fog moment, and 2 a.m. wake-up on hormones alone, but Chinese medicine sees those symptoms as messages about the body's resilience, adaptability, and ability to move through change. We dive deeper into this in the Hello Hormones Podcast with Dr. Lorne Brown. We also chat about why Chinese medicine calls menopause the second spring, why hormones can be the trigger without being the whole problem, how PMS and fertility struggles can predict a harder perimenopause, and where liver stagnation, acupuncture, Chinese herbs, stress, trauma, and hormone therapy fit into supporting the transition. Dr. Lorne Brown is a Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine and founder of Acubalance Wellness Centre in Vancouver, Canada. He has over 25 years…

Most women have heard about the gut microbiome, oral microbiome, and skin microbiome. But the vaginal microbiome is still treated like an awkward side conversation, even though it can affect infections, odor, irritation, dryness, painful sex, pH, arousal, and the way women feel in their own bodies. And that's where so many women get stuck. They know something feels off, but the answer they get is usually the same: it must be yeast, BV, dryness, hygiene, age, or stress. Then the symptoms come back, the tissue feels even more sensitive, sex starts to hurt, odor feels embarrassing, or the products that were supposed to help make everything burn. In this episode of Hello Hormones, I'm joined by Wendy Strgar, founder of Good Clean Love and Vaginal Biome Science, for the vaginal health conversation women should have been getting all along. Wendy has spent over two decades studying vaginal health, product safety, intimacy, and the vaginal microbiome. Her work has led to multiple U.S. patents, research studies, FDA…

Depression and anxiety? Yeah, those get all the research and all the press. But nobody wants to talk about the simmering, seething rage that is just under the surface. The anger that comes out of nowhere. The irritation that is 10 times more than you expected. The feeling of I wish somebody would, because you are ready to pop right off. And the worst part is that most women going through it think they are the only one. I dug into the Reddit boards for this one and found hundreds and hundreds of comments from women all talking about rage. And what was so striking is how many of them did not expect it. They think something is uniquely wrong with them. They feel crazy, ashamed, and completely blindsided by an anger they cannot explain and cannot control. So we are going to talk about it. What is actually happening in your brain when perimenopausal rage hits, why it is not the same as PMDD even though they overlap, and what you can actually do about it whether you are ready for hormones or not. What's Discussed:…

Brain fog, low libido, poor sleep, and suddenly having zero patience for the things you used to tolerate are usually treated like separate problems. Or worse, women are told it is just stress, aging, or "normal." But what if a lot of those symptoms are not random? What if they are starting in your brain? In this episode of Hello Hormones, I sit down with Dr. Louann Brizendine to talk about what actually happens to the female brain during perimenopause and menopause. We kick things off with the brain and sex, go deeper into testosterone, then walk through brain fog, glucose, estrogen, hormone therapy timing, dementia risk, sleep, caffeine, alcohol, and why "no" really can be a complete sentence in this next phase of life. Dr. Louann Brizendine is a neuropsychiatrist, founder of the Women's Mood and Hormone Clinic at UCSF, and one of the leading voices in female brain science. She completed her neurobiology degree at UC Berkeley, graduated from Yale School of Medicine, and completed her residency at Harvard.…

Histamine is all over social media right now, and for good reason. Women are taking over-the-counter antihistamines and noticing that their PMS, PMDD, sleep, allergy symptoms, and perimenopause symptoms are improving. But that also brings up the bigger question: why would something we usually associate with allergies have anything to do with hormones? In this episode of Hello Hormones, I'm talking about the hormone-histamine connection and the gut enzyme most people are still not talking about: DAO. We get into the difference between blocking histamine symptoms with antihistamines and actually helping the body break histamine down in the gut, why estrogen swings can make histamine symptoms louder, and why things like wine, fermented foods, avocado, spinach, alcohol, medications, and birth control can all affect the histamine picture. I'm joined by Helmut Schmutz, one of the original developers behind DAO supplementation and an expert in histamine intolerance, diamine oxidase, and the science behind DAO…

Skipped periods, hot flashes, brain fog, joint pain, dry everything, and yes, even itchy ears. These are the symptoms women are told to chalk up to stress or aging, when the real story is often a drop in estrogen that nobody bothered to investigate. I dive deeper into this in the latest episode of Hello Hormones, where I walk through the 10 warning signs of low estrogen every woman should know. I also talk about why estrogen impacts everything from your sleep and mood to your gut, your gums, and your inner ear balance, when to suspect estrogen as the root cause versus something else, and what to actually do if these symptoms sound like you. What's Discussed: (1:02) The hot flash myth that has 20-year-olds being dismissed by their OBs. (2:49) The musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause and why your big toe might ache. (3:45) How estradiol drives REM and deep sleep and why progesterone alone won't fix it. (5:28) The depression and anhedonia link most doctors miss before prescribing an antidepressant. (8:40) The…

Women in midlife are told their burnout is a willpower problem. That if they just set better boundaries, did the morning routine, booked the massage, and stopped saying yes to everything, they would feel better. But what almost no one is talking about is that your nervous system is the master control of every hormone in your body, and by the time women hit perimenopause, that system has been stuck in "pedal-to-the-metal mode" for years. In the latest episode of Hello Hormones, I sit down with Dr. Melissa Sonners, a mind-and-body alignment expert, chiropractor, and author of the brand new book The Connection Code. After her own brutal battle with neurological Lyme, meningitis, and encephalitis, Melissa rebuilt her entire approach to health and has spent the last decade studying the neuroscience of how women actually come home to themselves. Her work breaks down the brainwaves, the inner voices, and the micro-moments that quietly rewire your nervous system, no hour-long routine required. When self-care starts…

The test most doctors use to check your thyroid is not even a thyroid hormone. TSH is a brain hormone, and relying on it alone is how so many women end up with "normal" labs while they feel completely awful. It is a gap that causes most women to never get the full picture of the status of their thyroid. You can be eating clean, working out, doing all the right things, and still gain weight, lose hair, and feel a crushing fatigue that no amount of caffeine can fix. And too often, women are told it is just perimenopause or just aging, when the real story goes much deeper. In this episode of Hello Hormones, I sit down with Dr. Amie Hornaman, thyroid expert, podcast host, and author of the brand new book The Thyroid Fix:The No Nonsense Guide to Fix Fatigue, Fogginess and Fat That Won't Budge. Dr. Amie has a gift for making thyroid health make sense, busting the myths most women have been handed, and showing them what optimal thyroid approaches really look like. If you have ever been told your labs are fine while…

Cortisol always gets a bad reputation online, but here's the thing: it's not the villain. It's actually essential for your stress response, blood sugar, sleep-wake cycle, and even keeping inflammation in check. The problem isn't cortisol itself. It's what happens when it stays chronically elevated, and your body starts sending signals you've probably been brushing off as "just stress" or "just getting older." In this solo episode, I'll walk you through the five warning signs of chronic high cortisol that most women don't connect to stress at all, including one that directly links to your blood sugar and why that matters more than you think. If you're a woman in midlife and have a gut feel that your cortisol levels are elevated, this episode is exactly where to start. What's Discussed: (0:49) The five warning signs of chronic high cortisol (2:34) Why your weight and face shape might be changing (3:35) The cortisol-insomnia connection most women miss (4:40) Hair loss and the stress delay nobody warns you about…

Every cell in your body has hormone receptors, which means when your hormones are off, nothing works the way it should. And yet, hormone replacement therapy remains one of the most misunderstood and under-explained topics in women's health. The confusion isn't your fault. A lot of it traces back to one study from 2002 that scared an entire generation of doctors away from prescribing hormones, and the ripple effects are still being felt today. In this solo episode of Hello Hormones, Dr. Carrie is answering the questions you actually submitted, the ones your doctor glossed over, the ones nobody's giving you straight answers on, and the ones you weren't sure were okay to ask. If HRT has felt overwhelming or out of reach, this is the episode that changes that. What's Discussed: (4:27) Can supplements replace hormones in full menopause? (7:09) The hysterectomy question that trips everyone up. (11:22) Finding the right HRT provider when your current one won't go there. (15:41) More HRT options than you were…

Did you know that the heat in your sauna might not even be the most important part? Most women hear "sauna" and think of sweating buckets, longevity bros, and biohackers. But there is actually a whole spectrum of light energy happening inside an infrared sauna that is doing the real work, and it has a lot to do with your hormones. In this episode of Hello Hormones, I sit down with Connie Zack, co-founder of Sunlighten and one of the original pioneers of the infrared sauna industry. With over 25 years of experience studying how infrared light and heat impact the body at the cellular level, Connie breaks down what is actually happening when you step inside, why wavelength matters more than temperature, and what perimenopausal and postmenopausal women specifically need to know. If you have ever wondered whether a sauna is actually worth the hype, or if you have been told to skip it because of your hormones, this one is for you. What's Discussed: (06:41) The number one symptom of perimenopause (and it is not hot…

Progesterone is one of those hormones that gets mentioned everywhere but explained almost nowhere, and that gap is costing women a lot. What most women don't know is that progesterone isn't just a fertility hormone. You have progesterone receptors from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet, which means when levels start to drop, the effects show up everywhere. We're talking worse PMS, heavier periods, anxiety that seems to come out of nowhere, and that lovely 1am wake-up where your brain decides it's time to think about everything you've ever done wrong. In this solo episode of Hello Hormones, I'm breaking down the top three things most women don't know about progesterone, including the brain chemistry behind why it's basically your built-in calm-down switch, what actually happens to your levels as you move through perimenopause and into menopause, and why having had a hysterectomy does not mean you're off the hook. If you've been wondering whether progesterone might be part of what's going on for…

Did you know that the muscle you are losing right now is doing a lot more than changing how you look in the mirror? It is quietly running your metabolism, regulating your blood sugar, protecting your bones, and most women have absolutely no idea. You can be eating well, doing cardio five days a week, and still feel squishier, weaker, and completely frustrated that nothing seems to be working. And it starts earlier than most women realize. In this episode of Hello Hormones, I sit down with Barbara Birke, holistic health coach and sport scientist with over 25 years of experience helping women over 40 build strength and actually feel good in their bodies again. Barbara has a gift for making this feel completely doable, no matter where you are starting from. If you have ever looked in the mirror and thought, "Where did my muscle go?", this one is for you. What's Discussed: (00:07) The muscle question every woman over 40 is secretly asking. (01:02) Rapid fire: the one thing you should be doing but probably…

When it comes to menopause symptoms, the first thing that comes to mind is hot flashes. But did you know it didn't make it to the top 10 most common symptoms of menopause based on Andrea Donsky's research and surveys? In fact, 9 out of the top 10 are brain and mental health related, think fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, and memory lapses, and most women have been brushing them off as "just life." In this episode of Hello Hormones, I sit down with my friend Andrea Donsky, Registered Holistic Nutritionist, 7-time published menopause researcher, and author of the upcoming book Nourishing Menopause, to break down her groundbreaking research, the strange symptoms that keep getting dismissed, and the nutrition blueprint that ties it all together. If you have ever felt like your body suddenly stopped making sense, this is the conversation that finally connects the dots. What's Discussed: (00:00) How Andrea's research uncovered 103+ perimenopause symptoms (02:19) The top 10 symptoms and why 9 of them are brain-related…

Did you know your gut and your hormones are not two separate conversations? They are the same conversation, and most women in perimenopause are only being handed half the story. You can be doing all the right things, the protein, the workouts, the supplements, even hormone replacement therapy, and still feel bloated, foggy, exhausted, itchy in weird places, and like your body is suddenly working against you. The missing piece for so many women is the gut. In this episode of Hello Hormones, I sit down with my dear friend Cynthia Thurlow, nurse practitioner, two-time TEDx speaker, host of the Everyday Wellness podcast, and author of the brand new book The Menopause Gut, to break down why the gut microbiome is the most underappreciated player in midlife health, what your symptoms might actually be telling you, and the foundational shifts that can completely change how you feel. Cynthia has spent over 25 years in women's health, and she has a gift for taking incredibly complex science and translating it into…

Testosterone is one of the most abundant hormones in a woman's body. Yet it is one of the least talked about, least tested, and most misunderstood. Women make testosterone in three different places, use it for everything from bone density to brain health, and can lose it at any age. Not just in menopause. And most doctors are still not checking for it. In this episode of Hello Hormones, I break down everything you actually need to know about testosterone, where it comes from, what it does, how to test it the right way, and what your options are if you ever want to give it a go. Because you deserve to walk into your next appointment knowing exactly what to ask for. What's Discussed: (00:00) Why testosterone is not just a male hormone. (01:18) The three places your body produces testosterone. (03:16) Why not all women lose testosterone at the same rate. (04:13) Everything testosterone does beyond libido: bones, muscle, mood, and brain health. (05:02) How to test testosterone properly and why mass spec testing…

Did you know that most of the symptoms women are told to just "manage" during perimenopause and menopause, the brain fog, the anxiety, the weight that won't move, the sleep that won't come, were actually mapped out and explained by Ayurvedic medicine over 5,000 years ago? And it's not just explained but addressed with specific tools, specific foods, specific rituals, and a personalized framework built around your body type that modern science is now catching up to prove. Most women in midlife are working harder than ever and still feel like they're falling apart and feel hopeless around the concept of aging. Dr. Shivani aims to change that by bridging Ayurveda and Western medicine to help us recover the forgotten ancient wisdom about the female body and how to treat it. In this episode of Hello Hormones, I sit down with Dr. Shivani Gupta, Ayurvedic practitioner, PhD-level researcher, and founder of Fusionary Formulas, to break down why inflammation is the real driver behind most midlife symptoms, what your…

Did you know that perimenopause can manifest beyond the common symptoms we know like hot flashes? To pique my curiosity about what you are experiencing when you detect you're in perimenopause, I ran a poll and the answers are nothing short of surprising. When estrogen and progesterone start shifting in perimenopause, the effects don't stay neatly in one place. They show up in other parts of your body often all at once, often mistaken as another symptom of another health condition. In the new episode of Hello Hormones, I will break down the seven most surprising symptoms women reported in my recent poll, why they're happening beneath the surface, and what you can actually do about each one. Because when you finally understand what's happening, it stops feeling like something is wrong with you and starts feeling like something you can actually work with. What's Discussed: (00:00) Why perimenopause symptoms go way beyond hot flashes and night sweats (02:15) Rage: the hormonal reason it hits out of nowhere and…

Did you know that women who wore foundation consistently throughout their lives may have accidentally been protecting their skin from brown spots and hyperpigmentation all along? That fun fact is only one of the things Dr. Mamina would like to share with every woman going through the drastic changes during perimenopause and menopause. Because most of what women experience during this transition, the dryness, the breakouts, the thinning hair, the products that suddenly stop working, isn't random. It's hormonal. And most women are never told that, let alone what to do about it. We dive deeper into this in the latest episode of Hello Hormones with Dr. Carrie Jones. We discuss why estrogen loss affects skin and hair in ways lab tests often can't detect, what's actually driving midlife acne and hair thinning, and the simple affordable routine that can genuinely move the needle. Dr. Mamina Turegano is a triple board-certified dermatologist, internist, and dermatopathologist based in New Orleans, combining…

Hair loss rarely starts at the scalp. Most of the time, the signal started months earlier somewhere else in the body. One day your hair looks normal, and the next you notice more strands in the shower, thinning at the temples, or shedding all over your clothes and bathroom floor. Suddenly your hairbrush looks a little more dramatic than usual. In this Hello Hormones episode, we break down the hidden hormone imbalance behind hair thinning, the 3-4 month stress delay most women don't realize can trigger shedding, and the iron deficiency hair loss many doctors miss. We also look at how chronic stress hormones push hair follicles out of growth mode and into shedding mode. When the body thinks it's in survival mode, it redirects resources to the brain, heart, and muscles, and hair unfortunately doesn't make the priority list. If your ponytail feels thinner or your hair just isn't growing the way it used to, this episode will help you connect the dots. Head to drcarriejones.com/stages to grab What Stage of…

You get diagnosed with gynecologic cancer and the focus turns to surgery and chemo, while no one mentions your hormones just fell off a cliff. Your ovaries are removed or radiated, you are thrown into instant menopause, and survivorship starts the day you hear the word cancer. In this episode of Hello Hormones with Rachel Frankenthal, we unpack what no one explains at diagnosis: who can safely use hormone therapy, what induced menopause under 45 means for long term health, and why the HPV vaccine still matters in your 30s and 40s. Rachel Frankenthal, PA-C, MPH, MSCP, is a board-certified Physician Associate and Menopause Society Certified Practitioner with a Master of Public Health. She specializes in gynecologic oncology and menopause care for cancer survivors and helped develop UCLA's Gynecologic Cancer Survivorship Program. Head to drcarriejones.com/hormones101 to grab your Hormones 101 Cheat Sheet free copy. Because understanding your hormones shouldn't require a medical degree — just 7 pages and maybe a…

Estrogen doesn't just float around your body forever. If it doesn't exit on time, though, things can get messy. Heavy periods, PMS, bloating, bad sleep after one glass of wine, or feeling worse on a "hormone balancing" supplement can all trace back to how efficiently you're clearing it. In this Hello Hormones episode, we break down how estrogen is cleared from the body, why constipation can clog up its exit ramp, and how jumping straight to DIM might backfire if your estrogen tank is already running low. If you're noticing stubborn symptoms that seem to cycle every month, reacting differently to alcohol than you used to, or experimenting with supplements without clear lab guidance, this episode will help you understand what your liver and gut are doing behind the scenes so you can support your hormones with clarity instead of guesswork. Head to drcarriejones.com/stages to grab What Stage of Perimenopause Am I In? Because the confusion is honestly worse than the symptoms sometimes. What's Discussed: (00:00)…

If you've ever been told estrogen causes breast cancer, or that it's "too late" to start hormones, you've likely been walking around with fear instead of facts. In this Hello Hormones episode, I'm joined by Dr. Lindsey Berkson to get into oxytocin as a whole-body hormone, why environmental toxins block your hormone receptors, and what the latest data actually says about estrogen and breast cancer risk. Dr. Lindsey Berkson, MA, DC, CNS, DACBN, is an integrative nutritional, gastrointestinal, and endocrine specialist. She holds a BA in psychoneurobiology, a master's degree in nutrition, and is a Diplomate of the American College of Nutrition. She was a distinguished scholar at Tulane University's Center for Bioenvironmental Research and has authored 22 books, including Hormone Deception and Oxytocin Medicine. Head to drcarriejones.com/hormones101 to grab your Hormones 101 Cheat Sheet free copy. Because understanding your hormones shouldn't require a medical degree — just 7 pages and maybe a cup of coffee. Head…

If perimenopause feels endless and confusing, you are not imagining it. One of the biggest misconceptions is that menopause itself lasts for years, when in reality the long, messy part happens before and after it. In the latest Hello Hormones, we get into early versus late perimenopause, why symptoms shift as hormones change, how periods actually factor into diagnosis, and what labs like FSH can tell you when bleeding is not a reliable clue. If you are having symptoms but your cycles still seem regular, or you are skipping periods and wondering how close you really are, this episode will help it click. Tune in for clarity and a lot fewer question marks. Head to drcarriejones.com/stages to grab What Stage of Perimenopause Am I In? Because the confusion is honestly worse than the symptoms sometimes. What's Discussed: (01:29) The six to ten year perimenopause window before menopause (01:45) Menopause defined as one day after twelve months without periods (02:27) Early perimenopause symptoms driven by declining…

If you hit midlife and suddenly feel ragey, burnt out, or emotionally raw for no clear reason, you are not breaking. Perimenopause has a way of removing the emotional buffer you've relied on for years, which means suppressed boundaries, old stress patterns, and survival mode all come to the surface at once. We dive deeper into this in the latest Hello Hormones episode with Dr. Sonya Jensen, ND. We also talk about why rage can actually be a sign you're ready for change, how the anxious overachiever quietly runs herself into burnout, and how family trauma gets passed down through hormones and the nervous system. Dr. Sonya Jensen, ND, is a naturopathic physician, women's hormone expert, and author of Heal Your Hormones, Reclaim Yourself. She is the creator of the HER Method and cofounder of Divine Elements Health Center, The Longevity Lab, and The Health Ignited Academy. Her training includes cell biology, Ayurvedic medicine, and clinical women's endocrinology. Hormones 101 Cheat Sheet: Head to…

If you've ever stared at your supplement cabinet wondering whether any of it is actually helping, you're not alone. The frustrating part is that a few supplements really can support your hormones and energy, while others just create noise and false expectations. In the latest Hello Hormones episode, we dive deeper into why magnesium is often the one supplement most women are probably missing, why creatine isn't just for the bros anymore, and why so many people are taking melatonin in ways that work against their sleep. We also talk about why black cohosh is not a phytoestrogen and what it really supports instead. This episode is about cutting through the noise and understanding what your body actually needs. Head to drcarriejones.com/stages to grab What Stage of Perimenopause Am I In? Because the confusion is honestly worse than the symptoms sometimes. What's Discussed: (01:09) Magnesium explained and why it's often the one supplement women are missing (02:16) Different forms of magnesium and how to choose…

Perimenopause is when many women feel like their body suddenly stopped playing on easy mode. Fluctuating estrogen reduces the brain's stress-buffering capacity, so fatigue, anxiety, irritability, and overwhelm all hit harder at the exact same time. We dive deeper into this topic in the latest Hello Hormones Podcast episode with Dr. Aimie Apigian. We also chat about why perimenopause is often when trauma finally shows up, why high-functioning women tend to fall apart in midlife, and the number one mistake women make when trying to heal trauma. Dr. Aimie Apigian, MD, MS, MPH, is a double board-certified physician in functional medicine and addiction medicine with training in neuroscience and trauma therapy. She is the creator of the Biology of Trauma® framework and leads the Biology of Trauma® certificate training program for healthcare professionals. Head to drcarriejones.com/stressfreebie to get access to The 101 on Stress, Cortisol & Your Nervous System. It's free, it's helpful, and it's exactly what you…

If you're over 40 and suddenly dealing with weird symptoms like itchy ears, new body odor, or constant puffiness, you're not imagining things. In this Hello Hormones episode, I explain why these things show up out of nowhere and how hormones are usually the quiet culprit. We dive deeper into odor changes that smell musky or oniony, itchy ears that make zero sense until you understand estrogen shifts, and that puffy, water-retaining feeling that has nothing to do with fat gain. Each of these has a physiological explanation and simple fixes you can often start at home. We also chat about hair loss and how to calm an inflamed scalp, rosacea that sneaks in during perimenopause, and sore or tender breasts that are not always an estrogen problem. The goal is clarity, relief, and giving you practical tools so these symptoms stop feeling mysterious and start feeling manageable. What's Discussed: (00:34) Why your armpits can suddenly smell oniony or musky after 40 (04:15) Feeling puffy everywhere and why it's often…

Why does heart disease suddenly become such a big issue for women after perimenopause? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Eve Henry, a physician specializing in longevity and women's health, to talk through how heart and metabolic health often shift quickly in midlife, even when nothing about your lifestyle has changed. We cover how estrogen loss impacts cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar, and which markers matter most, including ApoB and A1C. We also talk about visceral fat and inflammation, how they affect long-term heart health, and where hormone therapy, lifestyle support, and early intervention fit in. Dr. Eve Henry is a board-certified internal medicine physician with advanced training in integrative medicine, and she's deeply focused on helping women protect their heart and metabolic health through midlife and beyond. What's Discussed: (00:00) Why heart disease is the leading health risk for women (05:52) Why cholesterol is often the first lab to change in perimenopause (06:43) How…

Hormone therapy gets confusing fast, especially when you're over 40 and everyone seems to have a different rule, warning or opinion. Many of the most common questions about it come from gaps in how it's explained. When nuance is missing, women are left trying to make decisions without the full picture. In this Hello Hormones episode, I'm gonna pick the nine questions I hear all the time and go over them one by one with you. We talk about progesterone versus progestins, patch myths, vaginal hormone options and what actually matters when it comes to blood pressure and HRT. Tune in. What's Discussed: (01:26) The difference between progesterone and progestins (03:06) About Prometrium, peanut allergies and safer progesterone options (05:15) Why topical progesterone doesn't protect the uterus when using estrogen (09:11) Which estrogen patches are true estradiol and which contain progestins (11:09) Vaginal estrogen vs vaginal DHEA and when each one makes sense (15:06) What actually matters about blood pressure when…

Many women hit a weight plateau in perimenopause and assume it's about willpower, when the real issue is that the body isn't getting the physiological support it needs during hormonal change. After 40, eating less and pushing harder often puts the body into a protective mode, signaling it to conserve energy by storing fat. We dive deeper into this in the latest Hello Hormones episode with Ashley Koff, RD. We also chat about why fasting often backfires in perimenopause, what actually changes when GLP-1 signaling lasts days instead of minutes, and why gut function, hydration, and stress signals decide whether the body feels safe enough to lose weight. Ashley Koff, RD, is the founder of The Better Nutrition Program and the author of Your Best Shot: The Personalized System for Optimal Weight Health. She is a registered dietitian with over 30 years of experience across private practice, nutrition education, media, and consulting, and serves as Nutrition Course Director for IFMF. What's Discussed: (02:59) How…