Peri-Menopause (45-55):

Navigating Perimenopause with Personalised Acupuncture & Functional Medicine

“Perimenopause” isn’t a word most women love to hear, but it is a natural biological shift every woman encounters. With the average age of menopause in the U.S. being 51, subtle signs often begin emerging in our mid-to-late 40s.

Before I mention the term during a consultation, many of my patients haven’t even considered it because they are still having a monthly period. Instead, they come to my clinic simply feeling like they are “not themselves.”

Perimenopause can manifest in surprisingly varied ways, including:

  • Vasomotor & Sleep Changes: Hot flashes, night sweats, and persistent insomnia

  • Mood & Mental Clarity: Brain fog, anxiety, irritability, depression, and memory lapses (like constantly searching for your keys or glasses)

  • Physical & Hormonal Shifts: Thinning hair, sudden fatigue, joint pains and body aches, abdominal weight gain, intense sweet cravings, vaginal dryness, worsening PMS, or frequent UTIs

  • Cycle Irregularities: Periods that become unusually heavy, light, shorter, or prolonged, often accompanied by premenstrual migraines or sinus headaches

Why We Start with a 60-Minute Functional Medicine Consultation

Standard insurance coverage for acupuncture is strictly limited to hands-on treatment time (typically up to 45 minutes / 3 units). However, truly understanding the root causes of your perimenopausal symptoms requires a deeper, more comprehensive look before we even place a needle.

During your initial 60-minute Functional Medicine Consultation, we take a deep dive into your entire health story:

  • Comprehensive Review: We review your complete medical history, diet, lifestyle, current medications, supplements, and any recent lab tests.

  • Identifying Root Causes: We investigate underlying factors—such as gut health, nutrient deficiencies, or adrenal strain—that may be amplifying your hormonal fluctuations.

  • Tailored Roadmap: Based on this evaluation, we narrow down a customized action plan. Depending on your unique needs, this may include targeted acupuncture sessions, specialized functional lab orders (such as hormone or stool panels), dietary tweaks, clinical supplements, or a 4–8 week course of Chinese herbal medicine.

Time-Tested Acupuncture Mastery

Having personally navigated the transition into menopause, and drawing on specialized acupuncture protocols I learned from my traditional masters over 20 years ago, I do not believe in a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

How you care for your health during the perimenopausal years lays the foundation for your post-menopausal vitality. Before resorting solely to pharmaceuticals for elevated health markers or subtle hormonal shifts, gentle and targeted acupuncture combined with functional health insights can help bring your body back into harmony. You don’t have to navigate this transition feeling exhausted—let’s work together to help you feel like yourself again.

 

 

Try Femmenessence’s MacaLife for Peri-Menopausal Symptoms for 3 months.

This is a great article to read “the powder of progesterone” written by Dr. Anna Garrett

The connection between Vitamin D deficiency and Weight-gain – ZRT Lab

The book to read “What your doctor may not tell you about premenopause” written by John Lee, M.D.

This is the great exercises chart to Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor

It sounds strange but if you would like to get relief from your problem, it may worth trying -> Vaginal Steaming

 

 

 

 IMG_3035

Post-Menopause (55 and later):

If you got into “post-menopause” very likely at the age of 55 and later, I am very certain I help you. Because I have been there after I struggled for the last few years.

The peri-menopause phase of your life starts in the late 30’s -the 40s’ to the early ’50s. Some women get into the peri-menopausal phase very early but some do not. They have the hot flash, restless sleep, moodiness, vaginal dryness, frequent muscle aches do not recover quickly as it used to be, fatigued all the time even though sleep 10 hours at night, crave sugar, gaining weight around the abdomen, etc… But, oh boy,  I was not prepared for what post-menopause affect my daily life started at the age of 55. Every time I can not find my phone and the car key, I started asking myself, is this the part of post-menopausal AGE syndrome (just getting old) or something I need to worry about like dementia or Alzheimer’s disease? I started reading articles, purchasing webinars, and training about brain-related diseases. If you are started having numerous symptoms and blaming for “it is the part of an aging process”, you are like me. It is very scary and I am telling you that it is NOT related to AGE syndrome. Your brain works as sharp as when you are in the ’30s as long as you know how to take care of yourself correctly.

I have been there, struggled to find the answer for the last few years after got into the post-menopause phase of my life. My post-menopause problems started with a frozen shoulder on both sides (a decade later I found out it was from eating too much high oxalate foods), UTI which I have not had since my 20’s, restless sleep, warm hand, and feet at night, short-term memory loss (where my keys, where’s my phone syndrome!), thinning hair, palpitations, weight gain around the abdomen, irritable for the small things, sugar cravings ever before, afternoon fatigue (my thyroid was affected!), various pain do not recover quickly and the list continues. I finally found the solution and I feel like my late 40’s again. If you are the age of 45-55 peri-menopausal age, I am capable to suggest to you what you should be paying attention to and if you post-menopausal-like me, I can really hear your pain and struggles.  I am more than happy to help you to find the right solutions for you.

If you are gaining weight around the abdomen and not able to lose weight despite the fact you go to the gym 5 times per week. My suggestion to you is to check your Progesterone level tested. Dried urine test (I use DUTCH Complete from Precision Analytical) or Saliva test (Neuro Lab, Diagnostic Tech, ZRT Lab) will give you the accurate marker number.  The chances are your progesterone level is not only low but very low. Imagine just like your gas tank in your car has flushing blinking the red light on but you have been ignoring for a while and keep driving. Your car finally slows down and stops running.  This is exactly what I am saying – even though your Estrogen level is low in your blood test as well as progesterone level is but being progesterone is VERY low relatives to Estrogen makes your body become Estrogen Dominance. What is Estrogen Dominance? The main symptoms of Estrogen Dominance are restless sleep, gaining weight around the abdominal area, fatigue, hot flash, night sweat, irritability, depression, short-term memory loss, hair loss, etc… sounds familiar? The good news is there are a few solutions to this but NOT getting HRT (synthetic Hormone Replacement Therapy). It all depends on the severity but my patients are not just uncomfortable but almost at the end of the rope. Get the proper help! Do not wait! Here are informative links for you to read. The book written by Dr. John Lee is especially helpful.IMG_3201 (1)

  • Post Menopausal menstrual cramp
  • Post Menopausal bleeding western medicine protocol: If your ultrasound shows endometrial lining is under 4mm, no endometrial biopsy is necessary. If your number is between 4 mm and 9 mm, your doctor will suggest you get an endometrial biopsy. If the lining is thicker than 9 mm, you have to get the endometrial biopsy done.  If your cervix is tight or/and not straight, you feel the pressure the equipment to go in. This is extremely uncomfortable for some women, especially women who have never given birth. Take a painkiller of your choice for 40 min. ahead of time and start pressing acupressure point onSP6 while you are waiting for your doctor to come in and push LI4 when you are on the table. Having an ice pack on your forehead helps you from your blood pressure to go down (feeling of fainting). Put a drop of peppermint oil on the temple to help you to calm down as well. Be patient and practice deep and slow breathing !!!
  • Try Femmenessence’s MacaPause for 3 months.
  • Bio-Identical Hormone Therapy:
    • If you are looking for safe, reliable, cost-effective, organic, and Non-Synthetic “Bio-Identical Hormone Therapy”, this is a great site called Menopause Method runs by two M.D. They have trained thousands of doctors around the world. Contact them to find out if there is a doctor who trained in this method practices near you.

Unusual menopausal signs and symptoms – check the following sites before calling your doctor:      

The great article about sarcopenia – preventing muscle loss as we age – By NY Times Jane Brody

The secret of centenarians:

This chart is from Bluezone to find the secret of centenarians in the world. I do not know much about Sardinia, Italy but I can tell you Okinawa, Japan, and Loma Linda where I lived there for two years back in the late ’80s.

Okinawan is not a typical Japanese. Very laid back, “enjoy the life” is their motto. When it comes to food intake, they eat the moderately light typical Japanese meal comes with a bowl of rice and miso soup, and tofu, kelp, and fresh vegetables and seafood. They have amazingly sweet fruits just like the state of Hawaii produce. They are able to harvest the freshest vegetables, kelp, and be able to catch fish from the ocean surrounding the island. They eat a lot of soy-based food from tofu to everything made from soy. But it is NOT synthetic soy we find in the soy protein powder. Organic soybeans are grown locally. Okinawa is a tropical island like Hawaii. You can see the difference between Hawaiian and the U.S. mainland. I have never got to like it but they eat Goya (bitter melon) a lot. Bitter melon is known for stabilizing the blood sugar level and stimulate the liver to be nice and healthy to detox the toxins. I can easily move and live there!

Loma Linda is the unique place I lived when my husband was studying at Univ. CA-Riverside in the late ’80s. They are vegetarian or vegan and what I remember the most is people know people. It is a city, not the town but it seems the majority of Loma Linda citizen has the same religious belief which is the center of everyday living. We felt we could not belong there and came back to the east coast!

 

Leave a Reply