Picture this:
It’s 3 a.m., and you’re wide awake. Again.
Your mind is racing, your heart feels jittery, and that familiar tightness in your chest has crept in.
You toss, turn, and breathe deep… but calm feels a million miles away.
By day, you’re holding it all together—career, kids, aging parents, relationships—but inside, there’s this undercurrent of anxiety that wasn’t there in your twenties or early thirties. And you’re wondering: Why now? What’s going on with me?
If this sounds like you, you’re not alone. This experience is incredibly common for women in their 40s and beyond. The culprit? You might be surprised to learn that while hormones play a role, there’s often a deeper, lesser-known root cause: your gut health.
Let’s talk about what’s really happening—and what you can do about it.
The Hormonal Rollercoaster You Didn’t Sign Up For
As we head into our forties, our female hormones begin to shift—and not in a gentle, graceful way.
Here’s what’s happening behind the scenes:
- Progesterone, your calming hormone, begins to drop quickly.
- Estrogen, on the other hand, doesn’t just gradually decline—it starts to swing wildly in peaks and valleys.
This hormonal chaos can lead to all kinds of mood shifts. If you’re still cycling, anxiety may hit at certain points in your cycle. If you’ve transitioned into menopause, the mood swings may settle… but the constant low-grade anxiety can linger.
Now, many women stop the investigation here and assume it’s “just hormones.” But there’s another critical layer to this puzzle that often gets missed…
The Gut–Anxiety Connection That Changes Everything
Most people don’t realize that 90% of your serotonin—your brain’s “feel good” chemical—is made in your gut, not your brain.
Yes, you read that right.
So if your gut is out of balance, your serotonin production may tank, leaving you feeling anxious, edgy, restless, and even sleepless.
In perimenopause and menopause, gut imbalances are more common than ever due to a perfect storm of factors:
- Past antibiotic use that wiped out good bacteria
- Chronic stress that affects digestion and gut function
- Low-fiber diets that starve good gut microbes
- C-sections or scar tissue that interferes with digestion
- Constipation (less than one well-formed bowel movement daily) that leads to toxin reabsorption and inflammation
When the bad bacteria outweigh the good, serotonin levels drop—and anxiety increases.
Functional Medicine: Where Real Answers Begin
Here’s the good news: You can do something about this.
As a functional medicine practitioner who’s helped thousands of women over the past 20 years, I use comprehensive stool and urine testing to dig deep into what’s going on inside your gut.
We look at:
- Your balance of good vs. bad bacteria
- Signs of inflammation
- Hidden infections or toxins
- Digestive capacity
- And more
Armed with that data, we craft a personalized plan—from targeted nutrition to lifestyle strategies—that helps rebalance your gut and calm your nervous system.
What’s amazing? Many of my clients feel significantly less anxious once we support their gut—even without changing their hormone levels. That’s the power of getting to the root cause.
And if you’re looking for even more support…
I’m thrilled to be a featured expert in Navigating Perimenopause, a FREE 14-day speaker series hosted by Laura Meadows!
Join me and 30+ top health professionals as we share powerful insights, practical tools, and personalized strategies to help you own your health, balance your hormones, and age with strength and confidence. 💪✨
You’ll gain access to expert interviews (including mine!) and over $7,500 in FREE resources—including workbooks, hormone roadmaps, and guides—to help you thrive in this chapter of life.
👉 Sign up here and start your transformation
If you’ve been battling anxiety and chalking it up to “just hormones,” it’s time to look deeper. You deserve answers—and relief that actually lasts.
✨ You’re not broken. You’re not crazy. There’s a reason you feel this way—and real solutions are within reach. I invite you to connect with me for a Complimentary Consultation where we can talk about your symptoms, your gut health, and whether working together might be a good fit.
Join our Private Facebook Group called Functional Medicine for Hormonal Imbalances, where nearly 7,000 women are actively looking to discover the root cause of their hormone imbalance symptoms and root cause solutions for long-term success and balance.
DISCLAIMER: The information in this email is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All content is for general informational purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your own doctor/health professional.
