Peri & Pause

12/15/2025

🎄 12 Days of Menopause: Day 4🎄

Perimenopause Weight Gain + Cravings (aka: “Why am I thinking about Ben & Jerry's Half Baked at 9:17 pm?!”) 🍟😅

If you’ve hit your 40s and suddenly feel like your body got a new operating system without your permission… you’re not imagining it.

Here’s what’s going on “under the hood”:

1) Your hormones are doing the cha-cha.
Estrogen and progesterone can fluctuate like crazy in perimenopause, and those shifts can mess with appetite signals, cravings, sleep, and stress response (HELLO, cortisol). When sleep is trash, cravings get loud.

2) The scale can lie. LIE I tell ya!
During the menopause transition, research shows fat mass tends to increase and lean mass can decrease, especially around the midsection - even when total weight doesn’t change much. So you may feel “softer” or notice your clothes fit differently despite doing “all the right things.”

3) “But I’m eating healthier and working out more?!”
Yes… and also: metabolism + body composition can shift during this transition, which means the usual tricks don’t always work the way they used to. (Rude. We agree.)

What about hormone therapy?

Let’s keep it real and evidence-based:

✅ Hormone therapy is NOT a weight-loss medication.
But for the right patient, it may help support overall health and may help blunt the typical increase in abdominal fat / central fat shift seen across the transition - especially when used appropriately and individualized.

It’s best thought of as: symptom + quality-of-life support (sleep, hot flashes, mood, joint aches for some) and health support (like bone protection in appropriate candidates) - not an “Wegovy for menopause.”

The takeaway:

If your body is changing during perimenopause, it’s not a character flaw or a WILL POWER issue. It’s biology.
And you deserve care that treats you like a whole person—not a before-and-after photo. 💗

12/14/2025

🎄 12 Days of Menopause: Day 3 🎄

Today, Ms. Elf is holding something she never expected to need… a tube of vaginal estrogen.
Her face says it all: “Is this really happening?” 😅

As estrogen levels drop, the tissues in the vaginal and urinary area can become thinner, drier, and more sensitive. This very common set of changes is called genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM).

Women may notice:
• Dryness or irritation
• Discomfort with certain “activities” (you know what we’re talking about 👀)
• Increased urinary urgency or frequency
• More frequent urinary tract infections (UTIs)

Why this matters (beyond comfort) 👇
• UTIs are one of the most common infections in midlife and older women
• Recurrent UTIs can sometimes lead to serious infections requiring hospitalization and sometimes death if these result in urosepsis
• Estrogen helps keep tissues healthy and acts like a protective barrier

The good news?
💙 This is very treatable
💙 Low-dose vaginal estrogen works locally
💙 It supports comfort, confidence, and urinary health - not just “activity”
💓 Breast cancer patients and survivors can use this SAFELY

Ms. Elf is learning that menopause isn’t just hot flashes and mood changes - it affects everyday life in quiet ways women are often told to ignore.

More menopause truths coming tomorrow… ✨

12/13/2025

🎄 12 Days of Menopause: Day 2 🎄

🥶 When hot flashes get so bad… even the freezer feels like a reasonable option. Ms. Elf clearly agrees. 😅

Hot flashes and night sweats aren’t just uncomfortable - research shows they can be a signal from your body, not just a temperature issue.

Here’s the simple takeaway 👇
• Frequent or severe hot flashes are linked to higher future heart and blood vessel risk
• They’re associated with insulin resistance, cholesterol changes, and blood pressure shifts
• Women with early or ongoing symptoms have been shown to have higher rates of cardiovascular problems later on

This doesn’t mean hot flashes cause heart disease - but they may be an early warning sign that shouldn’t be ignored. 💔

If you’re having persistent hot flashes or night sweats whether you're 38 or 58, you deserve care that looks at both how you feel now and your long-term health. We’re here to help - with evidence-based care, not ice baths. 😉

💙 More menopause truths coming tomorrow…

12/13/2025

🎄 12 Days of Menopause: Day 1 🎄
Our holiday guest, Ms. Elf, has arrived - and this morning we found her curled up next to a book titled “Ms. Claus Has Menopause.” 📖✨ (Great read BTW!)

She looks a little worried… and honestly, she has good reason to pause. See what I did there? 🤭 Lately she’s been noticing:

✨ Waking up at 2–3 a.m. like it’s cookie-baking hour
✨ Mood swings that could rival the reindeer on a windy night
✨ Night sweats (and not from tending the fire)
✨ Brain fog thicker than a December snowstorm
✨ Achy joints from more than just wrapping presents
✨ Low energy and low motivation
✨ Vaginal dryness she was not expecting at the North Pole

So she’s wondering…
“Is this menopause? And what am I supposed to do about it?”

Today marks the start of her journey to understand what’s happening inside her body - and how to get the help she deserves.

Follow along with us as Ms. Elf uncovers the real story behind midlife hormones… and finds her way toward support, clarity, and feeling like herself again. ❤️✨

12/10/2025

✨ Join Us for Our Open House - Just 2 Days Away! ✨

We can’t wait to welcome you this Thursday from 4–7 PM at our North Raleigh clinic! Come stop by, say hello, and enjoy a relaxed evening with light treats and drinks as you get to know our team and explore our beautiful space.

We’ll also have some special offerings during the event:
💉 Xeomin for $10/unit
✨ Permanent jewelry by Adventures in Bloom - gorgeous, custom-fit pieces!

Whether you’re curious about our services, want to meet the providers, or just want to enjoy a fun community event, we’d love to see you there. 🤍

We’re excited to meet everyone - bring a friend!

12/03/2025

We are incredibly honored tonight to share that Peri & Pause has been voted Best Healthcare in Fuquay-Varina in the Fuquay-Varina Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural People’s Choice Awards.

This recognition is so meaningful because it was chosen by the people - the women who trust us with their care and those who believe in our mission. Thank you for showing up for us in such a powerful way.

To receive this award less than a year after opening our permanent Fuquay space in May is truly humbling. Every day, we are grateful for the women who walk through our doors, share their stories, and allow us to be part of their journey through midlife and beyond.

Fuquay-Varina has been the perfect home for Peri & Pause, and we could not have imagined launching our clinic anywhere else.

Thank you to the Chamber for creating this new tradition, and thank you to everyone who voted. We are so proud, so grateful, and so honored to serve this incredible community. 💗✨

WRAL Brian Shrader Fuquay-Varina Chamber of Commerce

11/27/2025

Endlessly Grateful …✨
This Thanksgiving, I’m reflecting on the people who make Peri & Pause what it is.

To our incredible nurse practitioners and staff - thank you. Your compassion, your curiosity, your commitment to truly seeing and supporting women… it’s the heartbeat of this practice. You show up with excellence every day, and I’m so proud to grow alongside you.

And to the women who trust us with their stories and their care - thank you for choosing us. Thank you for letting us into your lives, for sharing openly, and for allowing us to walk with you through such a meaningful season of life. Caring for you is an absolute privilege in every way.

Our growth this past year, from expanding into our first space to opening our second, has only been possible because of you. The people. The relationships. The trust.

I am deeply grateful for this community, today and always.
Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Peri & Pause. 🤍🫶🏻.

11/26/2025

For every woman who hasn’t been feeling like herself lately ... we see you.💞

The holidays can be beautiful, meaningful, and full… but they can also magnify how off you’ve been feeling. Fatigue that won’t go away, mood swings, sleep issues, night sweats, anxiety that comes out of nowhere, brain fog, heavy cycles, weight changes - all the things women quietly push through while showing up for everyone else.

But you don’t have to stay in that place.

At Peri & Pause, our team specializes in helping women in midlife understand exactly what’s happening in their bodies and get safe, effective, evidence-based care.
We walk with you through every symptom, every question, every phase - without judgment and without quick-fix fads.

Women often start feeling better within weeks.
More present.
More steady.
More like themselves again.

If you’ve been telling yourself you’ll “wait until things slow down,” or “just get through the holidays,” this is your reminder that you don’t have to wait to feel well. We’re here when you’re ready. 💝

Peri & Pause - The Menopause Center, PLLC - is a midlife women's healthcare center in North Carolina focused on treating the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause with hormonal and non-hormonal evidence-based treatments.

11/25/2025

✨ Honoring the Clinicians Who Show Up for Women Every Day ✨

Sharing Dr. Kelly Casperson’s message of gratitude — and adding our own.

At Peri & Pause, we are in the trenches with midlife women every single day.
We are the boots on the ground.
The curious ones.
The ones who sit with women, hear their stories, study the evidence, tailor treatment with precision, and walk alongside them as they finally feel like themselves again.

We’re not just talking about menopause care — we’re doing the work.
The work of educating.
The work of protecting.
The work of offering safe, effective, individualized treatment based on the latest research, never shortcuts or fads.

Every woman who trusts us, every visit, every conversation… it matters.
And we are honored to care for women and , in doing so, the people who love them…one life-changing appointment at a time.

Here’s to ALL the clinicians out there doing this work — and here’s to the women we show up for, every single day. 🤍

— Peri & Pause, The Menopause Center PLLC

11/22/2025

Super honored to have been interviewed by Spectrum News to discuss the FDA’s removal of the boxed warning on estrogen-containing products. 💞

This is a meaningful moment for women in midlife—and for every clinician who has been fighting to bring evidence-based, nuanced menopause care back into the light. The science has evolved, and it’s encouraging to see regulatory guidance evolve with it.

We're grateful we had the early opportunity to speak on behalf of women in North Carolina and share why safe, individualized hormone therapy matters more than ever. This is exactly the work we’re here to do! 🥰

The FDA removes black box warnings off menopause drugs to make hormone treatment more accessible.

11/22/2025

✨ Book We’re Loving Right Now ✨
If you’re in perimenopause or menopause, please add The Menopause Moment by Dr. Kelly Casperson to your list. 💕

This book does such a fantastic job breaking down:
💫 How your hormones actually work
💫 The real history behind hormone therapy
💫 Why so many women were misinformed for so long
💫 How to understand your body with clarity — not fear

It’s smart, empowering, accessible, and honestly… a breath of fresh air for women in midlife.

If you’ve ever felt confused about your symptoms or your options, this book brings everything together in a way that finally makes sense.

Swipe to see the cover ➡️
Have you read it yet? Tell me what you think! 💛