Hi Reader,
Nobody warned me that perimenopause starts in the gut.
Not my OB. Not Google. Not the Facebook groups I was scrolling at 2am trying to make sense of why I was sweating through my sheets, snapping at strangers, and gaining weight around my middle despite eating the same way I had for years.
Let me tell you about a woman I'll call Irene.
Irene was 47 when she first reached out to me, convinced she was "just getting old."
Each time she talked to her doctor, she walked out with the same answer: your labs are "within normal range," this is just perimenopause, here's a pamphlet.
She had hot flashes that ambushed her in the middle of meetings.
Bloating so bad she'd stopped tucking in her shirts.
A brain fog so thick she'd find herself standing in the middle of the kitchen, coffee in hand, completely forgetting why she walked in.
She'd fall asleep fine and then wake at 3am, heart pounding, mind racing, unable to get back to sleep.
Irene had done everything she thought she was supposed to do.
She'd tried a hormone cream her friend recommended.
She'd gone through a month of eating "cleaner."
She did a detox.
She'd bought supplements from the health food store and taken them faithfully for six weeks.
The flashes, the fog, the weight, the sleeplessness all continued.
"I feel like my body just decided to betray me," she told me on our first call, her voice breaking a little. I don't even recognize myself anymore."
Friend, if you've ever said something close to those words — even just in your own head — I want you to keep reading.
Because what nobody had told Irene, and what I want to share with you today, changed everything for her.
Here's what the research is showing us:
Your gut microbiome — the trillions of bacteria living in your digestive tract — plays a direct role in how your body processes and recycles estrogen.
Scientists have a name for the specific community of gut bacteria responsible for this: the estrobolome.
When the estrobolome is healthy and diverse, it helps regulate how much estrogen circulates in your body.
But here's where it gets important for women in perimenopause.
As estrogen levels naturally decline, research has found that the gut microbiome also changes — often becoming less diverse.
Less diversity in the gut can mean that estrogen isn't being metabolized properly.
This can contribute to a cascade of symptoms that look and feel hormonal — because they are — but are being driven, at least in part, by what's happening in the gut.
Hot flashes.
Mood instability.
Stubborn mid-section weight gain.
Disrupted sleep.
Brain fog.
Sound familiar?
For Irene, this was the missing piece.
We weren't just dealing with her hormones.
We were dealing with her gut — and once we started there, everything else began to shift.
Proverbs 3:5-8 (ESV) says:
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones."
Healing to your flesh. Refreshment to your bones.
I love that God doesn't separate the spiritual from the physical here.
He speaks to the body — the actual, tired, aching, bloated, sleepless body — and calls it worthy of healing and refreshment.
You are not broken.
Your body is not betraying you.
It is speaking to you.
And there is a path forward — one that honors both your biology and your faith.
Great - but how?
I'm opening a very small, intimate group coaching experience this April, running through June.
Twelve weeks. Only six women.
We're going to go deep on perimenopause and menopause symptoms — specifically through the lens of gut healing — with a whole-person, faith-integrated approach. This includes lab work and a personalized meal plan.
This will be the lowest investment I have ever offered (and will ever offer) for this level of support, because I want to make it genuinely accessible.
And once those six spots are filled, that's it.
If something in this email made you think "that sounds like me" — I want to hear from you.
Just hit reply and I'll tell you more about the group so you can decide if it's the right fit.
With love and belief in your healing,
Andrea DuMez, RN, CHN, NBC-HWC
Registered Nurse | Holistic Nutritionist | Integrative Health Coach | Certified Metabolic Balance Coach
P.S.
Irene?
By month two of addressing her gut health, her hot flashes had dropped from 8-10 per day to 2-3.She told me she'd slept six hours straight for the first time in over a year. The brain fog? Lifting.
Your story can change too.
