Danielle McCurdy Coaching

27/10/2026

Booking a menopause appointment? Read this first 👇

ACOG (the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) just rewrote its guidance on menopause symptoms for the first time in more than twelve years. A lot of us were warned off hormone therapy, so here’s what the new guideline actually says.

For hot flashes and night sweats, it strongly recommends hormone therapy if you have no medical reason to avoid it. If you go that route, start before 60 or within 10 years of menopause. It calls the decision a shared one between you and your clinician.

It also says the evidence doesn’t back herbal supplements or soy isoflavones for symptoms, and it covers options beyond hormones, like CBT, mindfulness and exercise.

Guidance depends on where you live. In the UK it comes from NICE and the British Menopause Society, and in the U.S. it comes from ACOG. They differ in places, so treat this as a way into the conversation with your doctor, not the final word.

The question to take with you to your appointment is: “Given my age, my history and where I am in peri/menopause, is hormone therapy worth discussing for me?”

Comment below if this is helpful as you book your next appointment.

Save it, and send it to a friend who’s booking one, too.

Ref:

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Management of menopause-related vasomotor, sleep, and mood symptoms. Clinical Practice Guideline No. 13. Obstet Gynecol. 2026;148:e345-e369.

NICE. Menopause: Identification and management (NG23). Last updated 15 April 2026. nice.org.uk/guidance/ng23

British Menopause Society update. EMJ Reproductive Health, August 2026.

14/10/2026

Overwhelmed by all the perimenopause advice? Start with these five habits.

Sleep, protein, whole foods, movement and stress. It is a baseline strategy you can build on, whatever else you decide to do with your doctor.

Save it for the next time your feed tells you to do forty things at once, and send it to a friend who needs a starting point.

References (all on PubMed):
1. Lobato et al. Perimenopause and metabolic vulnerability. Climacteric 2026. doi:10.1080/13697137.2026.2713394
2. Xu et al. Subjective sleep disturbance and menopause, systematic review and meta-analysis. Menopause 2014. doi:10.1097/GME.0000000000000240
3. Constantino et al. Blue-enriched light on sleep and activity in older adults. GeroScience 2025. doi:10.1007/s11357-025-01506-y
4. Harris et al. Protein and aging: practicalities and practice. Nutrients 2025. doi:10.3390/nu17152461
5. Gardiner et al. The effect of caffeine on subsequent sleep. Sleep Med Rev 2023. doi:10.1016/j.smrv.2023.101764
6. Dai et al. Ultra-processed foods and human health, umbrella review. Clin Nutr 2024. doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2024.04.016
7. Paluch et al. Daily steps and all-cause mortality, 15 cohorts. Lancet Public Health 2022. doi:10.1016/S2468-2667(21)00302-9
8. Bonfadini et al. Mindfulness-based interventions on mental health in natural menopause. Front Glob Womens Health 2026. doi:10.3389/fgwh.2026.1830813

14/10/2026

So you woke up one day suddenly in perimenopause and now everyone’s got a list for you: Cold plunge, sauna, fourteen supplements…. Start with five basics: sleep, protein, real food, walking and rest.

Send this to the friend who’s struggling with where to start.

14/10/2026

“Too young” at 41. “Just stress” at 44. Somewhere along the way, you stopped mentioning it.

You’re allowed to keep asking.

Send this to the friend who stopped bringing it up.

13/10/2026

A few months ago I was still in the thick of menopause symptoms (and not in a positive way).

Two years of weight gain, fatigue and chronic migraines, a hit to my earnings, and not being able to show up for my girls the way I always have.

What helped then and now: getting my HRT dialled in (it took over a year of tweaking with my doctors and being the squeaky wheel), using my DNA to point me toward what else to investigate, protecting my sleep, cutting back on processed sugar, cooking again, strength training, yoga, and learning how to rest. I can now spot my burnout patterns and call them ahead of time.

If you’re in the thick of it right now, please don’t give up. Keep advocating for yourself the way you would for your child. You deserve the same level of care as your babies, no matter how old they are.

Want to read the full story? Comment REBUILD and I’ll send you the link to my Substack.

12/10/2026

In perimenopause AND bloated and anxious? Please don’t let anyone tell you it’s just stress.

In one UK survey, 77% of women reported bloating. In a Canadian study of 1,800+ women, nearly 1 in 5 in perimenopause had moderate to severe anxiety.

Researchers are now looking at how the gut and anxiety connect at this stage.

Save this for your next appointment, and tell me in the comments: Is bloating on your perimenopause list?

12/10/2026

20/09/2026

2 years of trying things that didn’t fit my body: One-size-fits-all formulas, side effects, consultations that were demeaning and symptom-chasing.

What shifted first? Personalisation through the lens of my DNA markers.

From there: The correct HRT combo (for me), dosing that was adjusted from 6 years ago, and finally …supplements that match my physiological needs (so they’re actually helping).

I now have mornings where I wake up feeling like myself again. After two years of getting progressively worse.

The gratitude is like never before. 🙌🏻

If you’re waiting to feel normal again, you’re not alone. Let’s talk getting you your genes.

DM me TEST 🧬

14/09/2026

At 25 I thought failure was not getting the grade or the promotion. I collected accomplishments like trophies and let them tell me what I was worth.

My forties took away the time and the energy to chase any of it, and I spent years convinced that made me a failure.

I had no idea perimenopause had anything to do with it.

I’ve written the whole thing down, including the part I’m least proud of, which is how long I spent quietly stepping back from things I actually wanted.

Comment STORY and I’ll send you the link.

15/05/2026

You miss wanting to want it. 🫦

I hear this all the time and what matters is that there’s a reason for it that has nothing to do with your relationship.

Comment SPARK below and I’ll send you the guide. 👇