Kirsten Sweeney Naturopath

08/08/2026

I didn’t ease into menopause… I was thrown straight into it.

A hysterectomy.
Medical menopause.
And a body I suddenly didn’t recognise.

This is my story and why I became so passionate about educating women about this transition …

02/08/2026

29/07/2026

🌿 Wild Yam doesn’t turn into progesterone so how does it help your hormones? 👀

Wild Yam contains diosgenin a plant compound with a structural similarity to steroid compounds.

While your body doesn’t directly convert diosgenin into progesterone, Wild Yam is traditionally used in women’s herbal formulas to support the body’s natural hormone pathways and provide support during times of hormonal change.

🌸 Vitex (Chaste Tree)works differently. It has traditionally been used to support menstrual cycle health, PMS, menstrual discomfort and symptoms associated with hormonal changes

Together, Wild Yam and Vitex are used in herbal medicine to support women as their hormones naturally shift particularly during the perimenopause and menopause transition

✨it’s about supporting your body’s own systems

Want to know more about Anna’s wild yam cream and how it may support you?

Send me a DM and I’ll tell you more

22/07/2026

When things change inside you, things change around you.

Sometimes the biggest transformation isn’t about changing your life… it’s about changing you.

When you start listening to your body, supporting your hormones, prioritising your health and finally putting yourself back on the list everything starts to shift.

Your energy
Your confidence
Your relationships
Your boundaries
Your choices
Your outlook on life.

You stop accepting what drains you and start choosing what nourishes you.

Midlife isn’t the end of who you were.

It can be the beginning of becoming the woman you’ve always been underneath all the noise.

When you change from the inside out, your whole world can start to look different.

HormoneHealth MidlifeTransformatio

21/07/2026

Because in your 40s, your nervous system doesn’t always give you a polite little warning before it flips the table. 🙃

One minute you’re answering emails, making dinner, trying to remember why you walked into the laundry… and the next, someone breathes too loudly and suddenly your body is reacting like you’re in a full-blown hostage situation. 😂

Sound familiar?

This is why nervous system regulation becomes SO important during perimenopause and midlife.

As your hormones fluctuate, your nervous system can become more sensitive to stress. Sleep can become more fragile, blood sugar can be more reactive, and your ability to cope with the everyday demands of life can feel like it has suddenly disappeared.

And by “disappeared,” I mean your patience may now be hanging on by one very tiny hormonal thread. 😬

The goal isn’t to never feel stressed, irritated, overwhelmed or overstimulated. That’s not realistic.

The goal is to help your body move out of stress mode and back into a state of calm and regulation so you can respond rather than constantly react.

And honestly, it often starts with the basics that we tend to overlook:

☀️ Get morning light
🥚 Eat enough protein and keep blood sugar steady
😮‍💨 Take a pause before reacting
🌬️ Try slow breathing with a longer exhale
🚶‍♀️ Get outside and move your body
🏋️‍♀️ Build strength with resistance training
😴 Prioritise sleep (because five hours is NOT a personality trait 😂)

Your nervous system is not separate from your hormones, metabolism, sleep or mental wellbeing.

It is all connected.

And when you start supporting your nervous system, you may find that midlife feels a whole lot more manageable.

Because your 40s are challenging enough without your nervous system running the group chat. 😂

20/07/2026

Grip Strength Is Part of My Healthy Ageing Test in Menopause

It might sound surprising, but grip strength is about so much more than your hands.

As a naturopath, this is one of the healthy ageing markers I pay attention to in menopause because lower grip strength is associated with an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia later in life. Why? Because grip strength is a powerful marker of overall muscle mass, brain health, nervous system function, inflammation, and healthy ageing.

During perimenopause and menopause, falling oestrogen can accelerate muscle loss (sarcopenia), making strength training more important than ever.

💪 Want to protect your brain? Start by protecting your muscles.

Here’s what I recommend:
✔️ Strength train 2–3 times per week
✔️ Eat 25–30g of protein at each meal
✔️ Stay active every day
✔️ Prioritise sleep and recovery
✔️ Check vitamin D and optimise your metabolic health

Menopause isn’t just about managing hot flushes about building a body and brain that stay strong for decades to come.

Strong muscles. Strong brain. Strong future! Have you ever tested your grip strength?
StrengthTraining HealthyAgeing WomensHealth MuscleIsMedicine Health4Menopause

19/07/2026

20 Perimenopause Symptoms That Are Constantly Dismissed...

Itchy ears for absolutely no reason
Randomly smelling cigarette smoke when no one’s smoking
Skin so dry it could start a fire
A s*x drive that packed up and moved to another country
Headaches that show up uninvited
Periods that have completely lost the plot
Chin hairs sprouting like they’re training for a beard
B***s that are suddenly swollen and angry
Gums that bleed for no obvious reason
Sensory overload because someone is breathing too loudly
Hair thinning everywhere you want it... except your chin
Forgetting words halfway through a sentence
Random dizziness that comes out of nowhere
Waking up at 3am without a warrant
Lying awake for hours wondering if sleep has left you forever
Weight gain that ignores every healthy thing you’re doing
That creepy crawling sensation on your skin
A superhuman sense of smell... that nobody asked for Bloating that makes you look six months pregnant
Joints so sore you feel like you’ve been hit by a bus

If you’ve ever thought, “Surely this can’t be perimenopause...”you’re not alone

Perimenopause is so much more than hot flushes and mood swings. Hormonal changes can affect your brain, skin, joints, gut, sleep, senses, and just about every system in your body.

You are not imagining it, and you’re certainly not the only one experiencing these symptoms

Which one caught you completely off guard? Or what would you add to the list?

18/07/2026

If brain fog, hot flushes, poor sleep, low energy or stubborn weight gain are still hanging around... don’t ignore them.
Menopause is a transition, not a sentence
You deserve to understand why you’re feeling this way and what you can do about it. 💛