The Functional Pharmacist

The Functional Pharmacist I talk about the health stuff no one explains. Energy, brain fog, gut issues, hormones, and more. Follow for clarity.

I'm a Pharmacist, a mom of 2, wife, and pharmacy owner. My passion has always been helping others through my work in pharmacy. Over the last 5 years, my approach has drastically changed. Early on, my role in healthcare was to educate and counsel patients about their prescribed medication at our local pharmacy. While I loved providing education, I always felt there was more that I could do. I hated

seeing 1 medication lead to 5 medications and many times my patients never felt any better. This lead me to studying functional medicine and learning how food, supplements, nutrients, hormones, and lifestyle play a major role in health. I am inspired by my patients who made drastic transformations to their overall health. In addition, I experienced what a healthy lifestyle and the right supplement plan did for me. Shifting the focus of my career to functional medicine and helping people achieve balanced health has brought an intensity to my practice to help as many people as I can.

A lot of women are told brain fog is just part of getting older.But if the brain changes started around the same season ...
06/05/2026

A lot of women are told brain fog is just part of getting older.

But if the brain changes started around the same season as the sleep disruption, night sweats, cycle changes, anxiety, cholesterol jump, blood sugar changes, or migraines…

I would want that whole pattern on the table.

Not because every symptom points to Alzheimer’s.

Because women are carrying more of the Alzheimer’s burden, and menopause is one of the brain transitions we have historically under-discussed.

This is not about making women scared.

It is about not dismissing the early clues their body has been giving them.

Swipe through this one if your brain started feeling different in midlife and nobody has connected it to the bigger picture yet.

A lot of women are being handed the same weight-loss advice they were given in their 30s.Eat less. Move more. Try the me...
05/23/2026

A lot of women are being handed the same weight-loss advice they were given in their 30s.

Eat less. Move more. Try the medication. Be more consistent.

But what happens when your sleep changed, your cravings changed, your belly weight changed, and your body does not feel like it is playing by the same rules anymore?

That is why this Mayo Clinic-led study matters.

It does not give one simple answer for every woman. It does give us a better conversation.

I broke it down in the slides.

PCOS has a new name: PMOS.And the biggest takeaway is not the name itself.It is the shift away from making cysts the cen...
05/20/2026

PCOS has a new name: PMOS.

And the biggest takeaway is not the name itself.

It is the shift away from making cysts the center of the conversation.

For many women, the symptoms have always been broader: hormones, metabolism, skin, cycles, fertility, blood sugar, and long-term health.

If you have ever been told everything looked fine because your ultrasound was normal, this update matters.

One of the strangest things researchers found about perimenopause?A lot of women don’t actually struggle to FALL asleep....
05/14/2026

One of the strangest things researchers found about perimenopause?

A lot of women don’t actually struggle to FALL asleep.

They struggle to STAY asleep.

Meaning:
you can be exhausted, all asleep immediately, then suddenly wake up at 3:17AM completely alert like your brain clocked into another shift.

A 2024 menopause review found that the most common sleep complaint during perimenopause wasn’t sleep onset insomnia.

It was frequent nighttime awakenings and increased awake time after falling asleep.

That’s why so many women say during consultations that "I can fall asleep fine, but I can’t stay asleep anymore and once I’m awake, my brain starts spiraling."

Another interesting part?

Researchers are now looking at how cortisol patterns change during menopause transitions, especially around early morning waking hours. Some studies found altered cortisol awakening responses in peri- and postmenopausal women with sleep symptoms.

Which is wild because cortisol naturally starts rising around 3-4 AM to prepare your body to wake up.

So if your nervous system is already more sensitive from hormone fluctuations, that tiny cortisol rise can feel like somebody hit the ON switch in your brain.

Eyes open.
Heart racing.
Suddenly thinking about:

- your to-do list
- your health
- random embarrassing moments from 2009
- whether you replied to that email

Meanwhile everyone keeps telling women: try melatonin. But fragmented sleep during perimenopause is often way deeper than a basic sleep supplement problem.

Night sweats and cravings can feel like two separate problems.But in perimenopause, they may be part of a bigger pattern...
05/12/2026

Night sweats and cravings can feel like two separate problems.

But in perimenopause, they may be part of a bigger pattern.

If you are waking up hot, needing sugar to get through the day, sleeping worse, or noticing belly changes, it may be time to look beyond estrogen alone.

Your metabolism may be part of the conversation.

Source: Athar et al., The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2026.

If poor sleep keeps turning into cravings, low energy, and more coffee the next day, don’t ignore the pattern.Your body ...
05/08/2026

If poor sleep keeps turning into cravings, low energy, and more coffee the next day, don’t ignore the pattern.

Your body may be asking for a deeper look.

Comment “SLEEP” and I’ll send you the first steps.

Only 5 people will get it.

Many women don’t realize they’re entering a new hormonal season because they’re still having regular periods.So they sta...
05/04/2026

Many women don’t realize they’re entering a new hormonal season because they’re still having regular periods.

So they start looking for explanations elsewhere.

Maybe it’s work.
Maybe it’s parenting.
Maybe it’s poor sleep.
Maybe it’s just aging.
Maybe they’re not trying hard enough.

But perimenopause can begin quietly. And sometimes the first noticeable change is not your cycle, it’s your ability to tolerate stress, recover from demands, and feel regulated in your own body.

That does not mean stress is not real. It means your body’s response to stress may be changing.

This is why education matters. When women understand what perimenopause can actually look like, they can stop blaming themselves and start asking better questions.

If this sounds familiar, start paying attention to patterns: sleep, mood, caffeine tolerance, PMS changes, recovery time, and how your body responds after stressful days.

You’re tired all day.You finally get into bed.Then somehow… you’re wide awake again at 3 AM.If that keeps happening, ple...
04/30/2026

You’re tired all day.
You finally get into bed.
Then somehow… you’re wide awake again at 3 AM.

If that keeps happening, please stop assuming it’s just a “bad sleep” problem.

Middle-of-the-night waking can be a clue.

And the reason may not be what you think.

A lot of sleep advice focuses on helping you fall asleep.
But staying asleep is a different conversation.

That’s exactly why I put together a guidebook on this.

Inside, I break down:

- why you may be waking up at night
- what patterns to pay attention to
- what could be contributing beneath the surface
- and what to start with first

Comment “SLEEP” and I’ll send it to you.

04/29/2026

This is something I wish more women were told:

Not every sleep issue should be treated like a melatonin deficiency.

If your sleep suddenly became lighter, more interrupted, or unpredictable in your late 30s, 40s, or early 50s, it may be worth looking beyond bedtime habits.

Many women are doing “all the right things”:

They stop caffeine early.
They dim the lights.
They take magnesium.
They use melatonin.
They follow a routine.

But they still wake up around 2–4AM feeling wired, restless, hot, anxious, or wide awake.

That does not mean they are failing at sleep.

It may mean their body is going through a transition that needs to be understood more clearly.

Perimenopause can affect sleep through hormone shifts, cortisol rhythm, blood sugar stability, stress resilience, and nervous system regulation.

So instead of only asking, “What can I take to sleep?”

We should also be asking, “Why is my body waking me up?”

That question changes everything.

04/25/2026

One reason perimenopause gets missed is because a lot of women are still having periods, so they assume what they’re feeling must be stress, aging, or just a bad season.

But perimenopause happens before periods fully stop, and it can show up as sleep disruption, more irritability, more anxiety, and problems with memory or concentration.

The NHS says a change in your usual period pattern is often the first sign, and ACOG says about 4 in 10 women have mood symptoms during perimenopause that are similar to PMS.

That means waking at 3 AM, forgetting simple words, and feeling much less patient than usual can absolutely be part of a bigger hormone pattern. What to do: write down what’s changing and when.

Look for cycle changes, middle-of-the-night waking, night sweats, mood shifts, and brain fog. If it’s affecting daily life, that is enough reason to bring it up.

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