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M-brace The Change

There's a lot more to menopause than hot flushes! We're here for all of it, for everyone...

The Legal Bit…

Any information or guidance we provide is not a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of your doctor or healthcare provider. You must not rely on any information or guidance we provide you with as an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or healthcare provider and we expressly disclaim all responsibility, and shall have no liability, for any

damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered by you or any third party as a result of your reliance on any information or guidance we provide you with. If you have any specific questions or concerns about any medical matter, you should consult your doctor or healthcare provider as soon as possible. If you think you may be suffering from any medical condition, you should seek immediate medical attention from your healthcare provider. Do not delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice or discontinue medical treatment because of information or guidance we provide you with. Nothing in this disclaimer will limit or exclude any liability that may not be limited or excluded by applicable law.

21/01/2026

Aaaaahhh, new year, same bobbins. 🙃
Here's it is, the latest utterly batsh*t marketing ploy to fleece menopausal people... yes, the thing you're all waiting for to fix your symptoms...

MENOPAUSE HOUMOUS!

Oh, if only this had been available before!! Next in their range, expect to see Testicle Health Taramasalata, and Prostate Pasta. Because bollock-havers ought not to be left out of this obscene targeting...

See, you don't need added floorsweepings in your dips, any more than you need knicker magnets, meno-chocolate, or meno-flipping-anything. You don't need condescending marketers and retailers telling you that a magic tick means that something works (it's meaningless patronising drivel, for the avoidance of doubt). You certainly do not need any more misinformation and general bobbins spinning around menopause.

Get yourself some proper guidance from properly qualified menopause trained healthcare professionals. That doesn't come in a bottle, nor in a flipping houmous container!

Yes, that guidance can be hard to come by, and we still need to make noise at the right people to make things change. Even now, and we get it, it's exhausting! But things are not going to change if we don't push forward to make that change, nor if we don't push back against this meno-marketing scourge.

We can do it. We can M-brace the change...

🙂❤️

20/12/2025

🥳🎄M-BRACE ADVENT CALENDAR 🎄🥳
..and it's all about what the jiggins to do if you mess up your HRT over the festive break...

☃️ If you forget a dose and are just a few hours late, don't panic! Just take your usual dose when you remember. If you're a bit late it shouldn't make much difference.

🎄If you totally forget and miss a day, DON'T double up on the next day. Just pretend you didn't forget and carry on as normal. That relates to oestrogen, progesterone, and testosterone!

🥂 If you forgot to change your patch when it was due, change it as soon as you can. A little bit late should be fine. Just carry on with your normal patch change schedule as usual. Patches slow-release hormones, so you won't have a 'peak and trough' situation cos of a slightly late change.

❄️ If you run out of HRT (in the UK) or you've gone away and left it at home, don't panic! And don't think you've stuffed it and will have to wait till doctors surgeries reopen after Christmas. Pharmacists will generally help with an emergency supply...

Go online at NHS 111 and follow the link for emergency prescriptions, who will link you up with a local, open pharmacy, or drop in to a local pharmacy and ask for help. Take any packaging from your medication or old prescriptions along to the pharmacist if you can, this will help confirm the details of what you need.

☃️🎄💖

17/12/2025

🎄🎅M-BRACE ADVENT CALENDAR🎅🎄

Today's Advent Calendar snippet has some good news for you 😊

Most of us are here in this corner of the Internet because our peri/menopause is a bit of a nightmare - or at least it has been! Yes, it can feel horrible and it can be flipping scary, but for most people, symptoms tend to improve a lot once you reach postmenopause and hormones settle down a bit 🙂

It's also not guaranteed that peri/menopause will be hideous! Around 25% of us will struggle with symptoms and need some medical support, about 50% will have noticeable symptoms and probably benefit from medical support with those, and roughly 25% will have a relatively easy time of it with less noticeable, more easily managed symptoms.

The average age of postmenopause beginning is 51. You can check out the definitions and explanations of the different stages of menopause in one of our previous Advent Calendar posts.

Adding things like a good nutritious diet and exercise to your toolkit, and taking time for yourself to avoid stress as much as possible helps with feeling more on top of things, either with or without HRT. Our M-brace book's got loads of evidence-based information and tips in it to help you build your own toolkit.

Some people's symptoms do continue postmenopause, but for most things become more manageable and you may eventually find that you can adjust and perhaps reduce HRT accordingly. You can also stay on HRT for as long as the benefits outweigh the risks: there is no set time limit, contrary to what a good number of people still mistakenly believe!

Many of us will spend almost half if not more of our lives in postmenopause: It *can* be the best time of our lives!

🎄😊🎄

16/12/2025

❄️🎄M-BRACE ADVENT CALENDAR 🎄❄️

Ah yes, it's the most magical time of the year! And there's *always* plenty of myths and 'magic' around menopause, whatever time of year it is...So here's one of our 'favourite' myths, busted:

“Put these magnets in your knickers and they’ll fix all your symptoms!”

Look, sorry, but magnets in your knickers or anywhere else about your person are not going to do it. They ain’t it, and they won’t ever be. What they will do is attract cutlery and shopping trolleys, and if your guinea pig eats one by mistake it will stick it to the fridge.

As with all the woo that’s sprung up around
menopause, you’ll always come across some folk who swear by said woo, and good for them. Placebo effect is a proven thing. But seriously, forty odd quid (or more) for a m**f magnet isn’t the most cost-effective way to trick yourself that your hormones are being affected in any way, shape, or form…

If you're looking for a magical gift this year, then take menopause magnets off that list!

🙂❤️

13/12/2025

🥳☃️ M-BRACE ADVENT CALENDAR ☃️🥳

Today's Advent Calendar window has a special treat!

CHRISTMAS CHOCOLATE! Yes, it is true, chocolate is good for you! Now, that tub of Quality Street ain't it, and definitely not Ph***ic Santa, but good quality dark chocolate, with a minimum of 85% cacao is actually good for you!

Now, don't go crackers and hoover up 95% of your calorific intake from choccies - like all good fun things, moderation is best. But if you’re getting chocs, or anyone's buying them for you for Christmas (or any time!) then the 85% good stuff is what you need... and no, 'Menopause Chocolate' is absolutely not going to do a thing for you, contrary to what the absolute dinguses marketing that would have you believe! 😅

☃️🥳☃️

11/12/2025

🎉🎄 M-BRACE ADVENT CALENDAR 🎄🎉

🥂Cheers! And also, maybe bleurgh...

You might have already found out that alcohol doesn't seem to agree with you anymore. That said, many people find their alcohol consumption creeping up when they’re trying to cope with menopause. Put these two things together, and it's potentially a cocktail recipe for disaster.

Alcohol tolerance decreases as we age, and it takes the body longer to break it down. Alcohol also has an impact on the body’s ability to metabolise oestrogen, and those levels are already fluctuating during peri/menopause.

Some risks of certain conditions can also be increased by drinking more than a moderate amount of alcohol, including breast cancer, osteoporosis, and depression. It can also make menopause symptoms worse, particularly vasomotor symptoms (hot flushes and night sweats).

To keep a check on your drinking, it can be helpful to 'think and drink' in terms of alcohol units. The general advice from the UK’s Chief Medical Officers is not to have more than 14 units of alcohol each week. That’s about a bottle and half of wine or five to six pints of standard-strength beer or cider. It’s a good idea to spread that out over the week and to take a few days off alcohol each week too.

If you're planning on a bit of a session, then don't forget to intersperse your drinks with some water to keep your hydration levels up. Hardly groundbreaking information, but it's flipping useful *and* easy to forget! Ask us how we know... 😃 Oh, and eating is NOT cheating: get some food into you and avoid drinking on an empty stomach. Again, hardly groundbreaking advice, but...

So by all means, do enjoy a festive tipple! But bear in mind that you will have better sleep, more energy and improved health through drinking less alcohol or drinking a bit more thoughtfully... 🥂🎄🙂

09/12/2025

🥳🎄M-BRACE ADVENT CALENDAR 🎄🥳

Today's Advent Calendar window is a bit bleeuurgh 🤮

Nausea and sickness is a fairly common symptom in perimenopause, ranging from full on psychedelic shouting to gagging if a toothbrush goes anywhere near your mouth 🫣

It's caused by fluctuations in hormone levels, and does often improve with HRT, but there are other things that you can do to alleviate it.

Making sure that your blood sugar stays stable often helps - so if you can eat something quite 'carby' in the evening that may make a difference. A little bedtime biccy might also help.

Staying hydrated is always a good idea, and it does make a difference to nausea symptoms for loads of people - so please do drink enough water if nausea is a problem!

In the morning, try not to rush, and give yourself enough time to come round when you awake. Some peeps find that ginger biscuits help at this point, and some peeps find that smelling fresh cut lemon can be helpful too...

We know from experience how difficult and stubborn this symptom can be - holding down a demanding full-time job with a long commute is not fun if you struggle with this symptom. If you have an understanding employer (or indeed if you are the employer!) you might want to arrange more flexible working hours to allow for the mornings/days when you're feeling wretched...

Through the festive period, avoiding fatty and/or spicy foods at night might be helpful, and try to avoid too many egg nogs of an evening. Anything heavy on your stomach and digestion is more likely to have you running to shout at Baby Jesus' dad on the porcelain phone!

In related news: Alcohol tolerance is often affected by the hormonal shifts through perimenopause and beyond, so please do be careful not to overdo your festive tipples!

🎄❄️🎄

05/12/2025

🧀🥳M-BRACE ADVENT CALENDAR 🥳🧀

One of the most common things that menopausal people notice is weight gain. It can be an early indicator of things starting to change...

There are whole industries built upon this common menopausal symptom! There could be several reasons why you’re gaining weight – but one of those reasons might be that your day-to-day stresses, sleep disruption, and that hormonal changes are upping your body’s production of something called cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that plays a part in regulating a whole load of processes in the body – including metabolism and your immune response…

Running about trying to juggle too many things, grabbing a quick bite to eat on the hoof, poor sleep, not taking care of your needs, can all contribute to your craving sweet foods and if this is happening regularly it will contribute to slowly build fat around the waist – the Meno-belly as it’s known in some quarters. It’s
very hard to shift through diet and exercise alone. Our M-brace book's chapter, Menopause Nutrition is a must read if you’re affected by this.

Many women with this type of weight gain then go on a strict diet, which will cause big dips in blood sugar levels making them crave more sugary foods. Welcome to the Diet Carousel, an ongoing ride, round and round, with ups and
downs in body weight, feeling dizzy, and not actually having that much fun!

Weight loss is not that common in the menopause, but it does happen in some people – it’s connected with your individual constitution and hormone balance. If you feel that you have lost your appetite, make sure that you are still eating a well-balanced diet. Your nutritional needs increase at this time so if you are not eating well, your symptoms may worsen. Fad diets and quick fixes are not going to help in the medium to long term.

Importantly, if your weight gain/loss seems sudden and unexplained do get this checked out by your doctor.

🥳❤️

04/12/2025

🌟❄️M-BRACE ADVENT CALENDAR ❄️🌟

🎶Ding d**g not so merrily tonight,
My ears are flipping ringing! 🎶

Yep, a lesser known possible menopause symptom is tinnitus, and it's thought that one possible link between tinnitus and menopause is hormonal changes.

During peri/menopause, levels of oestrogen and progesterone fluctuate and decline. This can affect the auditory system and potentially contribute to tinnitus. Oestrogen has been shown to play a role in the development and maintenance of auditory pathways in the brain, so a decline in oestrogen levels may contribute to tinnitus. The sleep disruption often associated with peri/menopause can also contribute to tinnitus, as can stress and anxiety.

As with any new or worsened symptoms, if you’re affected by this please do see your doctor and agree effective and safe treatment. Just because something might be a menopause symptom, it doesn't necessarily indicate that it *is* and there may be other underlying issues that need investigation.

So if you're noticing ringing or whining sounds in your ears, or finding your hearing ain't what it used to be, go get some medical advice...

🙂🌟❤️

03/12/2025

⭐️🎄 M-BRACE THE CHANGE ADVENT CALENDAR 🎄⭐️

It's that time of year again, when a seasonal reminder wouldn't go amiss...

'Tis the season to be jolly, apparently. But what if you're really NOT jolly, and you're feeling decidedly under the weather and overwhelmed by *gestures at everything*?

The festivities at this time of year can be tricky to deal with for all sorts of reasons, but for some of us going through peri/menopause they can be even more challenging.

While the menopause isn’t a mental health condition as such, it can affect your mental health. Hormone changes during the menopause can sometimes make existing mental health conditions worse, as well as seemingly hastening new challenges.

Depression and anxiety and all their little goblin friends are really quite common, and some may find that using an antidepressant alongside other treatments (including HRT) is helpful.

If you're finding yourself affected by these types of symptoms, it's really important to consult a properly qualified healthcare professional on the best course of action and treatment. Please don't be tempted to buy unregulated 'over the counter products' as a supposed 'quick fix'. You really should talk to someone who's properly trained and qualified to help you.

We often talk about the importance of self-care and going easy on yourself, so take this as another reminder to do that, particularly at this time of year!

🙂☃️❤️

02/12/2025

🎄❄️M-BRACE ADVENT CALENDAR❄️🎄

For today's window, here's a hormone thing:

As our ovaries shut down and we go into perimenopause, three main hormones are affected. Although most peri/menopause symptoms are due to fluctuating and declining oestrogen levels, progesterone and testosterone are affected too and this can often cause noticeable symptoms. There are lots of potential symptoms when it comes to peri/menopause, and every menopause is unique.

Progesterone levels are usually the first to start to fall. It has a role in monthly menstrual cycles and in pregnancy, and some people find its influence is calming and supports good sleep. So, when progesterone starts to deplete, sleep can be disrupted and mood affected.

Alongside these changes, oestrogen levels begin to fluctuate and these swings in oestrogen levels can be dramatic. Many of the
recognised symptoms of perimenopause are caused by these fluctuations, although because of the wide range it can be difficult to make the connection, particularly where symptoms sometimes overlap with other possible causes.

Some people might find that these symptoms make life very difficult, some might find them annoying and bothersome, whilst roughly 25% of people will sail through the stages of menopause with nary a sweat broken and little to no symptoms at all. It’s not a foregone conclusion that your menopause experience
will be a horrible one! Symptoms can come and go during perimenopause, as hormones do their thing – some might seem to fade away only to return weeks or months later…

Gold, frankincense, and myrrh levels are unaffected...🙂

🎄❄️🎄

For evidence-based information all in one place, no matter where you are on your journey, our Big Bumper Book Of M-brace is super helpful! You can get yours in our M-brace support groups here on Facebook...

01/12/2025

❄️🎉🎄DAY ONE OF OUR M-BRACE ADVENT CALENDAR! 🎄🎉❄️

To get us started on the run up to Christmas, here's some basic information about the different stages associated with menopause status:

PREMENOPAUSE - From puberty until hormones start to have a wobble and decline

PERIMENOPAUSE - Hormone levels fluctuate/decline. Symptoms start in this stage

MENOPAUSE - One year since your last period (if you have them). This refers to a single day

POSTMENOPAUSE - Everything after that (from one year and one day after your last period if you have them), symptoms might settle, or they might continue...

In our M-brace groups, we often use peri/menopause when we're referring to either/or, or the whole process of menopause.

If you don't have periods, then you might not really know where you're at. So long as your symptoms aren't troublesome and you're protecting your future health on your chosen treatment path, it doesn't really matter y'know...
🙂❤

For evidence-based information all in one place, no matter where you are on your journey, our Big Bumper Book Of M-brace is super helpful! You can get yours in our M-brace support groups here on Facebook...

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