You don’t feel like yourself.
Let’s start there.

Perimenopause is the transition leading up to menopause, when ovarian hormone patterns change. It can last several years. Menopause is usually recognized after 12 months without a period, when there is no other explanation. Perimenopause describes a transition, not a single hormone result.

Further reading: National Institute on Aging: What is menopause?

Yes. Periods can continue during perimenopause, even while their timing or flow changes. A symptom and cycle record can help you describe the pattern at a visit. New or unusual bleeding still deserves assessment rather than being automatically attributed to hormones.

Further reading: Office on Women’s Health: Menopause symptoms and relief

Changes in periods, hot flashes, night sweats, disrupted sleep, mood changes, trouble concentrating, and vaginal or urinary discomfort can occur. Not everyone has every symptom. Similar experiences can have other explanations, so the useful question is both ‘Could this be perimenopause?’ and ‘What else needs attention?’

Further reading: Office on Women’s Health: Menopause symptoms and relief

Timing varies. The transition often begins in the 40s and can continue for several years. A new change in your cycle or wellbeing is worth discussing at any age. Symptoms or loss of periods before 40 need a specific evaluation rather than an assumption that this is the usual midlife transition.

Further reading: National Institute on Aging: What is menopause? · NICE: Identifying perimenopause and menopause

Night sweats and changing sleep patterns can play a part, but the hour you wake does not identify a hormone problem. Start by noticing bedtime, alcohol or caffeine, stress, temperature, and what wakes you. Persistent insomnia deserves a fuller conversation. Explore The Art of Sleeping Well for education on daily rhythms and recovery.

Further reading: Office on Women’s Health: Menopause symptoms and relief

Trouble finding a word or keeping your train of thought can happen during this transition. Sleep disruption and stress also matter. Don’t dismiss a persistent or worsening change. Rhea’s brain health teaching explores nourishment, recovery, and the broader questions to bring to your clinician.

Further reading: Office on Women’s Health: Menopause symptoms and relief

Midlife changes can involve body composition, sleep, activity, and how your body uses energy. That does not mean every weight change has the same cause. Begin with a realistic picture of meals, strength, recovery, and symptoms. Our nutrition and movement teachings help you organize that conversation without promising a quick reset.

Further reading: National Institute on Aging: What is menopause?

Keep a simple record of cycle dates, bleeding changes, sleep, hot flashes, mood, energy, and what is interfering with daily life. List medications and supplements, and bring previous results if you have them. Add the question that matters most to you: ‘I want to sleep again,’ ‘I want sex to feel comfortable,’ or ‘I want to understand this exhaustion.’

Begin with Your Hormones, Understood for an overview of hormone health, nourishment, cycle patterns, and testing questions. If one issue is dominating your life, start there: sleep, energy, brain health, or sexual wellbeing. You do not need to tackle every topic at once.

The Rhea experience is organized around individual teachings and a complete collection of 12 series with companion guides. Browse the lessons and trailers to find your fit. The refreshed enrollment experience is being prepared; pricing and access terms will be shown before purchase.

The teachings use prerecorded videos and companion guides. The Gathering is a separate live virtual experience with Dr. Michele and Dr. Kristi, with up to 20 women per session. Individual lab education visits are a separate offering in development. Dates, pricing, and inclusions are confirmed before enrollment.

Lab tests and supplements are separate purchases unless a particular offer explicitly includes them. You can begin learning without buying a panel or a supplement collection. Visit the apothecary and lab shop when you want to explore the options alongside their educational context.

Yes. Rhea’s teachings explore the wider midlife picture, sleep, nourishment, strength, skin, sexual wellbeing, cognition, and more, alongside perimenopause and menopause. Your stage of life, symptoms, and medical history still matter when translating education into individual decisions.

Rhea was created by Dr. Michele Burklund and Dr. Kristi Harter, naturopathic physicians with a functional medicine perspective. Both trained at Bastyr University. Their founder profiles explain their education, professional backgrounds, and personal connection to this chapter of life.

It means starting with the person and the pattern: nourishment, sleep, movement, stress, history, and the conditions that support health. The therapeutic order begins with those foundations, then considers targeted support and testing when there is a clear question. ‘Root cause’ is an approach to inquiry, not a promise that every symptom has one hidden explanation.

No. Rhea Teachings is education and does not establish a relationship between doctor and patient. The doctors’ professional training informs the teaching; your own clinician remains the person to assess personal symptoms and make diagnostic or treatment decisions. Any future clinical service would need its own eligibility and care arrangements.

Ask how your cycle and symptoms fit together, what other explanations need consideration, and which options address your priorities. A useful conversation covers foundations, benefits and limits of treatments, interactions, and follow up. If you want individual naturopathic care, confirm the clinician’s license, scope, and ability to care for someone in your location.

Start with our lab education questions for results, reference ranges, Function Health reports, and visits in development. Read the perimenopause supplement guide for how we approach formulation, evidence, and individual considerations. Learning comes before adding more to your routine.