THE PERIOD WHISPERER PODCAST - Perimenopause, Menopause, Cortisol, Weight Loss, Hormone Balancing, Insomnia, Hot Flashes, Night Sweats, Libido, Your Guide To Thriving In MidLife

Have you ever known something was wrong in your body, only to be told your tests were normal or sent to another specialist without anyone looking at the whole picture?
In this episode, I sit down with Stephanie Shaw, host of the Hello Hot Flash podcast, to talk about her two-year search for answers through midlife health changes. After two ER visits, 18 doctors, multiple medical centers, and more than $20,000 spent trying to understand symptoms that kept changing, Stephanie learned firsthand how exhausting fragmented care can be.
Her story is not about distrusting every doctor or diagnosing yourself from social media. Specialists are essential. But when symptoms affect sleep, energy, mood, digestion, pain, recovery, and daily life, women deserve care that considers the full context and knows when another question or referral is needed.
Stephanie shares what it felt like to be passed from body part to body part, why no one initially asked whether hormones could be part of the picture, and how collaboration between practitioners helped her feel seen. We also discuss symptom tracking, preparing for appointments, asking for your records and lab results, advocating for yourself without needing a medical degree, and supporting physical and emotional health in midlife.
If you are navigating perimenopause symptoms, menopause symptoms, hot flashes, anxiety, fatigue, sleep disruption, changing digestion, or the feeling that you are no longer yourself, this episode will help you enter your next health conversation with more clarity.
In This Episode
00:00 Stephanie Shaw’s midlife health journey
01:40 Early perimenopause symptoms and the whispers women overlook
03:16 Heavy, frequent periods and hysterectomy
07:07 18 doctors and the problem with body-part-by-body-part care
09:33 What changed when practitioners communicated
12:45 Two ER visits and a two-year search for answers
18:24 Why women need providers who look for patterns
21:10 Personalized testing and understanding your own baseline
25:30 How to advocate for yourself at the doctor’s office
29:43 “I am smarter than you”: releasing fear in medical appointments
32:22 Perimenopause, stress, and emotional health
37:01 Stephanie’s process for healing and long-term health
43:37 You are not alone
Connect with Stephanie Shaw
Instagram: @hellohotflash
Website: https://hellohotflash.com
Connect with Bria
Instagram: @bria_period_whisperer
Website: https://theperiodwhisperer.com
Have a question, win, or something you need support with in midlife?
You do not need perfect words or a polished story. Leave a voice message with what has changed in your body, what you have tried, what is helping, or the question you want covered next on the podcast.
🎙️ Leave a voice note here: https://www.speakpipe.com/ThePeriodWhisperer
Ready for more support through perimenopause and menopause?
Inside Midlife Mojo, I help women build stronger foundations for hormones, metabolism, strength, sleep, recovery, and sustainable weight loss. You’ll find practical education on nutrition, labs, HRT, peptides, workouts, stress, and nervous-system support, plus a community that understands this season.
Your membership includes:
💜 The 90-Day Hormone Revival
💜 Midlife metabolism and weight-loss education
💜 Nutrition, recipes, and meal-planning support
💜 Strength-training plans for women over 40
💜 Lab-testing, HRT, and peptide resources
💜 Guided meditations, live coaching, Q&As, and community support
Start your 7-day free trial:
https://bit.ly/midlifemojonow

Why You’re Not Into It Anymore: Low Libido, Marriage & Midlife
Do you still love your partner, but feel like sex is the last thing on your mind?
In episode three of Midlife, Unfiltered, Bria and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner Michele Scarlet unpack low libido in midlife, why desire can change, and the many reasons sex can start to feel like a chore instead of a source of connection.
Low libido is not automatically a hormone problem. And it does not automatically mean your marriage is over.
For many women, desire is influenced by a whole picture: perimenopause, postpartum changes, sleep, stress, mental load, pain or dryness, body image, emotional safety, relationship dynamics, medication, and whether you feel connected to your own body.
Bria and Michele talk honestly about the difference between being desired and feeling desire yourself. They explore why women can become disconnected from sex during busy seasons of motherhood and caregiving, how to create room for intimacy without turning it into another obligation, and why pain during sex is never something you should simply push through.
They also discuss when it may be time to look more closely at hormones, vaginal health, low estrogen, low testosterone, stress, or the relationship itself.
This is not a conversation about forcing yourself to want sex. It is about getting curious, removing shame, and understanding what your body may be asking for.
In This Episode
00:00 “Am I dead inside?” Understanding low libido
00:45 Is low desire always hormonal?
03:45 Emotional safety, physical safety, and desire
05:02 Mental load, motherhood, and sex becoming another task
06:56 Partnership, resentment, and carrying everything alone
08:58 Feeling disconnected from your body after pregnancy and breastfeeding
10:24 Should couples schedule sex or schedule intimacy?
12:24 Responsive desire and reconnecting with your partner
13:17 Self-connection, pleasure, and asking better questions
14:39 When low desire can make you question your relationship
15:29 Why shame-free sexual communication matters
15:56 When hormones and health concerns may be part of the picture
17:10 Pain, dryness, and why discomfort during sex deserves support
18:20 Postpartum hormones and feeling like a stranger in your body
19:51 What has helped you reconnect with desire?
Connect with Michele Scarlet
Instagram: @michelescarlet_
Connect with Bria
Instagram: @bria_period_whisperer
Website: https://theperiodwhisperer.com
Low libido is part of perimenopause and health debt, too.
A change in desire can be one clue in a much bigger picture: hormones, sleep, stress, nervous-system support, body changes, pain, nourishment, relationship capacity, and recovery all matter.
Take Bria’s free Health Debt Quiz to explore where your body may be asking for more support right now and get a clearer, more personalized place to begin:
http://healthdebt.briatheperiodwhisperer.com/
This is not a diagnosis. It is a practical way to stop guessing and start asking better questions about your health.

Have you ever felt uncomfortable in a conversation, workplace, relationship, or online space, then talked yourself out of saying anything because you did not want to make things awkward?
In episode two of Midlife, Unfiltered, Bria sits down with Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner Michele Scarlet to talk about the manosphere, misogyny on social media, emotional safety, boundaries, and the ways women have been conditioned to stay quiet so everyone else can stay comfortable.
If you have ever replayed a moment and thought, “That was not okay,” this conversation is for you.
The manosphere is not only an internet trend. Its messages can shape how young men see women, how young women navigate dating, and how all of us absorb the idea that women should be agreeable, accommodating, and responsible for managing other people’s behavior.
Bria and Michele share personal stories about workplace comments, relationships, the pressure to laugh things off, and the quiet self-abandonment that can happen when we minimize our own alarm bells.
They also tie this back to midlife health. Because this season is not only about hormones, sleep, labs, nutrition, and physical symptoms. It can also be a time to notice where you have been carrying stress, suppressing your voice, abandoning your boundaries, or making yourself smaller to keep the peace.
This episode is an invitation to trust your discomfort, speak up when something is not right, and model something different for the next generation.
In This Episode
00:01 What is manosphere culture?
01:20 Why women are not responsible for preventing men’s behavior
02:26 Social media, online influence, and harmful messaging
03:43 Why misogyny is not a new problem
06:07 Emotional safety and feeling judged in relationships
09:51 Workplace experiences women never forget
12:06 Why women stay quiet to avoid making others uncomfortable
13:17 What boundaries can sound like in real life
13:47 “This is not normal”: why conversations matter
14:23 The fear of being called difficult or a “bitch”
16:17 Learning to be more bold and less self-abandoning
17:34 What we need to teach our sons and daughters
19:28 Speaking up, self-trust, and getting back into integrity
20:09 A question for women who stayed quiet and women who speak up
Connect with Michele Scarlet
Instagram: @michelescarlet_
Connect with Bria
Instagram: @bria_period_whisperer
Website: https://theperiodwhisperer.com
Not sure where to focus first in your midlife health journey?
Take Bria’s free Health Debt Quiz to explore the area of health that may need more support:
http://healthdebt.briatheperiodwhisperer.com/
This episode is for education and conversation. It does not replace individualized mental-health or medical care.

Are GLP-1 medications a cheat code for weight loss, or are we overlooking the emotional impact they can have on women in midlife?
In the first episode of Midlife, Unfiltered, Bria sits down with Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner Michele Scarlet for an honest conversation about GLP-1s, weight loss, body image, food noise, shame, privacy, and the pressure women feel to get smaller.
If you are considering a GLP-1, already taking one, or wondering why this conversation feels so emotionally loaded, this episode is for you.
GLP-1 medications are changing the weight-loss industry quickly. For some women, they may offer support with blood sugar, appetite, or the mental load of constantly thinking about food. For others, the conversation brings up secrecy, fear of judgment, past dieting patterns, body-image pressure, or concern about using a powerful tool without enough support.
Bria and Michele make space for the nuance. They discuss why GLP-1s are not inherently “cheating,” why the goal cannot simply be to get smaller at any cost, how to think about side effects and body signals, and why your relationship with food, your health history, and your emotional wellbeing belong in the conversation too.
In This Episode
00:00 Midlife transitions, motherhood, and changing seasons
02:39 Is GLP-1 the cheat code to weight loss?
03:20 Why women want weight loss to feel easier
05:23 Celebrity culture, judgment, and GLP-1 misuse
06:49 GLP-1s as a tool, not a moral failure
10:54 Why this conversation carries so much shame
12:03 Feeling shame around GLP-1 use
12:51 Privacy versus hiding your health choices
14:31 Blood sugar, insulin resistance, and testing
16:45 When GLP-1s may not be the right fit
17:38 Eating-disorder history and misuse concerns
18:23 Side effects women should not have to suffer through
19:06 Why women override their body’s messages
21:05 What “appropriately hungry” can look like
21:44 Using more mental space to build healthier foundations
22:49 The question: would you take a GLP-1 if nobody knew?
Connect with Michele Scarlet
Instagram: @michelescarlet_
Connect with Bria
Instagram: @bria_period_whisperer
Website: https://theperiodwhisperer.com
Not sure where to focus first in your midlife health journey?
Take Bria’s free Health Debt Quiz to explore the area of health that may need more support:
http://healthdebt.briatheperiodwhisperer.com/
Coming next in Midlife, Unfiltered: Bria and Michele unpack the influence of social media, the manosphere, and the messages shaping how women think about their bodies, health, and worth.
This episode is for education only and does not replace individualized medical advice. Speak with a qualified healthcare professional before starting, stopping, or changing medication.

Why are you hungry again an hour after eating, craving sugar by midafternoon, or finding weight loss harder in perimenopause?
In this episode, Bria sits down with Simone Lovell, a mama, author, food coach, and mentor with more than 25 years of experience helping women change their relationship with food and health.
They unpack the growing conversation around GLP-1, appetite regulation, blood sugar, gut health, food noise, protein, fiber, and why midlife women deserve more than another restrictive plan.
Your body naturally produces GLP-1, a hormone involved in appetite, fullness, and blood-sugar regulation. Simone shares her perspective on using food and daily habits to support those systems, including protein-forward breakfasts, fiber, meal timing, sleep, strength training, stress regulation, and the role gut health may play.
This is not an anti-medication episode. GLP-1 medications can be appropriate tools for some people under qualified medical care. It is also not a promise that one food, a glucose monitor, or a “perfect” routine can solve every symptom. The goal is to help you understand why hunger, cravings, energy, and weight may feel different in midlife, then give you practical, non-punishing places to begin.
If you are tired of dieting, obsessing over food, skipping meals, or believing that more discipline is the answer, this conversation offers a more compassionate framework for supporting your body.
IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 Why hunger, cravings, and stubborn weight feel different in midlife
00:48 What GLP-1 is and the conversation around naturally supporting it
01:01 Meet Simone Lovell and her work with women
08:28 The gut, GLP-1, and appetite regulation
09:31 Hunger, cravings, energy crashes, and blood-sugar patterns
11:00 Sleep, stress, and the hunger hormones
17:35 Why Bria prioritizes protein at breakfast
18:17 Coffee, butter, fasting, and workout fueling
20:01 Long runs, strength training, and exercise intensity
27:21 Foods that may support fullness and GLP-1 signaling
27:45 Fiber after 40 and practical sources of fiber
30:00 Meal order, glucose monitoring, and food flexibility
35:00 Processed foods, gut health, and digestion
40:00 Building an approach that supports energy, muscle, and longevity
45:00 Simone’s first practical step for women feeling overwhelmed
CONNECT WITH SIMONE LOVELL
Instagram: @simonenlovell
Website: https://simonelovell.com
CONNECT WITH BRIA
Instagram: @bria_period_whisperer
Website: https://theperiodwhisperer.com
HAVE A QUESTION, WIN, OR SOMETHING YOU NEED SUPPORT WITH IN MIDLIFE?
Bria would love to hear from you. Leave a voice message with a question, a win, something you are noticing in your body, or a topic you want covered on the podcast. No perfect wording needed.
🎙️ Leave a voice note here: https://www.speakpipe.com/ThePeriodWhisperer
READY FOR MORE SUPPORT THROUGH PERIMENOPAUSE AND MENOPAUSE?
Inside Midlife Mojo, Bria helps women build the foundations that support healthier metabolism, strength, sleep, recovery, nutrition, and sustainable weight loss. You will find practical education on lab testing, hormones, HRT, peptides, workouts, stress, and more, alongside a community of women navigating this season with you.
Take the FREE Health Debt Quiz Here:
healthdebt.briatheperiodwhisperer.com