Your Health & Wellness Blog

Perimenopause irregular periods explained with primary research: the 7-day cycle-variation rule, the 60-day late-stage marker, why cycles shorten before they stretch, whether you need a hormone test, and which bleeding needs a doctor. By Cathy, Founder of Vibrance Way.

Sugar cravings hitting harder than they used to? In perimenopause, falling estrogen lowers serotonin and raises ghrelin — your hunger hormone — while blood sugar swings and poor sleep pile on top. This isn't a willpower problem; it's measurable hormonal chemistry, backed by real studies from Maturitas, Biological Psychiatry, and the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Cathy breaks down exactly why the 3pm craving hits, when it might be more than a craving, and what protei

Written by Cathy — Founder, Vibrance Way | 17 September 2026 · 9 min read · Fact-checked against primary sources, peer-reviewed research only I split a thumbnail opening a can of chickpeas. Not dramatically — just a clean horizontal crack straight across the free edge, the kind that used to take a screwdriver and bad judgment to cause. Two weeks later the same nail peeled into three thin layers, like wet cardboard. I hadn't changed my dish soap. I hadn't changed anything, ex

Perimenopause does not just touch your hormones and mood, it reaches your vein walls. Falling estrogen loosens the structural support veins rely on, which is why varicose and spider veins often appear or worsen in your 40s. The research links this to genuine hormonal mechanisms, not just aging, and points to compression, movement, and informed HRT conversations as the best-evidenced ways to manage it.