In today’s episode, Dr. Lisa and Dr. Toni are answering listener questions on how to: get a good night's sleep in perimenopause; reduce irritability (and stop snapping at your partner or kids!); deal with headaches/migraines; manage reflux and bloating (from overindulging) and help your little ones sleep better.

What can you do to get a better sleep, especially if you’re experiencing hot flashes and night sweats?

* Pay attention to triggers eg. alcohol intake, eating too close to bedtime, certain foods like garlic and spicy foods* Support your liver function with antioxidants* Cruciferous veggies like cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, kale* Supplements like N-acetyl cysteine, green tea extract, alpha lipoic acid, resveratrol* Support proper hormone balance and estrogen detoxification* Foods providing phytoestrogens and fibre like ground flaxseed* Herbs like black cohosh, maca, vitex* Bio-identical progesterone cream* Staying cool at night* Cool room* Little or no pajamas* Cooling weighted blanket like Zonli* L-glycine amino acid supplementation * For more info, see Episode 32

What can you do to manage mood swings and irritability, especially with extra stress, uncertainty and changes around the pandemic?

* Get stuff out of your head* Talking to friends, family or professional counselor * Journaling, such as gratitude journal or bullet journaling - see Episode 11 * Get the best sleep possible* Address your liver function and hormone balance if mood swings and emotions are flaring a week or so before your period* Get out of the house and take time for yourself* Consider adaptogenic herbs to increase your resilience and reduce the physical and emotional impact of stress, such as ashwagandha, rhodiola, siberian ginseng/eleuthro, holy basil, schisandra, shatavari

What can I do about my frequent headaches and migraines?

* For more info, see Episode 20 * Consider increasing your magnesium intake - it’s an essential mineral and natural muscle relaxant* Assessing and avoiding food sensitivities to reduce pro-inflammatory and histamine responses - common ones are gluten and dairy!* Get some body work to reduce muscle tension and support proper structural alignment such as massage, acupuncture, chiropractic, osteopathic* Watch your posture, especially if you’re working at a desk for long periods of time* Stay hydrated!

What can I do about my heavy periods?

* Get your ferritin iron storage levels checked and consider iron supplementation if you have low or low normal iron levels* Get your thyroid hormones tested - full thyroid panel of TSH, free T4 and free T3 - and consider thyroid support if you have low or low normal thyroid function* Get your estrogen levels tested to see if you have estrogen dominance contributing to heavy periods* Astringent herbs like yarrow* For more info, see Episodes 21, Episode 22,