The Rollercoaster of Perimenopause

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The Hierarchy of Healing: From Physical Vitality to Intuition, Sovereignty and Inspired Action

What becomes possible in a woman's life when she finally feels well enough to trust herself again?

After 26 years of walking alongside women in clinical practice, I've come to understand that healing is about so much more than managing symptoms, balancing hormones or achieving better blood test results.

It's about reclaiming the vitality, clarity and strength to live this one precious life on your own terms.

I know what it feels like to be unwell. I struggled with obesity, cystic acne, PCOS and undiagnosed hypothyroidism. I was also carrying the consequences of childhood trauma, feeling frightened, confused and disconnected from my own inner wisdom.

And I know how different life can become.

Through my own healing journey and years of clinical practice, I developed what I call the Hierarchy of Healing: a framework for understanding how physical vitality can become the foundation for something much greater.

In this deeply personal episode, I take you through the four interconnected elements of that journey:

• Repair: Restoring gut health and the foundations of physical wellbeing.
• Rebalance: Understanding and supporting your hormones and their relationship with your whole body.
• Reclaim: Rebuilding metabolic health, energy and the capacity to thrive.
• Release: Exploring the psychological, emotional and spiritual dimensions of healing, reconnecting with intuition, Source, personal sovereignty and purpose.

But this conversation goes well beyond the framework itself.

I share how my own experiences of illness, trauma, infertility and ultimately reclaiming my health shaped the practitioner and woman I've become. I also explore what I've witnessed time and time again in clinical practice: women who begin to feel physically well often start asking different questions, establishing boundaries, trusting themselves and finding the courage to make meaningful changes in their lives.

I love science. I love functional testing, blood results and understanding the extraordinary complexity of female physiology.

But I also believe we cannot separate our biology from the woman living inside it.

And there's no way you can spiritualise your way out of a biochemical imbalance.

We need both science and spirituality.

This is an invitation to stop seeing perimenopause simply as something to survive, and begin recognising the possibility of becoming more vital, vibrant, self-referenced and sovereign.

Because healing isn't only about feeling better.

It's about what becomes possible when you do.

Explore my work

If you'd like to understand your own unique biology and explore personalised clinical care, the Vitality Academy or my book This Is Perimenopause, visit:

https://www.thehollandclinic.com

And please, don't give up on yourself.

This is your one precious life.

Dr Kirstey Holland

Support the show

The information shared in this podcast does not substitute working with your primary health care provider; it is general in nature and not considered personalised advice.

Visit us online for more information or if you wish to work with Dr Holland.
thehollandclinic.com

For your daily dose of women's health related info and ideas  on how to gracefully live through health and wellbeing transitions your body experiences, visit our Instagram
instagram.com/thehollandclinic

Send me a text if you liked this episode.

We connect the frustrating reality of perimenopause sleep changes with the underlying biology, then explain why progesterone is often the first hormone to drop even when cycles still look regular. We walk through oral micronised progesterone, what the evidence says about sleep and night sweats, and how to approach testing, tracking, and safer decision-making. 

• the common pattern of going to bed exhausted but waking unrefreshed 
• why night waking and early morning wake-ups can have a physiological cause 
• progesterone as a neurosteroid that supports GABA and sleep stability 
• how allopregnanolone acts on the GABA-A receptor to deepen sleep 
• why anovulatory cycles can create progesterone deficiency from mid-30s 
• oral micronised progesterone versus synthetic progestins and why it matters 
• nightly versus cyclical dosing and how practitioners choose between them 
• what the 2023 Canadian trial showed and the nuance around its primary outcome 
• practical steps including symptom tracking and when a DUTCH test can help 
• consult questions that support informed consent and safer prescribing 

Support the show

The information shared in this podcast does not substitute working with your primary health care provider; it is general in nature and not considered personalised advice.

Visit us online for more information or if you wish to work with Dr Holland.
thehollandclinic.com

For your daily dose of women's health related info and ideas  on how to gracefully live through health and wellbeing transitions your body experiences, visit our Instagram
instagram.com/thehollandclinic

Send me a text if you liked this episode.

Midlife isn’t a decline, it’s the moment many of us stop abandoning ourselves and start getting honest about what we will no longer tolerate. We explore the Autumn Queen as a perimenopause archetype for discernment, boundaries, and rewriting the story so we author our own lives. 
• the Autumn Queen as a midlife awakening rather than a crisis 
• the difference between performing womanhood and inhabiting ourselves 
• how “personality” can be adaptation built from childhood rules 
• why familiarity can feel safer than health in adult relationships 
• a clear look at abuse beyond physical harm, including coercion and control 
• Big T and Little T trauma without ranking pain 
• Internal Family Systems and the idea of protective parts with jobs 
• intergenerational patterns and the questions that reveal the old contract 
• perimenopause changes that force clarity, energy limits, and new non negotiables 
• alchemising pain by changing meaning, not rewriting facts 
• journalling prompts to define who we learned to be and who we choose now 
Grab yourself a copy, join the clinic today, and let's continue to do this beautiful work so that we can become our most vital, vibrant selves in perimenopause and beyond. 

Support the show

The information shared in this podcast does not substitute working with your primary health care provider; it is general in nature and not considered personalised advice.

Visit us online for more information or if you wish to work with Dr Holland.
thehollandclinic.com

For your daily dose of women's health related info and ideas  on how to gracefully live through health and wellbeing transitions your body experiences, visit our Instagram
instagram.com/thehollandclinic

Send me a text if you liked this episode.

Episode Description:

In this group coaching session, Dr Kirstey Holland guides four patients through their most pressing perimenopause and menopause questions — from sleep breakthroughs and gut healing to the truth about testosterone therapy. Raw, real, and packed with clinical insight, this is the kind of honest conversation most women never get in a doctor's office.

Highlight Topics:

• Sleep breakthrough — how MagCalm, PreGaba, and removing devices from the bedroom finally broke a long-standing insomnia cycle, and why your glymphatic system depends on it
• Self-sabotage & gut flare — reconnecting with nourishing foods, the psychology of 80/20, and Dr Kirstey's blood-glucose-friendly chocolate bark recipe
• Hair issue & hormone balance — the real science on female testosterone, why Professor Susan Davis's research at Monash cautions against the perimenopausal "stack," and how progesterone deficiency drives androgen dominance
• Estrogen consistency — why missing doses triggers a brain-level "emergency" response, what vasodilation from progesterone actually feels like, and how to time your HRT rhythm
• Reflux & gut healing — weaning off PPIs safely, the role of Hydrozyme and stomach acidity, and why warming the gut with miso or bone broth before meals is a game-changer
• Illness recovery — how inflammatory cytokines attack the brain when you're sick, the nightshade family's skin-gut connection, and natural immune support with ArmaForce, lactoferrin, and bicarb baths
• Intergenerational trauma & the oracle card pull — Dr Kirstey shares Galit Atlas's Understanding Emotional Inheritance and the group receives a "Spiritual Growth" card to close

What Listeners Will Take Away:

1. Sleep is medicine — consistent sleep hygiene plus targeted supplements can reset even deeply entrenched insomnia
2. Estrogen is addictive to the brain; skipping doses unpredictably creates anxiety, palpitations, and mood crashes — rhythm matters more than daily perfection
3. Testosterone is not a routine perimenopausal supplement — the world's leading female testosterone researcher says it should only be used for distress-causing hyposexual disorder
4. Self-sabotage around food is often a sign you need better-quality treats on hand, not more willpower
5. PPIs treat the symptom, not the cause — supporting stomach acidity with digestive enzymes is the path to true reflux healing
6. When you're sick, sleep is your immune system's most powerful tool — every hour of sleep shortens recovery time
7. Food sensitivities aren't permanent; healing the gut over time can expand your tolerance

Support the show

The information shared in this podcast does not substitute working with your primary health care provider; it is general in nature and not considered personalised advice.

Visit us online for more information or if you wish to work with Dr Holland.
thehollandclinic.com

For your daily dose of women's health related info and ideas  on how to gracefully live through health and wellbeing transitions your body experiences, visit our Instagram
instagram.com/thehollandclinic

Send me a text if you liked this episode.

In this rich and wide-ranging episode, Dr Kirstey Holland opens with a deep dive into Phase 1 of the Hierarchy of Healing — and it all begins in the gut. 

She explains why the gut is not a side topic but the central hub of perimenopausal symptoms, and how the gut-brain, gut-nervous system, and gut-skin axes are all connected to the brain fog, anxiety, bloating, and breakouts so many women are experiencing.

But this episode goes far beyond gut health. 

Dr Kirstey is joined by two women from the Vitality Conversations community, and together they explore some of the most profound — and rarely spoken about — aspects of the perimenopausal transition:

- Why perimenopause is a full neuroendocrine upgrade, not a breakdown

- The second puberty no one prepares you for — and why it's actually a graduation

- How your gut instinct is your first brain, and why healing your gut sharpens your discernment

- The friendship shifts, identity shifts, and even sexual shifts that come with this phase

- Why perimenopause is being dangerously confused with menopause in mainstream medicine — and what the difference actually means for your hormones

- The radical permission you need to rest, to be whole, and to stop abandoning yourself

- How to bring your partner into the journey so you grow together

This episode is part science, part soul work — and exactly the conversation most women are having behind closed doors but rarely out loud.

Mentioned in this episode:

On Our Best Behavior by Elise Louen
The work of Dr. Emeran Mayer (gut-brain axis)
Lara Briden & Professor Jerilynn Prior on progesterone and perimenopause
Jane Hardwick Collings on the phases of a woman's life
Photographer Anne Bloom (natural aging photography, Amsterdam)

Support the show

The information shared in this podcast does not substitute working with your primary health care provider; it is general in nature and not considered personalised advice.

Visit us online for more information or if you wish to work with Dr Holland.
thehollandclinic.com

For your daily dose of women's health related info and ideas  on how to gracefully live through health and wellbeing transitions your body experiences, visit our Instagram
instagram.com/thehollandclinic

Send me a text if you liked this episode.

The world is loud right now, and it is engineered to keep you reacting. We start by naming the “political circus” for what it is and then choose a calmer, more powerful practice: coming back to the present with one question, “am I okay right now?” From that baseline, we talk about what nervous system regulation actually looks like in daily life, and how clarity returns the moment you stop feeding fear with your attention. Even practical scenarios like transport stress become solvable once you are thinking creatively again. 

From there, the conversation turns into a grounded, detailed look at perimenopause and inflammation. We unpack pelvic and hip pain, cycle timing, tender breasts, and what those signs can suggest about high oestrogen presentation and progesterone support. We also cover oestrogen clearance and liver support in plain language, including fibre, indole-3-carbinol, calcium D-glucarate, and how to “teeter” supplement dosing up and down so you are not guessing. If you deal with endometriosis, cyst-driven inflammation, or that feeling of being thrown around by hormone swings, you will feel seen here. 

We also go into energetic hygiene for people who hold others, why spiritual bypassing tends to boomerang, and how midlife can be an initiation rather than a crisis. On the supplement front we share nuanced takes on NAC vs glutathione (including candida considerations), creatine, and the realities of NAD therapy, including why IV NAD infusions can be more effective than oral forms and why supervision matters when histamine is in play. We finish with a simple reminder from spirit: lighten the load, laugh, dance, and make room for the next version of you. 

If this landed, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs a nervous system reset, and leave a review so more people can find the conversation. What part do you want to try first: the “am I okay right now?” check-in or the dose-teetering approach?

Support the show

The information shared in this podcast does not substitute working with your primary health care provider; it is general in nature and not considered personalised advice.

Visit us online for more information or if you wish to work with Dr Holland.
thehollandclinic.com

For your daily dose of women's health related info and ideas  on how to gracefully live through health and wellbeing transitions your body experiences, visit our Instagram
instagram.com/thehollandclinic

Send me a text if you liked this episode.

Episode Summary
In this session, Dr Kirstey introduces body literacy — the foundational skill that underpins every other pillar of the Vitality Clinic programme. 

She explains how to decode the body's symptom signals, understand hormonal rhythms across the menstrual cycle, and recognise the biochemical connections between food, stress, sleep, and how we feel. 

Using the four stages of competence framework, Dr Kirstey helps members identify where they are in developing this skill and how to begin building it through simple, consistent daily observation. 

Vitality Clinic members are guided to choose one signal to track and begin using their Vitality Clinic diaries as a personal body map.

Keen to take a look yourself?

https://workwith.thehollandclinic.com/the-vitality-clinic/

Chapters

0:00 — Introduction to Body Literacy
What body literacy is, why it matters, and why most women were never taught it.

The Symptom Signal Reframe
Symptoms as communication from the body, not failures or random events.

The Five Parts of Body Literacy
Recognising signals, identifying patterns, understanding hormonal rhythms, seeing biochemical connections, and making informed decisions.

Your Cycle as Your Map
A walkthrough of the follicular, ovulatory, and luteal phases and how each shapes mood, energy, sleep, and metabolism daily.

Body Literacy Without a Cycle
How women with irregular or absent cycles can still track rhythms using weekly patterns.

The Four Stages of Competence
A framework for understanding where you are in learning body literacy and removing self-judgment from the process.

How to Build Body Literacy Practically
The 90-second daily observation practice, choosing one signal to track, and using the Vitality Clinic diaries.

Reflection Questions and Next Steps
Guided questions to deepen self-inquiry and instructions for continuing inside the platform.

Key Insights

1. Symptoms are signals, not failures. Every symptom — fatigue, brain fog, mood shifts, bloating, sleep disruption — is the body communicating something specific about its biochemistry, not evidence of a body breaking down.
2. Body literacy is a skill, not an instinct. Most women were conditioned to override their body's signals rather than read them. This is a learned cultural pattern, not a personal failing, and it can be unlearned.
3. The menstrual cycle is a daily map. The day of the cycle directly shapes mood, energy, sleep, metabolism, and food preferences. Once women begin tracking symptoms against their cycle day, the body becomes predictable rather than chaotic.
4. Daily observation is the most powerful practice. Tracking even one signal — energy, sleep, mood, hunger — for 30 to 90 days builds a personalised record that no doctor, app, or algorithm can replicate. Authority over health begins with this record.
5. Unconscious competence is the goal. The endpoint of body literacy is not a programme to follow but a way of living — where supporting your biochemistry becomes automatic, aligned, and self-directed rather than externally prescribed.

Support the show

The information shared in this podcast does not substitute working with your primary health care provider; it is general in nature and not considered personalised advice.

Visit us online for more information or if you wish to work with Dr Holland.
thehollandclinic.com

For your daily dose of women's health related info and ideas  on how to gracefully live through health and wellbeing transitions your body experiences, visit our Instagram
instagram.com/thehollandclinic

Send me a text if you liked this episode.

This is an episode about the stories we carry — and the moment we finally put them down.

Dr Kirstey Holland shares why healing in perimenopause isn’t about doing more, but about releasing what’s been weighing you down. Through personal reflections on food addiction, shame, autoimmunity, and nervous system survival, she invites you into radical honesty, simplicity, and self-compassion.

Your body is not against you. Your symptoms are not your identity. And your vitality is closer than you think.

Support the show

The information shared in this podcast does not substitute working with your primary health care provider; it is general in nature and not considered personalised advice.

Visit us online for more information or if you wish to work with Dr Holland.
thehollandclinic.com

For your daily dose of women's health related info and ideas  on how to gracefully live through health and wellbeing transitions your body experiences, visit our Instagram
instagram.com/thehollandclinic

Send me a text if you liked this episode.

In this deeply personal episode, Dr Kirstey Holland shares the story that shaped her life, her nervous system, and her life’s work. 

Born in a nunnery in rural Africa, raised amidst beauty, danger, trauma, and deep connection to nature, Kirstey reflects on a childhood marked by instability, fear, and extraordinary resilience. She speaks candidly about early trauma, dysregulated nervous systems, chronic stress, insulin resistance, hormonal disruption, and how these experiences ultimately forged her path into medicine. 

This episode weaves together ancestry, trauma, biology, and healing—showing how the body holds the score, how regulation is possible at any age, and why women in perimenopause deserve better care, better explanations, and better outcomes. 

Kirstey shares the framework she now lives and teaches:
 Repair the gut.
 Rebalance hormones.
 Reclaim metabolism. 

And why true health is never just physical—it is always biological, psychological, and social. 

This is not just a story.
 It is a reclaiming.
 And an invitation for women to trust their bodies again. 

Support the show

The information shared in this podcast does not substitute working with your primary health care provider; it is general in nature and not considered personalised advice.

Visit us online for more information or if you wish to work with Dr Holland.
thehollandclinic.com

For your daily dose of women's health related info and ideas  on how to gracefully live through health and wellbeing transitions your body experiences, visit our Instagram
instagram.com/thehollandclinic

Send me a text if you liked this episode.

In this 10 minute episode, I introduce you to my comprehensive health program, which is designed to address every sign and symptom of perimenopause through an integrative and holistic approach. 

This process follows specific stages of healing such as:
REPAIR - where gut health is prioritised.
REBALANCE - which uses advanced hormone testing like the DUTCH test to individualise your hormone treatment. 
RECLAIM - which addresses lang term metabolic health and managing risks of chronic illnesses.

The process I follow with my treatment allows you and I to understand your personal biochemistry. Because of my clinical experience working with real-world patients every week for so many years, my process allows for an intelligent 80/20 rule for sustainable lifestyle changes, so that you feel and achieve the long-term benefits of this health care approach.
The overarching aim is to empower you to reclaim your health and vitality.

00:00 Introduction to my process inside me health program
00:49 Unique Approach and Hierarchy of Healing
02:27 Understanding Your Biochemistry
03:01 The Importance of Gut Health
04:16 Repair Phase: Restoring Balance
06:24 Rebalance Phase: Precision Hormone Testing
08:24 Reclaim Phase: Long-term Vitality
09:33 My Commitment to Your Health

The information shared in this podcast does not substitute working with your primary health care provider; it is general in nature and not considered personalised advice.

Visit us online for more information or if you wish to work with Dr Holland.
thehollandclinic.com

For your daily dose of women's health related info and ideas on how to gracefully live through health and wellbeing transitions your body experiences, visit our Instagram
instagram.com/thehollandclinic