Migraines often become more frequent, more intense, or more unpredictable during perimenopause and menopause—and for many women, medication either stops working or introduces new problems. If you’ve ever wondered why your body feels harder to manage in midlife, this episode offers a new, compassionate lens.

In this conversation, we explore migraines as more than isolated headaches. Hormonal fluctuations, stress overload, blood sugar swings, and even how your body processes food can all influence migraine patterns. When these systems are out of balance, migraines may be one of the body’s clearest warning signs.

Our guest, Diane Ducarme, blends Western neuroscience with Traditional Chinese Medicine to help women understand what migraines are communicating beneath the surface. Rather than silencing symptoms, this episode focuses on recognizing patterns, reducing hidden triggers, and restoring trust in your body’s signals—especially during the hormonal transitions of midlife.

If you’re eating “healthy,” feeling exhausted anyway, or frustrated that nothing seems to work anymore, this episode will help you stop blaming yourself and start understanding what your body actually needs.

• How perimenopause and menopause-related hormonal shifts can alter migraine frequency and severity
• Why migraines often involve the nervous system, liver function, and whole-body stress—not just the head
• The difference between fast and slow migraine triggers, including food-related triggers that are commonly misunderstood
• How depletion, stress, and imbalance may show up as migraines long before lab work flags a problem
• Ways to work with your body’s signals instead of fighting them during midlife

About Our Guest: Diane Ducarme is the host of the Migraine Heroes podcast and founder of the Migraine Heroes app. She integrates Traditional Chinese Medicine with Western science to help people uncover root causes of migraines often missed by conventional care. To learn more about our guest, click here: https://hellohotflash.com/episodes/menopause-migraine

• Learn how to feel clear, steady, and in control again: https://hellohotflash.com/assessments
• Listen to the limited-series podcast Christian Women and Menopause: https://hellohotflash.com/christian-women-and-menopause

This episode is sponsored by Reverse Health. Use promo code HOTFLASH for 10% off: https://www.rgds43jd.com/G1S938/7XDN2/

In this solo episode, Stephanie Shaw explores how menopause, stress, and hormonal fluctuations can amplify our emotions and lead us to speak before we think. Learn how to pause, reflect, and let God guide your words—turning everyday interactions into moments of connection rather than conflict.

What You Will Learn

1. How hormone fluctuations during perimenopause and menopause affect your emotional brain and can trigger impulsive speech (the “amygdala hijack”).

2. Practical strategies to pause, breathe, and filter your words through Scripture, reducing conflict and increasing calm.

3. How small, intentional practices—like prayer, mindful breathing, and writing thoughts before speaking—can transform daily interactions and strengthen relationships.

Additional Resources

• Learn how to feel clear, steady, and in control again. https://hellohotflash.com/assessments
• The limited-series podcast Christian Women and Menopause teaches what the Bible says about stress, anxiety, health, and confidence in midlife. Listen here: https://hellohotflash.com/christian-women-and-menopause

Every New Year, women are told to make resolutions: eat better, move more, fix sleep, get disciplined. Planning matters—but many women enter midlife already feeling boxed in by rules, expectations, and pressure to “do it right.”

What if this year isn’t about tighter boxes—but deeper alignment?

It’s New Year’s Day. A blank calendar. A clean slate.

And for many women in midlife, a quiet question underneath all the goal-setting:

What’s next for me?

If you’re navigating perimenopause or post-menopause, you may be balancing changes in energy, weight, mood, and motivation—while also sensing something deeper is shifting.

Here’s what I know to be true:

Midlife isn’t healed by choosing either health or faith—you need both.

Nutrition, movement, and routines matter. You can take HRT, do breathwork, eat organic, track macros—and still feel lost. A meal plan, a morning routine, or a supplement protocol cannot fill a spiritual void. That’s why even the most disciplined women still feel empty.

Your symptoms aren’t just hormonal. They’re often signals—calling you into a deeper season. And most menopause programs miss this entirely.

January resolutions often fail not because women lack discipline—but because they demand perfection and rigidity in a season that requires wisdom and flexibility.

Midlife bodies change.

Midlife priorities shift.

Midlife faith deepens.

Planning matters—but putting yourself in a box doesn’t. When resolutions become rules instead of rhythms, they disconnect us from both our bodies and God’s guidance.

This season isn’t about fixing yourself. It’s about listening, responding, and growing—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

This year, Hello, Hot Flash is taking a more holistic approach—connecting midlife health and faith.

Starting this month:

• Tuesdays will focus on how faith intersects with menopause and midlife health (grounded, practical, and real—not heavy or preachy)
• Thursdays remain unchanged, featuring doctors, scientists, and coaches sharing evidence-based strategies for midlife women

We’ll explore:

• Why faith matters when your body feels unfamiliar
• How spiritual alignment affects energy, stress, and decision-making
• Where science and faith support—rather than compete with—each other

This year, my personal resolution is bigger than a program or challenge. I’m building a community of women asking what’s next in menopause—and in life.

It’s called The Change.

Over the course of a year, we’ll walk together through:

• Eating in ways that support midlife hormones
• Moving our bodies with intention—not punishment
• Strengthening our relationship with Christ as our bodies and roles evolve

This isn’t about perfection. It’s about integration. Health and faith. Body and spirit. Planning—with room for God to lead.

Midlife transformation doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens in community.

Additional Resources:

• Check out Reverse Health. Use promo code HOTFLASH for a 10% discount. https://www.rgds43jd.com/G1S938/7XDN2/
• Learn how to feel clear, steady, and in control again. https://hellohotflash.com/assessments
• The limited-series podcast Christian Women and Menopause teaches what the Bible says about stress, anxiety, health, and confidence in midlife. Listen here: https://hellohotflash.com/christian-women-and-menopause
• Learn more at hellohotflash.com/the-change or under the Community tab.

As we head into 2026, I’m excited to share that we’re expanding.

Starting in Q1, we’re adding new Tuesday solo episodes—short, powerful teachings focused on what the Bible has to say to women in midlife.

Then on Thursdays, we’ll continue bringing you conversations with amazing doctors, medical professionals, and coaches from around the world.

In early 2026, you’ll hear from people like:

• Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl, physician, research scientist, and professor at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, and a leader in brain and women’s health research. • Meghan Rabbitt, the journalist Maria Shriver personally tapped to write The New Rules of Menopause. • Matt Jones, who—along with a team of doctors and healthcare specialists—built a company dedicated to supporting midlife women because his mom needed this kind of care. • And Dr. Victoria Maizes, a pioneer of integrative medicine and founding executive director of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, sharing the extraordinary “rapid recovery reflex,” your body’s innate ability to rebalance and heal.

And if during the holiday season you’re looking for extra encouragement or spiritual support, be sure to listen to the limited-series Christian Women and Menopause, available anywhere you get your podcasts.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year… and as always—here’s to your health.

Perimenopause can bring weight changes, exhaustion, mood shifts, and a deep sense of “what is happening to my body?” In this conversation, author and entrepreneur Lynn Smargis opens up about the symptoms that shook her confidence—and the strategies that helped her reclaim her energy, purpose, and peace.

In this episode, you will learn:

• How processed sugar can intensify hot flashes and why stabilizing blood sugar is essential during perimenopause • What estrogen patches can do for symptoms like panic attacks, night sweats, and mood swings • How lifestyle choices—movement, nutrition, nervous-system support, and symptom tracking—can reduce overwhelm • Why individualized care matters and how to advocate for what your body needs • The power of sharing your story and building community during midlife changes

To learn more about our guest, Lynn Smargis, visit https://hellohotflash.com/episodes/perimenopause-pain .

• Feeling bloated, foggy, or frustrated with “doing everything right” but still feeling off? Take the Perimenopause & Hormone Insight Assessment: https://hellohotflash.com/assessments
• If your body feels unpredictable and your faith feels stretched thin, explore the limited-series podcast Christian Women and Menopause for biblical truth, practical strategies, and gentle encouragement: https://hellohotflash.com/christian-women-and-menopause

Welcome back to Hello, Hot Flash. I’m Stephanie Shaw, and before we close out the year, I just want to take a moment to say thank you.

Because of you—your listening, your sharing, your reviews—this show has crossed more than 41,000 downloads and ranks in the top 3% of all podcasts. That is incredible, and it is absolutely because of this community. I’m so grateful you’re here.

As we wrap up the year, I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful, joy-filled holiday season. I hope you find time to rest, to nourish yourself, to laugh with friends, hug on your family, or maybe slip away for some much-needed alone time. However you spend these days, I hope they bring you comfort and renewal.

And as we head into 2026, I’m excited to share that we’re expanding. Starting in Q1, we’re adding new Tuesday solo episodes—short, powerful teachings focused on what the Bible has to say to women in midlife. Then on Thursdays, we’ll continue bringing you midlife-health related conversations with amazing doctors, medical professionals, and coaches from around the world.

In early 2026, you’ll hear from people like:

• Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl, physician, research scientist, and professor at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, and a leader in brain and women’s health research. • Meghan Rabbitt, the journalist Maria Shriver personally tapped to write The New Rules of Menopause. • Matt Jones, who—along with a team of doctors and healthcare specialists—built a company dedicated to supporting midlife women because his mom needed this kind of care. • And Dr. Victoria Maizes, a pioneer of integrative medicine and founding executive director of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, sharing the extraordinary “rapid recovery reflex,” your body’s innate ability to rebalance and heal.

And if during the holiday season you’re looking for extra encouragement or spiritual support, be sure to listen to the limited-series Christian Women and Menopause, available anywhere you get your podcasts.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year… and as always—here’s to your health.

Additional Information:

• Reverse Health - check on the app here: https://www.rgds43jd.com/G1S938/7XDN2/ and get a 10% discount with the code HOTFLASH
• Limited-Series Christian Women & Menopause can be found here: https://hellohotflash.com/free
• 2026 Episodes I mentioned can be found, in 2026, on Https://HelloHotFlash.com/Episodes

Fasting doesn’t have to mean going without food. Registered Dietitian Renee Fitton breaks down how a Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) activates many of the same metabolic and hormonal benefits of fasting while still allowing you to eat. She explains the science behind FMDs, why they work so well for women in midlife, and how they support healthier aging, weight management, and metabolic repair.

What You Will Learn: • How the Fasting Mimicking Diet works and how it differs from traditional fasting • Why FMDs protect muscle while promoting fat loss, especially for women 40+ • Research on FMDs for metabolism, insulin resistance, inflammation, and longevity • How often to use FMDs for optimal hormonal and metabolic benefits • Why autophagy supports cellular repair, brain health, and healthy aging

Additional Resources:

• Christian Women & Menopause Limited Series: https://hellohotflash.com/christian-women-and-menopause • Support the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/HelloHotFlash

Midlife often brings symptoms and struggles we don’t talk enough about—fatigue, brain fog, emotional overwhelm, and a sense of being “off.” In this episode of Hello Hot Flash, host Stephanie Shaw speaks with Lori Lisai, a human design coach and midlife mentor, about how human design offers women a new lens for self-awareness and empowerment.

Instead of pushing through or relying only on logic, Lori encourages women to listen to their intuition and use human design as a tool for making more authentic life and work choices. If you’ve ever wondered why traditional advice doesn’t feel right for you, this episode will help you see midlife as a powerful new beginning.

What You’ll Learn:

1. Why midlife symptoms like fatigue and brain fog may be connected to energy drains.
2. How human design helps you reconnect with your intuition and make authentic decisions.
3. Why viewing midlife transitions as opportunities, not endings, changes everything.