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Menopause Health Check & Lifestyle Treatments

The hormonal changes experienced by women during perimenopause and menopause can often act as a catalyst for other health changes. By assessing your physical health our team can ensure timely intervention and support to retain maximum health, from perimenopause to our older years.

Menopause & Wellness NZ Services
Menopause & Wellness NZ Services
Helping to identify potential  risk

Menopause Health Check

A leading cause of death in women aged 60 and over is cardiovascular disease which is a disease that affects the heart or blood vessels. Cardiovascular disease causes heart disease, heart attacks, stroke and blood clots.

The hormonal changes associated with both perimenopause and menopause, often acts as a trigger for other physical health changes that significantly increase a woman’s risk of developing Cardiovascular Disease, Type 2 Diabetes and Osteoarthritis. If left undetected or untreated, these changes significantly increase a woman’s risk for poor physical health and premature death in her later years.

These risks can be significantly reduced when detected early and managed. This health check assessment and treatment is a key part of menopause care provided by our team.

Seeking nothing less than total wellness

Lifestyle treatments

Lifestyle treatment is also an essential part of menopause care. Women often struggle with increased weight, tiredness, low energy, poor motivation, and low self-esteem during menopause.

It’s common for women not to have felt able to prioritise their own health and wellbeing for some time. We understand that for many women making lifestyle changes can feel overwhelming and daunting. We recognise that women often need one to one support to assist them to make achievable, long-lasting behaviour changes that will support their health not only in menopause but also in their future years.

Our team of Health Improvement Practitioners and Health and Wellbeing Practitioners have all undertaken specialist behavioural change training to enable them to support women in this important area.

Menopause & Wellness NZ Services
Menopause & Wellness NZ Services
Supporting you towards better health & wellness

Lifestyle support

Here are some lifestyle examples that our team support:

  • Sleep Support
  • Nutrition
  • Weight loss
  • Exercise
  • Stress Management
  • Anxiety Management
  • Mindfulness and Yoga
  • Bone Health
  • Alcohol Reduction
  • Smoking Cessation support including Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)
Seeking nothing less than total wellness

Why wellness in menopause matters

Treatment during menopause is often centred on alleviation of symptoms. Our approach is different. We focus on supporting women to feel well again and to be able to maintain this wellness through self-management of her future menopause journey.

  • It reduces physical symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats, sleep issues.
  • It improves mood and feelings of wellbeing.
  • It reduces anxiety symptoms.
  • It helps increase self confidence levels.
  • It reduces the risk of future heart disease, stroke, blood clots and osteoporosis.
  • It equips women with the skills, knowledge and understanding to be able to self-manage their own menopause experiences.
Menopause & Wellness NZ Services
“This is truly the first time in ages I have felt like myself. I was feeling pretty low after trying and failing so many times to lose some of the weight i had put on during menopause and had all but given up. Cory helped me make a realistic plan and stick to it by building my motivation and asking the right questions to really get me thinking about how best to do this. The information you gave me about diet in menopause made me realise that i was eating all wrong to lose weight and be healthy.

Your help in working through my blockers was most helpful for me so I could spot things that could throw me off track and easily deal with them when they came up. Now that I have managed to lose a bit of weight I feel so much better in myself, have more energy, and am sleeping better than ever. I truly feel like I have finally cracked this thank you!”.
Menopause & Wellness NZ Services

Ellie, 56

I am 59 and my periods stopped when I was 52. Since then I had menopause issues but was hellbent on getting through without HRT so I trundled on and got on with life. Last year I had problems with headaches and my sight was blurry and I felt dizzy. I was then put on medication for high blood pressure. I was stumbled as to why my blood pressure had gone high as nothing had changed in how I ate or exercised and I had never had problems before. My neighbour encouraged me to book with Monica as she had been learning about things like blood pressure and cholesterol changing in menopause from Monica and how you need to have checks. I am so glad I did as it turned out my cholesterol test was high! My GP and Monica are working together on helping me change what I eat and exercise more and I am hoping to avoid having to take pills to sort out my cholesterol.
Menopause & Wellness NZ Services

Rachel, 59.

“Since working with Monica my GP is treating me for perimenopause. I am now sleeping better feeling happier with fewer mood swings and my hot flushes and night sweats have gone. I have more energy and for the first time in a long time I feel able to exercise and make some changes that will support my health. I am now looking forward to the future which is a very different place to where I was before”.
Menopause & Wellness NZ Services

Linda, 47

"Mary doesn’t just sit there and ask how you feel and nod her head. She lets you talk and I really feel I can tell her anything. I felt lost in menopause. A shadow of the old me who was fun and happy and lived life to the full. Mary really listened to what I felt and for the first time in a long time, I felt someone understood what I was going through. When the time was right, she came in with real advice, action steps and almost homework for me to leave and think about what I wanted my menopause experience to be. She then helped me to work out what was important, what I could do to help with my symptoms along with a workable plan for how I could start to feel better. I had heard a lot of misconceptions about lifestyle treatment from other family members and Mary has completely changed things for me. She sets a high standard for her work, she really cares and you will be lucky to work with her!"
Menopause & Wellness NZ Services

Amy, 54

"I was struggling with burnout when I reached out to Monica for help. She recommended that I book in to see Cory. I honestly don't think I even realised the impact this this was having on me, when Cory explained how the hormones we produce when we're stressed can steal your oestrogen that was the moment I knew I had to do something, I had just thought that my HRT wasn't working properly! I can see a huge difference already working on the things I've learned in my sessions with Cory, and I am certainly seeing life in a different light  and prioritising my health and looking after me for a change! Highly recommend these sessions!
Menopause & Wellness NZ Services

Alison, 54

Monica helped me to understand that many of the things I was experiencing were to do with perimenopause. She reassured me that it was not normal for me not to sleep well or feel anxious a lot of the time. I felt stupid as I was losing my confidence driving even though I had driven since I was 17. I was tired all the time and felt sad even though in my head I knew I had lots of things in my life to be thankful for. Monica gave me hope that I didn’t need to suffer like I was and that I could feel much better. After working with her I honestly feel like I have been given my life back”.
Menopause & Wellness NZ Services

Alison, 49.

“After four years of suffering symptoms a work colleague talked to me about the work Monica is doing to help women with menopause. I was scared of HRT so I sat on it for a couple of weeks and then took the plunge to see her. When I saw her I was feeling scared that things would never be the same again and that my life was on a downward spiral. Thank you for helping me Monica! She validated what I felt and explained why I was feeling like this. I felt like I finally had an ally who really got what was going on with me. With her help I am back to my old self enjoying life again”.
Menopause & Wellness NZ Services

Lucy, 54.

Lifestyle Treatments

Private, personal Perimenopause & Menopause Lifestyle Treatments with our Clinical Nurse Specialist Monica Barnes

Initial Consultation
Private One Hour Session
$180
Including GST
Menopause Lifestyle Review
Symptom Review
Lifestyle Treatment Plan
Follow Up Consultation
Private 30 Minute Session
$90
Including GST
Menopause Lifestyle Review
Symptom Review
Lifestyle Treatment Plan

FAQs

For more information and advice get in touch today.

How long do the symptoms of menopause last?

Every woman’s experience of symptoms is different. The average length of time that most menopause symptoms last is around 7 years after a woman’s last period. However, once a woman has gone through menopause their hormone levels will be low for the rest of their life. For some women, this causes them to experience ongoing symptoms that can be lifelong.

How do I lose weight during menopause?

Women often experience weight gain during menopause and find that they carry more weight, particularly around their stomach area which can be difficult to lose.

Typically in post-menopausal women (aged 51+), belly fat accounts for 15-20% of their total body weight compared with 5-8% in pre- menopausal women. This carries significant health risks for menopausal women as this type of fat is known to be unhealthy and is associated with an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, blood clots, diabetes and certain types of cancer. In addition, excess weight can also worsen menopause symptoms such as hot flushes and night sweats.

Weight loss and maintenance in menopause often needs specialised support. Many of the low-fat diets that we as women are familiar with before menopause worsen our risk for future heart attacks, strokes, blood clots and diabetes if followed from menopause onwards. A healthy diet for both perimenopausal and menopausal women needs to be focused on supporting you to lose weight in a healthy manner combined with helping you to reduce your future risk for chronic disease and ill health. This is a key component of the lifestyle treatment provided by our team.

How can I help my sleep during menopause?

Many women have trouble sleeping during both perimenopause and menopause due to declining Oestrogen and Progesterone hormone levels. There are a number of effective treatments that support women to sleep well including hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or non-hormonal Menopause Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT).

What vitamins/supplements help with menopause?

The Australasian, British and North American Menopause Societies have all outlined that nonprescription vitamins and supplements including black cohosh, soy isoflavones and red clover have no or minimal proven benefit in the treatment of menopausal symptoms.
They have also highlighted that the long-term safety of women taking these supplements is unknown. As such, we do not recommend the use of non-prescribed vitamins and supplements.

We do recognise that many women want to explore effective natural menopause treatment. As such, our team provide natural or non- hormonal Menopause Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and lifestyle treatment which can help alleviate troublesome menopausal symptoms.

What can make menopause worse?

Studies have shown that several factors can worsen a woman’s menopausal symptoms. These include if a woman is overweight, inactive or has low exercise levels, smokes, has high-stress levels, drinks excess caffeine or has high alcohol consumption levels. Lifestyle treatment can help support women to make changes that support their health and well-being in menopause.

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