Our latest survey on 1100 women shows a staggering 96% are unprepared for menopause and well over two-thirds reporting it came as an almighty shock. Under 12% of them are even bothering to consult their doctor as they are not confident they will get constructive advice that includes anything other than drugs or hormones, and 71% said they have been desperately seeking solutions online.

I feel intensely frustrated that women are largely left to their own devices to cope with hormonal issues throughout their lives; and this is particularly true for women approaching midlife and beyond. There is so much workable science published, I truly believe it’s bordering on criminal that women do not receive scientifically based information which will effectively address their multiple menopause symptoms including anything from very scary brain fog, melting hot flushes, seriously disturbed sleep due to nights sweats, aches and pains making them feel 90 before their time, through to loss of confidence and self-esteem, or feeling like they have been switched off from the waist downwards with vaginal dryness making sex impossible because it’s so painful. The sad truth is that hundreds of thousands of women are left clinging on by their fingernails, wondering what hit them, feeling absolutely fearful about the implications all this has on everything from their concentration levels, to their waist line, work life, relationships and self-esteem.

I hear heart breaking stories from thousands of women in my Facebook Group, Natural Menopause Making the Midlife Switch, all the time. Caroline is a typical example of a woman overwhelmed by her symptoms and mourning the loss of herself.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. The menopause needn’t be the end of anything other than the inconvenience of having periods; once you’re out the other side it’s a whole new beginning where we’re no longer at the mercy of fluctuating hormones.

Let’s look at what’s going on in our body.  Menopause is often a time when nutritional deficiencies start to become apparent. A combination of years of wear and tear, pregnancy and breastfeeding can all challenge our nutrient stores, while our lack of knowledge of how to replace what time and nature have taken away leaves many of us in a nutritionally depleted state, which can affect our brain chemistry and our hormonal balance.

There are so many hormone changes in the body at this time in our lives, including falling oestrogen levels as the ovaries cease functioning. In my experience over 27 years, it takes a multi-pronged approach to help a woman go from feeling like a shadow of her former self to feeling better than she can remember. Women need to make a number of dietary and lifestyle changes during their recovery journey.  In addition, taking supplements that boost nutrient levels and normalise hormone function has been shown to be an effective approach, and even gets a special mention in the Health Economics Appendix of the current NICE guidelines.

I am therefore very excited to have formed a new partnership with Live Better With Menopause.  They are an organisation with a big mission like my own, to provide practical support and supplements for symptoms and life stages like menopause, to make life a whole lot better.

Live Better With Menopause was launched in 2017 to help women who are experiencing the varying and often debilitating symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. Under their mission to help make day to day life better for women who are going through menopause and perimenopause, Live Better With combines hundreds of handpicked consumer products that help alleviate some of the symptoms and side effects that you might be experiencing with an array of original content - resulting in a powerful combination designed to relieve, support and provide insight. In addition, Live Better With Menopause run 'Menopause Circles' - worldwide face to face support groups, as well as a growing Menopause at Work agenda. Part of their role in this partnership will be to stock and supply my chosen supplements in my online shop at a competitive market rate rather than inflated prices. They have an excellent reputation for their customer service so I am confident that women will have a good experience.

My science-based programmes, which help women to reclaim good health, often involve taking natural products that have been shown to help boost nutrient levels and bring about therapeutic effects in the body.  I choose to recommend supplements that are standardised, made to pharmaceutical standards and, where possible, have been shown to be effective through clinical trials, being mindful that research also shows many of the supplements on high street shelves do not, in fact, contain what they say on the label.

Natural supplements can help us to alleviate symptoms safely at the time of the menopause without having to resort to drugs or hormones.  Well researched supplements containing isoflavones for example, and herbs including Maca, St John’s Wort and Black Cohosh are effective tools when looking to control  a variety of menopausal symptoms. And it’s far better to choose supplements that are made to pharmaceutical standards and have been shown to be both safe as well as effective.

Keeley Mansell is a Senior Police Officer with an incredibly stressful job.  She was overwhelmed by menopause symptoms and struggling to perform in an area of her life.  She was put on various combinations of Hormone Replacement Therapy – none of which seemed to have much impact on her symptoms. She increasingly felt like she’d fallen into a black hole from which she simply could not see a way out.

“I kept thinking ‘is this it – is this all I have left to look forward to?’ I spent six weeks off work just trying to get my strength back, I felt so dreadfully ill. I met Maryon Stewart and took part in her virtual 6-week Cruising Through Menopause Boot Camp.  It felt like a miracle.  I was able to overcome my symptoms, I feel so much better that I’ve decided to start pursuing promotion at work again”.

Our new online shop is stocked with my chosen range of tried and tested supplements from around the world, including those that Keeley takes.  What they have in common is that these substances have been shown to help correct nutritional deficiencies or balance our hormones at this delicate life stage.  You are most welcome to view the first phase of the Maryon Stewart Collection.  In the coming few weeks we will be extending the selection so that you will now be able to purchase everything you need for your journey in one place.

We very much look forward to co-creating a ‘wellbeing revival’ for women going through perimenopause and menopause.  Our joint mission is to help women remove the negativity that menopause is the end of life as they knew it and replace it with adequate knowledge and support, so they feel they are effectively turning back their biological clock at midlife, becoming symptom free without using drugs or hormones and feeling better than they can remember.