“Women can just go to doctors. Why would they come to you?”
Field notes from building for women in perimenopause and menopause.
Written by
Chandni Menda
I'm building Yellow. I research and write these pieces. It's not medical advice, and every source is linked below. If you're a doctor or medical practitioner reading this, we'd love to have you write guest posts with us at Yellow.
Founder Field Notes
Navigating Care
Navigating Menopause Care in Ireland: The HSE, Clinics and Costs
How to navigate menopause care through Ireland’s HSE: start with your GP, HSE specialist menopause clinics, referrals, and the schemes that cut your costs.
Navigating Care
How to Find a Menopause Specialist: A Global Guide
How to find and vet a good menopause specialist anywhere: what to look for, how care differs by country, telehealth options, and the questions to ask.
Understanding the Transition
Early Signs of Perimenopause: What to Look For and When
The early signs of perimenopause, from changing periods to sleep, mood and brain fog, when they start, whether it’s normal, and when to see a practitioner.
Treatment Options
How to Get Free HRT in Ireland: Step-by-Step Guide
Find out how to get HRT free in Ireland using the Drugs Payment Scheme or Medical Card — from booking your first GP appointment to collecting at the pharmacy.
Treatment Options
How to Get HRT in Australia: PBS, Medicare & Specialists
Confused about HRT costs in Australia? Learn how PBS subsidies, Medicare rebates, and the Medicare Safety Net work, and how to find a menopause specialist.
Lifestyle and Wellbeing
Perimenopause Weight Gain: Why It Happens and What Helps
The weight crept on around your middle and the old approaches stopped working. Why perimenopause changes your body, bloating versus real fat, and a kinder way forward.
Navigating Care
How to Get an HRT Prescription: A Practical Guide
Decided you want to explore HRT? The practical side: how to prepare, what happens in the appointment, the routes to access it, and what to do if you’re dismissed.
Symptoms Explained
Perimenopause and Your Skin: What’s Changing Beneath the Surface
Perimenopause skin changes go deeper than dryness. What estrogen does for skin, why collagen drops fast, why acne returns, and the routine and ingredients that help.
Symptoms Explained
Perimenopause and Libido: What’s Happening and What Can Help
Low libido in perimenopause is common, hormonal and often treatable. The estrogen, testosterone and psychological drivers, and the options that actually work.
Navigating Care
Menopause in the UAE and the Gulf: Breaking the Silence
The biology of menopause is universal, but the conversation is not. A practical guide for women in the UAE and Gulf: recognising the transition and getting care.
Treatment Options
Menopause Supplements: What Has Evidence and What Doesn’t
An honest, evidence-led guide to menopause supplements: what has real support (vitamin D, magnesium, phytoestrogens), what to approach with caution, and what to skip.
Understanding the Transition
The Three Hormones of Perimenopause: Estrogen, Progesterone and Testosterone
It is not just estrogen dropping. How estrogen, progesterone and testosterone each change in perimenopause, on different timelines, and why that explains your symptoms.
Treatment Options
Bone Density and Menopause: What to Know and Do Now
Menopause is the fastest period of bone loss in a woman’s life. Why estrogen matters for bone, who’s most at risk, and the exercise, nutrition and treatment that protect you.
Symptoms Explained
Perimenopause and Metabolism: Why Everything Changed
Why the same habits stop working in perimenopause. The real story on muscle loss, insulin sensitivity and fat redistribution, and what actually shifts the dial.
Symptoms Explained
Perimenopause Brain Fog at Work: Protecting Your Performance and Confidence
Perimenopause brain fog can hit hardest at work. Why it happens, the practical systems that protect your performance, and how to decide what to say at work.
Symptoms Explained
Perimenopause and Depression: What Makes It Different
Perimenopause raises the risk of depression, even with no prior history. Why estrogen affects mood, how to recognise it, and how hormone therapy, antidepressants and therapy fit.
Navigating Care
Why a Blood Test Often Cannot Diagnose Perimenopause
A normal hormone blood test does not rule out perimenopause. Why FSH testing misses the transition in women over 45, when tests do help, and what to bring instead.
Symptoms Explained
Mood Swings in Perimenopause: What Makes Them Different from PMS
Perimenopause mood swings are not amplified PMS. The different hormonal mechanism, why they feel so destabilising, and what actually helps, from sleep to hormone therapy.
Symptoms Explained
Joint Pain in Perimenopause: The Hormonal Connection Most Doctors Miss
Aching, stiff joints in your 40s? The estrogen-joint connection explained, how to tell it from arthritis, and the strength, nutrition and hormone options that help.
Symptoms Explained
Hair Loss in Perimenopause: Why It Happens and What Helps
Wider parting, thinner ponytail, more hair in the brush? Perimenopause hair thinning is hormonal. The causes to rule out and the treatments with real evidence.
Symptoms Explained
Heart Palpitations in Perimenopause: What’s Normal and What to Check
Heart palpitations in perimenopause explained: why fluctuating estrogen unsettles your heart rhythm, the red flags that need a doctor, and what actually helps.
Symptoms Explained
Hot Flashes and Night Sweats: What’s Actually Happening
Hot flashes and night sweats explained beyond ‘your estrogen is dropping’: the brain thermostat, the KNDy neurons behind them, triggers, and the treatments that work.
Symptoms Explained
Menopause Insomnia and the 3am Wake-Up: Why It Happens and What to Do
You fall asleep fine, then wake at 3am wired and can’t get back down. The hormonal and cortisol reasons behind early-hours waking, and what to do in the moment.
Lifestyle and Wellbeing
Alcohol and Perimenopause: Why the Same Drink Hits Harder Now
The same two glasses now wreck your sleep and spike anxiety. How perimenopause changes the way alcohol affects you, and a practical way to find your own limit.
Understanding the Transition
Perimenopause vs Menopause vs Postmenopause: The Differences Explained
Three stages, three different experiences. A clear breakdown of perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause: what each means, when it starts, and what your body is doing.
Symptoms Explained
Vaginal Dryness and GSM: The Symptom Nobody Talks About Enough
Vaginal dryness, painful sex and recurrent UTIs in menopause have a name: GSM. Why it happens, why it worsens without treatment, and the options that actually work.
Symptoms Explained
Perimenopause Sleep Problems: Why They Happen and What Actually Works
Sleep falls apart in perimenopause for specific hormonal reasons. The mechanisms behind night sweats and waking, why alcohol makes it worse, and what genuinely helps.
Navigating Care
How to Get the Most From a Perimenopause Doctor’s Appointment
Told you were too young, or that it’s just stress? How to prepare for a perimenopause appointment, what to say, the truth about hormone tests, and when to escalate.
Lifestyle and Wellbeing
What to Eat in Perimenopause: A Food Framework, Not a Diet
What to eat in perimenopause, explained: the protein, blood sugar, fibre and phytoestrogen shifts that support your hormones. A framework, not a diet.
Symptoms Explained
Perimenopause Rage: The Anger Nobody Warned You About
Sudden, disproportionate anger is a common and rarely discussed part of perimenopause. Why fluctuating hormones drive it, how it differs from PMS, and what helps.
Lifestyle and Wellbeing
Exercise in Perimenopause: Why the Old Fitness Rules Stop Working
Cardio-first fitness advice becomes incomplete in perimenopause. Why muscle now matters most, how to rethink cardio and recovery, and what a smart routine looks like.
Symptoms Explained
Menopause Brain Fog: Why It Happens and Why It’s Not Dementia
Forgetting words and losing your thread in your 40s is frightening. Why menopause brain fog happens, why it is almost never early dementia, and what genuinely helps.
Lifestyle and Wellbeing
Menopause Weight Gain: Why It’s Different Now and What Actually Helps
Same diet, more exercise, nothing works? Menopause weight gain follows different rules. The hormonal drivers of belly fat and the approach that actually works now.
Treatment Options
HRT Explained: What Hormone Therapy Is and How to Think About It
Hormone therapy carries more fear and confusion than almost any women’s health topic. A clear orientation: what HRT is, the forms, the evidence, and what to ask.
Symptoms Explained
Perimenopause Anxiety: Why It Appears From Nowhere and What Helps
New anxiety in your 40s with no obvious trigger is often hormonal, not a character change. How estrogen and progesterone drive it, why it’s missed, and what helps.
Treatment Options
GLP-1 Medications and Menopause: The Bone and Muscle Question
GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro are popular in midlife, but weight loss can cost muscle and bone at the very stage menopause is already taking both. What to know.
Understanding the Transition
What Is Perimenopause? The Transition Explained
Perimenopause is the years-long hormonal transition before menopause, and it starts earlier than most women expect. What it is, when it starts, and the signs to know.
Treatment Options
Is HRT Safe? What the Evidence Actually Says in 2026
One source calls HRT a miracle, the next says it causes cancer. A calm, sourced look at what the evidence supports in 2026, the risks stated plainly, and how to decide.
Understanding the Transition
Is This Perimenopause or Just Stress? How to Tell the Difference
Perimenopause and chronic stress produce almost identical symptoms. The signals that tell them apart, why it is often both at once, and how to get a clearer answer.
Symptoms Explained
Perimenopause Symptoms You’d Never Connect to Your Hormones
Frozen shoulder, tinnitus, dry mouth, anxiety from nowhere. Scattered symptoms in your 40s can share one cause: perimenopause. The unexpected signs and what to do.
