Data-driven coaching for perimenopause and menopause, cycle changes, PMS, brain fog and exhaustion rooted in hormonal changes.
„You're far too young for that." Women in their early forties hear this sentence far too often, even though their body, sleep, mood and energy have visibly shifted. Perimenopause begins on average ten years before the actual menopause. If you recognise yourself in this, it's worth looking together at your hormones, your stress axis and your lifestyle levers — whether you're searching for a hormone coach in Switzerland or anywhere in Germany or Austria for someone who understands the picture in the depth you need.
Important context: I'm a PhD scientist and coach (not a medical doctor). I don't diagnose conditions and I don't treat disease. My coaching complements medical care.
You're in your early to mid forties, your cycle has shifted, your sleep is unstable, you wake up sweating at night or feel more exhausted in the morning than you did the evening before. At the doctor's office, you hear that you are „too young". In reality, perimenopause is a well-defined life stage that often begins ten years before the last period. What's worth doing: an honest look at your hormone profile, your stress axis and your symptoms.
It used to be a few days, now the second half of your cycle is out of joint: irritability, sleep issues, water retention, breast tenderness, mood drops. The pattern behind it is often a progesterone deficiency relative to estrogen, often combined with a stretched adrenal system. The Pill or magnesium alone rarely fix that — it pays to look at the full picture in a structured way.
You feel as though a different woman is looking back at you from the mirror. Concentration gone, sleep disturbed, weight shifting towards the belly even though you're not eating more than before. Often this is an interplay of estrogen drop, insulin resistance, thyroid in the grey zone and HPA axis dysregulation. Pulling only one lever rarely shifts anything. Seeing the full picture is the real lever.
In all of these cases, age isn't the problem. The problem is the missing depth of hormonal context.
Menopause symptoms are often reduced to „estrogen deficiency". In reality, perimenopause is an interplay of several hormonal axes that influence each other. Pulling on only one of them rarely satisfies. That's exactly why the full picture matters.
Estrogen fluctuates strongly in perimenopause, not in a steady decline but in waves. It influences serotonin, bone density, skin elasticity, sleep and insulin sensitivity. The estrobolome, specific gut bacteria, also co-regulates how much estrogen stays active. Typical signs: hot flashes, sleep disturbance, brain fog, dry mucous membranes, mood swings.
Progesterone often drops years before estrogen. It works calmly (via GABA receptors), supports sleep and balances estrogen. Typical signs: stronger PMS, trouble falling asleep, inner restlessness in the second half of the cycle, shorter cycles, spotting.
The stress axis is closely linked to the sex hormones. A chronically taxed adrenal system or a shifted daily cortisol profile can intensify PMS, sleep problems and energy crashes. Signs of adrenal fatigue or HPA axis dysregulation often overlap with what gets called „menopause". Typical signs: exhaustion despite sleep, „wired but tired", poor mornings, an evening energy push.
The thyroid often slips into the grey zone during perimenopause. TSH can look „normal" while free T3 and reverse T3 paint a different picture. Many women also see Hashimoto antibodies for the first time in this phase. Typical signs: weight gain, cold sensitivity, hair loss, fatigue, constipation, dry skin.
As estrogen drops, insulin sensitivity drops with it — blood sugar swings get sharper, cravings increase, belly fat appears even though your eating hasn't changed. An unstable glucose curve also intensifies hot flashes, sleep issues and mood drops. Typical signs: afternoon cravings, post-meal concentration dips, expanding waistline despite stable nutrition, poor sleep after carb-heavy evenings.
Important: Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or bioidentical hormones are medical decisions you make with your gynaecologist. In coaching, we work on the lifestyle levers that influence your hormonal balance — sleep, stress regulation, nutrition, micronutrients, movement. That complements HRT, it doesn't replace it.
My own path into functional medicine began in childhood. Back then it was gut issues and exhaustion that pushed me, systematically, towards where I stand today. What I learned early: the body thinks in systems, not in specialties. Anyone hormonally out of balance almost always has a story with stress, sleep, the gut or micronutrients alongside it.
As I went deeper into the research, the estrobolome particularly fascinated me: the insight that specific gut bacteria co-decide how much estrogen stays active in the body. That was a key for me to understand why women with chronic digestive themes so often also have hormonal complaints, and vice versa.
Meanwhile I'm noticing the first signs of perimenopause in myself: sleep becomes more restless, PMS gets stronger, muscle tension shows up, the cycle becomes irregular. That's exactly why this life stage fascinates me so much now. Because it shows particularly clearly how closely hormones, neurotransmitters, gut and micronutrients work together.
I work with women who are navigating PMS, perimenopause and menopause symptoms, thyroid themes or adrenal fatigue and have so often been told: „That's just how it is, you'll have to live with it." That rarely holds. What more often holds: nobody has actually looked at their full hormonal picture in any depth.
My coaching is for women who sense that something is hormonally out of balance — and who want a data-driven way to understand their own hormonal map.
„The sentence women hear most often in this life stage is: ‚That's just how it is.' The sentence they deserve to hear is: ‚Let's understand your hormones and your life in this phase.'"
Dr. B.J. Huber
Menopause symptoms are often met with a single measure — a patch, a pill, a supplement. Sometimes that helps, often it isn't enough. My approach is different. First understand the hormonal map, then build the plan that fits your real life in Switzerland, Germany or Austria.
Step 1
Before we meet for the first time, I look through your existing lab results and your cycle or symptom notes beforehand. That way I can ask targeted questions in our session instead of losing time on the basics. In the conversation itself, I take the time for your full story: cycle, sleep, stress, digestion, nutrition, earlier themes, family situation.
Step 2
After the history session, I sit with your results and your story again in quiet. Where important markers are missing, we work out together which tests could bring clarity — an extended hormone panel (blood or saliva), a daily cortisol profile, an extended thyroid panel, fasting insulin and HbA1c. The tests themselves are ordered through your gynaecologist, GP or a specialised lab. I help you ask the right questions.
Step 3
Once the additional results are in, I place them carefully within the full picture — together with your symptoms and your daily life. From that, we develop a prioritised plan that supports your hormonal balance from where you actually live: nutrition with an eye on blood sugar and estrogen metabolism, movement that fits your phase, sleep strategies, stress regulation, micronutrient guidance. Specific hormone therapy or prescriptions stay with your physician — I give you the understanding to talk with her as an equal.
Step 4
Nobody has to change everything at once. We work through the plan at your pace, reflecting, adjusting, going deeper. Hormonal change needs cycles to show, not days. After three to four months, a second round of markers is often worth it so you can objectively see what has shifted — in your results and in your daily life.
In perimenopause many hormones fluctuate strongly. A single reading rarely says enough. Here is an overview of the markers that together often complete the picture.
Which markers matter most in your specific case depends on your story, your cycle and your symptoms. We discuss that in the free consultation, and in coaching we prioritise together.
Perimenopause is the transitional phase before menstruation ends for good. It often begins in the mid to late thirties, on average ten years before the actual menopause. Typical signs are fluctuations in progesterone and estrogen, a changing cycle pattern, shifts in sleep, new mood patterns, brain fog, weight redistribution towards the midsection. Many women hear at the doctor's office that they are 'too young for menopause' — even though perimenopause is a clearly defined life stage in medicine.
A gynaecologist or endocrinologist diagnoses, prescribes and monitors hormone therapies — that is their role. Coaching complements that. We look together at your hormonal pattern, your stress and sleep profile, your micronutrient status and your nutrition pattern. From there we develop a plan you can actually live with — alongside what your physician prescribes. My coaching does not replace medical care and does not include any diagnosis.
A single FSH or estradiol reading often says little in perimenopause because readings fluctuate strongly. More meaningful are: a hormone panel (blood or saliva) across several cycle days, progesterone in the second half of the cycle, a daily cortisol profile for the HPA axis, free T3 and T4 plus TSH for the thyroid, vitamin D, ferritin, magnesium. Which tests make sense in your situation is something we work out together.
That is a medical decision you make with your gynaecologist — not with me. Current research views modern, bioidentical HRT differently than it did ten years ago. What I do in coaching: clarify your hormonal starting point as much as possible, so you can have a confident, well-informed conversation with your physician about therapy options. In parallel, we work on the lifestyle levers that influence your hormonal balance regardless of the HRT question.
A great deal. Specific gut bacteria — the so-called estrobolome — co-regulate how much estrogen stays active in the body or is cleared. Dysbiosis or a leaky gut can intensify estrogen dominance, PMS or perimenopause symptoms. Thyroid hormones are also activated in the gut, and the HPA axis (stress hormones) is closely linked to gut flora. If you're hormonally out of balance, it often pays to look at the gut in parallel.
Severe PMS or PMDD can already be a sign of hormonal shifts in the thirties, often a relative progesterone deficiency compared to estrogen. In perimenopause, these patterns frequently intensify. In coaching, we look together at your cycle pattern, how your symptoms move through the year, and your markers — and we work out what is hormonal, what is metabolic, and what is lifestyle-related.
It can be both, and the two often overlap. The drop in estrogen during perimenopause influences neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which explains some of the cognitive and mood-related symptoms. At the same time, HPA axis dysregulation or signs of adrenal fatigue shift the picture. In coaching, we untangle what is hormonal, what is stress-related, and what is a micronutrient theme.
The coaching takes place entirely online via video call. All you need is a stable internet connection. I work with clients across Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Tests can be ordered through specialised labs in your country or via your GP or gynaecologist. A recommendation of which lab is reachable from your location is part of the coaching.
Some Swiss supplementary health insurances such as SWICA or CSS contribute to health coaching. It's worth asking your insurer specifically. The coaching packages themselves are billed directly with me. The cost of laboratory tests is partly on you, depending on the test and your insurance — we discuss this transparently before you order anything.
First changes in well-being — sleep quality, mood, energy — are often noticeable within the first four to eight weeks, when the right lifestyle levers are pulled. A real hormonal re-balancing typically takes three to six months of consistent work, because hormones need cycles to settle in a new place. Nothing is guaranteed — it depends strongly on your individual situation.
In the free 30-minute consultation we get to know each other, you tell me your story, and we look together whether my coaching is a good fit for you.
