What actually helps
Everything Guía knows how to suggest, sorted by what is bothering you. What to do, when to expect anything, what it costs, and what it is based on. Nothing here is for sale.
What's bothering you most?
Supplement
Magnesium glycinate
The form of magnesium that calms rather than loosens. For nights that will not settle.
about $8 a month
Supplement
Glycine
An amino acid that lowers your core body temperature — the signal your brain waits for before deep sleep.
about $6 a month
Food
Tart cherry juice
One of the few foods that carries melatonin precursors. A drink rather than a pill.
about $30 a month
Making it easier
A colder bedroom
The cheapest thing on this list, and for night sweats often the most effective.
Free
Supplement
Sage
A kitchen herb with real clinical evidence behind it for hot flashes.
about $12 a month
Practice
Finding your triggers
One week of noticing what comes before a flash. Costs nothing and often does more than a supplement.
Free
Practice
Asking about hormone therapy
The most effective treatment there is for hot flashes and night sweats. A conversation with a clinician, not something to start on your own.
Depends on your insurance, your country and the form — ask what it will actually cost before you leave
Supplement
Creatine monohydrate
Not just for gym bros. It fuels brain cells the same way it fuels muscle.
about $10 a month
Supplement
Omega-3 (EPA and DHA)
Works on the inflammation side of brain fog and sore joints.
about $18 a month
Movement
Strength training
The single most evidence-backed thing on this list — for metabolism, bone, and mood at once.
Free
Movement
A walk after eating
Ten minutes after your largest meal does more for blood sugar than an hour at another time.
Free
Movement
Gentle mobility
For the mornings when everything is stiff and strength training is not happening.
Free
Supplement
Saffron extract
One of the very few botanicals with antidepressant-level evidence in trials.
about $25 a month
Practice
Morning light
Free, takes ten minutes, and sets both your mood and that night’s sleep.
Free
Food
Protein at breakfast
The meal most women under-eat protein at, and the one where it changes the rest of the day.
Free
On your skin
A ceramide moisturizer
Skin holds less water than it used to. This is the part that stops the tightness and the stinging.
about $12 a month
On your skin
A retinoid at night
The one skincare ingredient with decades of trials behind it rather than marketing.
about $15 a month
On your skin
Sunscreen every morning
The only thing here that prevents the change rather than treating it afterwards.
about $15 a month
On your skin
A vaginal moisturizer
For dryness and discomfort, and it is not the same thing as lubricant. No appointment needed.
about $12 a month
Practice
Asking about vaginal estrogen
A local treatment, not the same as hormone therapy — very little of it reaches the rest of the body.
Depends on your insurance and country — worth asking about the generic
Practice
Writing down what your cycle does
Irregular is expected in this stage. Written down is what tells you which kind of irregular you have.
Free
Practice
Asking for a ferritin test
The most common reversible cause of shedding in midlife, and it does not show on a standard blood count.
Free
On your skin
Topical minoxidil
The only over-the-counter treatment approved for hair thinning in women.
about $25 a month
Making the rest easier
These do not treat anything on their own. They are the reason the other things keep happening.
Living with this is hard on the people close to you, and explaining it is its own job. A page you can send them instead →
Everything here says what it is based on and how sure that evidence is. Much of this research is small and recent, so "early evidence" means exactly that — worth knowing about, not settled. Who made this
Which of these is for you?
Three questions and Guía puts the ones that fit your symptoms into a plan — in the right order, with the smaller version for the days you cannot. Free, and there is nothing to buy.
Answer three questionsThe library stays free and open. No account needed to read any of it.