A certified menopause practitioner is a healthcare provider with specialized training in treating perimenopause and menopause symptoms. Professionals from many fields — including nurses, doctors, physical therapists, and social workers — can take an exam to earn certification from The Menopause Society.

ThisIsMenopause spoke with three certified menopause practitioners to get their top tips:

• Maariya Bassa, certified nurse midwife and medical director for quality at Unity Health Care in Washington, D.C.
• Margaret Ladner, certified nurse midwife and founder of Attune Menopause Care in Chicago
• Cindi Lanners, doctor of physical therapy and board-certified pelvic and women’s health clinical specialist in Colorado

Here’s what they shared.

1. Find a Provider Who Listens

“Always try to identify a provider who’s going to listen to you and who is versed in current research on managing menopause and perimenopause,” Ladner said. “Unfortunately, so many providers are not well versed and are stuck in old thinking about treatment. If you have a provider who’s telling you that you’re not a good candidate for hormone therapy, ask them why they recommend against it.”

Sometimes, she said, providers tell women that they’re too young or it’s not the right time for certain treatment options. “That means you need to go and find a new provider,” Ladner said. “The provider needs to be asking you lots of questions to understand your health history and also what your experience is.”

2. Get Personalized Treatment

“I think the thing about menopause treatment and menopause therapies is that they are so tailored to individual symptoms,” Bassa said. “So much of a conversation between the clinician and the patient involves what symptoms we’re actually looking to treat as opposed to, well, this is just standard treatment.”

Ladner agreed. “We have to really talk with a provider to figure out exactly what our biggest concerns are and which treatment or treatments are going to fix those or alleviate those,” she said.

“People may find that using low-dose birth control pills fixes many of the most bothersome symptoms for them, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all,” Ladner said. “Sometimes people might have an experience where birth control pills work for a while or take some of the edge off, but then menopause hormone replacement therapy is a better fix for them.”

3. Honor Your Sleep Routine

In addition to finding the right provider, women can take steps at home to help manage common symptoms of menopause, including sleep problems.

“Sleep hygiene is going to involve establishing a daily routine,” Bassa said. “Make sure that you’re setting up a pattern of ‘OK, I’m going to take a shower. I’m going to stop all electronics. I’m going to go lie in bed, maybe start reading a book.’ That’s what’s going to help you get into this good sleep environment.”

Bassa also shared tips for building a better sleep routine: “Doing something relaxing before bed, taking a warm bath, having these rituals before bed is helpful. Then, make sure that you’re setting standard times — a regular time that you’re going to sleep and a regular time that you are waking up each morning.”

Getting bright light in the morning, dimming lights in the evening, and cutting back on caffeine can also help, she said.

4. Don’t Dismiss Birth Control

“Folks start to feel like ‘I’m 48 — who needs birth control anymore?’” Bassa said. “In that perimenopausal age, you still need to be on contraception if you are sexually active.”

She encourages women to have a contraceptive plan until their mid-50s if they’re sexually active with a male partner.

5. The Time for Change Is Now

“Perimenopause is kind of an amazing time to think, ‘Oh, maybe I need to reevaluate some habits,’” Lanners shared. “It’s a great age to make some positive changes to help you be a more successful ager throughout your life.”

Getting enough protein and fiber is an important step for overall health, according to Lanners. “If you want to build muscle mass, a common recommendation is 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight,” she said. “Fiber is great because it can keep you full, it helps with bowel and bladder function, and it’s great for cancer prevention. Women need to strive for 25 grams of fiber per day.”

Lanners suggests tracking food intake for a few days to see how close you are to meeting these goals. Making a positive change can be as simple as “Googling a list [of high-protein or high-fiber foods], finding what you like, and inviting yourself to work those foods into your diet more often,” she said.

6. Seek Out Trusted Resources

Lanners said she encourages women to “turn toward high-quality resources that are guiding them toward things that have been well researched.” Organizations like The Menopause Society and the International Menopause Society are leading sources of research on perimenopause and menopause. “Those are great resources to get information in addition to your site, which is collaborating with experts in the field,” she told ThisIsMenopause.

“Social media has been wonderful for this because it’s not taboo to talk about these things,” Lanners noted. However, it’s important to make sure the information you find online is evidence-based.