From Exhausted to Energised: How I Discovered the Missing Link in Women's Hormone Health

If someone had told me fifteen years ago that my PMS, energy & blood sugar crashes, and emotional rollercoaster were all connected to something called "body burnout," I would have laughed. Back then, I thought these were just normal parts of being a woman - something we were supposed to endure with a smile and a cup of tea.

But here's what I wish every woman knew: your hormones aren't meant to make your life miserable. That monthly dread, the energy crashes, the mood swings, the peri-meno symptoms that leave you feeling like a stranger in your own body - these aren't inevitable parts of womanhood. They're your body's way of communicating that something deeper needs attention.

As Women's Health Week draws near (1-5 Sept) with its powerful message to "say yes to you," I want to share the hormone health revelation that changed everything for me - and for thousands of women we've worked with at Chris and Filly Functional Medicine.

My Hormone Horror Story

Let me paint you a picture of my teen, twenties and early thirties. I was the gal that hardly got a period. I was a late bloomer (start menses at 16yo), and really only got a period every 3-6-months. I thought it was heaven as a teen! Until I started wanting to have kids, and infertility became my reality. The medical tests showed PCOS. It made a lot of sense - I'd always struggled with acne, irregular periods, an emotional mess leading up to my period. I eventually did the "drugs" and fell pregnant. But what I didn't know, and now know in hindsight, that my female hormones were strongly linked to my stress hormones - which were running HOT - and had been since a teen (I used to black out and fit when my system was under "stress"). 

After kids and starting a business, stress increased and things got worse. My energy would plummet before my period. Anxiety was all month round - but hit boiling point leading up to my period. I developed other dysregulation symptoms - gut issues, histamine intolerance, food sensitivities, chronic body pain, sleep issues.

The real wake-up call came when I found myself screaming at my kids, feeling like I had gone in sane, I real right Dragon Mum. 

That's when I discovered functional medicine and began to understand that my hormone chaos wasn't a design flaw - it was my body's desperate attempt to get my attention.

The Hidden Connection Between Stress and Hormone Health

Here's what nobody tells you about women's hormones: they're incredibly sensitive to stress. Not just the obvious stress like work deadlines or relationship conflicts, but the subtle, chronic stress that comes from constantly putting everyone else's needs before your own.

Through our work at Chris and Filly Functional Medicine, I've learned that women's bodies are designed to prioritise survival over reproduction. When your nervous system perceives that you're under threat - whether that's from a demanding boss, financial pressure, or simply the exhaustion of trying to be everything to everyone - it diverts resources away from hormone production.

This is why so many high-achieving, caring women struggle with hormone issues. Their bodies are literally too busy managing stress to produce the hormones needed for regular cycles, stable moods, and sustained energy.

The breakthrough came when I realised that my hormone problems weren't separate from my perfectionism, people-pleasing, and chronic overgiving - they were directly caused by these patterns. My body was breaking down because I'd never learned how to say no, set boundaries, or prioritise my own needs.

The Four Pillars of Hormone Healing

Through my own healing journey and our Ending Body Burnout Method, I've discovered that true hormone healing requires addressing four key areas:

Nervous System Regulation Your hormones can't function properly when your nervous system is stuck in fight-or-flight mode. This means learning to activate your parasympathetic nervous system - the rest-and-digest state where healing happens. For me, this involved daily practices like deep breathing, gentle movement, and creating sacred spaces for stillness in my day.

Nutritional Support Your body needs specific nutrients to produce hormones, but it also needs to be in a calm state to actually absorb and utilise these nutrients. I learned that all the supplements in the world wouldn't help if I was eating them while stressed, rushing, or multitasking.

Emotional Pattern Healing This was the game-changer for me. I discovered that my hormone issues were intimately connected to my relationship with my feminine energy. Years of pushing, striving, and operating in masculine energy had disconnected me from the natural rhythms of my body.

Lifestyle Alignment True hormone health requires aligning your lifestyle with your natural rhythms rather than fighting against them. This meant learning to honour my energy fluctuations throughout my cycle instead of expecting myself to perform at the same level every day.

Sarah's Transformation: When Hormones Finally Make Sense

Let me share Sarah's story because it beautifully illustrates how these pieces fit together. Sarah came to us after years of irregular periods, crushing PMS, and now perimenopause struggles. She'd been told by multiple doctors that her only options were HRT (even without testing). 

During our initial consultation, Sarah revealed that she was working 60-hour weeks, eating lunch at her desk most days, and hadn't taken a proper holiday in three years. She prided herself on being the person everyone could rely on, but her body was paying the price.

Through our holistic approach, we discovered that Sarah's hormone chaos was actually her body's way of forcing her to slow down. Her perimenopause symptoms worsened during her most stressful work periods, or when she had overcommitted to others. Her body was literally trying to protect her by making it impossible to maintain her unsustainable pace.

The transformation began when Sarah started treating her hormone symptoms as messengers rather than enemies. Instead of trying to suppress them with medications, she began listening to what they were telling her about her lifestyle, stress levels, and self-care practices. And we therapeutically supported her hormones and other imbalanced body systems that were effecting her hormones, based on functional labs. 

Six months later, Sarah is sleeping sounds and hot-flush free! 

The Ripple Effect of Hormone Harmony

Here's something beautiful I've witnessed over the years: when women heal their hormone issues by addressing the root causes, it transforms far more than just their physical symptoms. They become more intuitive, more connected to their bodies, and more aligned with their authentic selves.

Their relationships improve because they're no longer riding an emotional rollercoaster. Their work becomes more sustainable because they're working with their natural energy rhythms rather than against them. Their children learn that it's normal and healthy to honour your body's needs and cycles.

This is why hormone health is such a crucial part of women's wellness. It's not just about having regular periods or stable moods - it's about reclaiming your connection to your feminine wisdom and learning to trust your body's intelligence.

Your Invitation to Hormone Harmony

As we move into Women's Health Week (1 - 5 Sept), I want to invite you to consider a different relationship with your hormones. What if instead of seeing them as unpredictable forces that make your life difficult, you viewed them as wise messengers trying to guide you towards better health and deeper self-awareness?

What if your hormone symptoms are actually your body's way of asking you to slow down and nurture yourself? What if your energy fluctuations are inviting you to work with your natural rhythms rather than against them? What if your hormone "issues" are actually your body's way of calling you back to yourself?

The path to hormone harmony isn't about suppressing symptoms or forcing your body to behave differently. It's about creating the conditions where your hormones can function optimally - and that starts with addressing the stress, patterns, and lifestyle factors that are disrupting your natural balance.

If you're ready to explore what this might look like for you, know that you don't have to figure it out alone. Whether through our comprehensive Ending Body Burnout Method or by inviting me to share these insights as your speaker at your women's health event, I'm here to support you in discovering what hormone harmony feels like in your unique body.

Because you deserve to feel amazing throughout your entire cycle. You deserve energy that sustains you rather than abandons you. You deserve to trust your body's wisdom rather than fight against it. And most importantly, you deserve to experience the full power and beauty of your feminine hormonal intelligence.

Here's to saying yes to your hormones, yes to your cycles, and yes to the incredible wisdom of your female body.

 Filipa Bellette is the co-founder of Chris and Filly Functional Medicine and creator of the Ending Body Burnout Method. She's passionate about helping women address the root causes of their health challenges through a holistic, integrative approach that honours both the physical and emotional aspects of healing.