MenoWell Hub

MenoWell Hub For Illawarra women who just want to feel like themselves again. Expert perimenopause + menopause care led by Dr Bhavani Jayabalan, Menopause Specialist GP.

Based in Wollongong, NSW. Book your consultation at the link below.

Most women walk into their first appointment ready to list their symptoms. But I think there's a bigger question worth a...
04/09/2026

Most women walk into their first appointment ready to list their symptoms. But I think there's a bigger question worth asking: what could change if someone finally looked at the whole picture?

Not just “what's wrong with me?” but “what would it feel like to stop trying to make sense of all of this on my own?”

That's why a first consultation at MenoWell Hub is an hour.

Perimenopause can involve symptoms and health considerations that don't fit neatly into a ten-minute conversation, so the initial assessment looks broadly at your symptoms and medical history, alongside areas such as bone health, cardiovascular risk, mental health, sexual health and genitourinary health.

And if other members of our allied health team are involved in your care, they're briefed on the relevant clinical picture before seeing you. You shouldn't have to start from zero and explain the same story every time you walk into another room.

For me, comprehensive perimenopause care isn't about assuming every symptom is hormonal. It's about taking the time to consider how the pieces may fit together, what else may need to be considered, and what is appropriate for you as an individual.

You don't need a referral to start, just a decision to stop piecing it together alone. Book your first consultation via the link in bio.

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This content is general information only and is not a substitute for personalised medical advice. Everyone's situation is different. Please speak with a qualified healthcare professional about your own circumstances.

03/09/2026

If you've had this exact fight and had no idea why, you're not alone. I hear versions of this conversation in consults nearly every week.

It's not a character thing or that you've suddenly become impossible to live with.

The things that never used to bother you start to bother you instantly because of what's happening hormonally, not because you've changed as a person.

Follow us for more evidence-based conversations about perimenopause, menopause and women's health.

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This content is general information only and is not a substitute for personalised medical advice. Everyone's situation is different. Please speak with a qualified healthcare professional about your own circumstances.

01/09/2026

You Google "brain fog perimenopause" and somehow end up reading about dementia.

One search leads to another, and it's 11pm and you're comparing every forgotten word with a list of warning signs.

In its updated dementia risk-reduction guidance, the WHO looked at the evidence around menopausal hormone therapy and dementia.

For women under 65, the evidence was not sufficient to conclude that MHT either increases or decreases dementia risk. That's an important distinction. That doesn't mean HRT prevents dementia, and appropriately prescribed HRT hasn't been shown to cause it either.

A separate analysis in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, involving more than one million participants, similarly found no significant association between MHT and dementia risk.

This is where the conversation needs to get more precise.

MHT may be considered for menopausal symptoms where clinically appropriate, based on individual circumstances. It shouldn't be prescribed specifically to prevent dementia based on current evidence.

For brain health longer term, established modifiable risk factors, including cardiovascular and metabolic health, physical activity, smoking and alcohol use, still matter.

If you're experiencing brain fog, difficulty concentrating or word-finding changes during perimenopause, those symptoms deserve to be taken seriously without becoming a dementia diagnosis by a late-night search.

The evidence is more nuanced than "HRT protects your brain" or "HRT causes dementia." Women deserve that nuance.

Save this if you want to come back to it, and follow us for evidence-based conversations about perimenopause, menopause and women's health.

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This content provides general information only and is not a substitute for personalised medical advice. The benefits and risks of menopausal hormone therapy vary according to individual circumstances, including medical history, age, timing and treatment type. Please speak with a qualified healthcare professional about your own situation.

01/09/2026

You've built a career on being sharp. Now you're terrified someone will notice you're not.

That's the part of brain fog that doesn't get talked about enough.

It's not only forgetting a word mid-sentence, it's what that moment can mean to a woman who's spent years being the person people rely on to communicate clearly, make decisions and know what to say.

You start wondering why something that used to come so easily now takes effort.

Changes in memory, concentration and word-finding are commonly reported during the menopause transition, and changing hormone levels may be one of several factors involved.

Sleep disruption, mood, stress, medications and other health conditions can also affect cognition, which is why brain fog shouldn't automatically be put down to perimenopause, or dismissed as simply being busy. It deserves to be considered in the context of the whole clinical picture.

Because when a capable woman starts rehearsing sentences before meetings or avoiding situations where she once felt confident, the impact isn't only cognitive. It can start changing how she sees herself.

Send this to someone it might help, and follow us for evidence-based conversations about perimenopause, menopause and women's health.

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This content is general information only and is not a substitute for personalised medical advice. Everyone's situation is different. Please speak with a qualified healthcare professional about your own circumstances.

She described the after like this: "I woke up. I felt fine. I just got on with my day."That was it. That was everything ...
27/08/2026

She described the after like this: "I woke up. I felt fine. I just got on with my day."

That was it. That was everything she wanted.

Not a dramatic turnaround or a new version of herself. Just a Tuesday morning where she didn't have to white-knuckle her way through the first two hours.

Before, you probably know how this goes. The third coffee before she felt like herself. The outfit chosen around getting hot. The rehearsing before she spoke in a meeting, just to make sure the words would actually come. The shortness with her kids that she'd lie awake replaying at 2am.

She wasn't struggling because something was wrong with her. She was struggling because her oestrogen had dropped, and nobody had connected the dots.

When the picture becomes clear and the right support is in place, the words come back. The morning stops being something to survive. You are warm with your kids without trying.

That ordinary Tuesday? That's what we're working toward.

Book your one-hour initial consultation with Dr Bhavani via the link in bio (no referral needed).

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This content is general information only and is not a substitute for personalised medical advice. Everyone's situation is different. Please speak with a qualified healthcare professional about your own circumstances.

You're exhausted all day but wide awake at 2am. Eight hours becomes five, every single night.You've followed the standar...
25/08/2026

You're exhausted all day but wide awake at 2am. Eight hours becomes five, every single night.

You've followed the standard sleep advice. You've tried the melatonin. It made sense and it hasn't worked, which points to something worth investigating: the usual sleep hygiene tips aren't designed to address a hormonal driver. That's the piece that's often missing.

Sleep disruption in perimenopause often has a hormonal layer. Oestrogen and progesterone both play a role in sleep architecture and when they fluctuate, so does the quality and depth of sleep. It's a layer that's easy to overlook when poor sleep is being treated as a habit problem.

When there's also a psychological layer, the racing thoughts, the mind that won't stop cataloguing at 2am, that's where I work alongside Amanda MacKay from Illawarra Sleep Psychology. CBTi is a well-evidenced approach for sleep, and it makes sense to address both layers at the same time, rather than sequentially.

Share this with someone it will help and follow for more evidence-based women's health content.

*This content is general information only and is not a substitute for personalised medical advice. Everyone's situation is different. Please speak with a qualified healthcare professional about your own circumstances.

Most women leave their GP appointment without asking the one question that would have changed everything.It's not becaus...
25/08/2026

Most women leave their GP appointment without asking the one question that would have changed everything.

It's not because they didn't want to ask. It's because nobody told them it was worth asking, or that the answer might explain the last two years.

These are the four questions I'd take into any GP appointment if I were in perimenopause:

Could this be perimenopause, even if my bloods are normal? Hormone levels fluctuate significantly during perimenopause. A normal result on the day of the test doesn't rule it out.

Has my bone density ever been checked? Oestrogen is directly involved in bone maintenance. The time to have this conversation is before something goes wrong.

Can we talk about HRT as an option? Modern bioidentical HRT has a different evidence base to the treatment most people are afraid of. It's worth a proper conversation.

What else could be driving these symptoms? This is the question that opens the door to a fuller picture, one that looks at mood, sleep, cardiovascular risk, and more together.

Save this before your next appointment. If you'd like a dedicated perimenopause assessment, book via the link in bio. No referral needed.

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This content is general information only and is not a substitute for personalised medical advice. Everyone's situation is different. Please speak with a qualified healthcare professional about your own circumstances.

24/08/2026

Some women feel like they're falling apart before they ever have a hot flush.

Their oestrogen may still be relatively stable. It's their progesterone that has begun to decline.

Progesterone is often the first hormone to change in perimenopause, which is why symptoms like anxiety, poor sleep and mood changes can appear years before the symptoms most people expect.

This is one of the most common conversations I have with my patients. Many arrive wondering what's wrong with them, only to discover their symptoms fit a hormonal pattern that's often overlooked.

Follow for more evidence-based education, and share this with someone who needs to hear it.

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This content is general information only and is not a substitute for personalised medical advice. Everyone's situation is different. Please speak with a qualified healthcare professional about your own circumstances.

Getting the hormonal balance right is not a one-appointment process.At a quarterly review, we assess how treatment is pr...
20/08/2026

Getting the hormonal balance right is not a one-appointment process.

At a quarterly review, we assess how treatment is progressing, adjust what needs adjusting, and ensure the allied health piece is working alongside the hormonal one.

Everything is coordinated so nothing falls through the gaps.

This is what ongoing managed care looks like. Book your initial consultation with Dr Bhavani at the link in bio.

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This content is general information only and is not a substitute for personalised medical advice. Everyone's situation is different. Please speak with a qualified healthcare professional about your own circumstances.

Low mood. Poor sleep. A prescription for antidepressants. Still, two years later, not feeling herself.This is a common p...
19/08/2026

Low mood. Poor sleep. A prescription for antidepressants. Still, two years later, not feeling herself.

This is a common path I see before women find their way to me.

The GPs who prescribed antidepressants were doing exactly what their training prepared them to do. The problem is that nobody asked about her cycle, her sleep changes, when the mood shift started, or whether anything else had changed in the years before.

Those questions would have changed the picture entirely.

The hormonal picture simply wasn't investigated, and when it isn't investigated, it isn't found. Low mood and disrupted sleep that have a hormonal driver don't fully resolve without addressing that driver.

A perimenopause assessment looks at exactly this. Book a consultation via the link in bio (no referral needed).

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This content is general information only and is not a substitute for personalised medical advice. Everyone's situation is different. Please speak with a qualified healthcare professional about your own circumstances.

Address

Ochre Medical Centre/Level 1, 51 Crown Street
Wollongong, NSW
2500

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Saturday 1pm - 4pm

Telephone

+61242767000

Website

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