My name is Kelly Davis. I began studying herbalism at the age of 47. After more than a decade of growing and preserving food, I was interested in learning about plant medicine. My research began with an independent online course. I worked on it off and on for almost a year, but I had trouble really getting into it. It was not until I was several months into a health crisis of my own that I realized it was time to really dive in.

After months of doctor appointments, cardiac testing, GI testing and lots of pharmaceuticals, it was determined that my symptoms were caused by perimenopause. After 6 weeks of hormone replacement therapy and the scary side effects that accompanied it, I took myself off the HRT and decided I would learn to heal myself.

My symptoms included hot flashes that were accompanied by dizziness and nausea that would escalate into panic attacks. The hot flashes were so frequent and lasted so long that I didn’t recognize what they were. I also had gastrointestinal issues and new food sensitivities to tomatoes and peppers (two of my favorite foods!). Additionally, I experienced hormone migraines, light sensitivity, insomnia, heart palpitations, reflux, hair loss and crippling anxiety. The most disconcerting symptom was the panic attacks that would come over me while driving. All of these symptoms became disruptive to my life and were quite scary.

As I dove into studying herbalism and hormones, I slowly began experiencing relief from the symptoms that had plagued me for months. The change felt miraculous!

I found myself telling anyone that would listen about what I was doing and how well it was working. It seemed that there was a need for this information. I started watching wellness podcasts around the topic of perimenopause and menopause. Finally, people are talking about this important topic. But to my dismay, every interview I listened to only covered hormone replacement therapy, stress reduction and lifestyle changes as remedies for symptoms. I didn’t hear anyone talking about herbal remedies.

What finally inspired me to start this blog was an interview on a well-known wellness podcast with many subscribers. The interview was just like all the others I had seen. It gave the impression that the only options for women were to take hormone replacement or make lifestyle changes like diet and exercise. I commented on the podcast about how I was happy to see this topic being covered more, but I was disappointed that there is no conversation about how herbs can relieve symptoms. I mentioned that I had been having great success. I received several questions from viewers to my comment asking what I had been doing and looking for reputable resources. Every time I tried to answer the questions, my answer was deleted. I couldn’t believe I was being censored.

This experience reinforced my belief that there is a need and a desire for information about herbal support for women in perimenopause and menopause, but that information is not included in mainstream conversations about the topic.

My hope for this blog is to share information that should be freely available to everyone. Each post will cover a different herb and my personal experience with it. I hope that you will find it helpful.

Thanks for joining me!