Millions of women are told that the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause are simply something to be endured. Hot flushes, weight gain, brain fog, disrupted sleep, joint pain, low mood, and anxiety are so often dismissed as ‘normal’, as if normal and inevitable are the same thing. They are not.
At Solora Holistic Medicine in Belfast, Joanne Papenfus (Dip. NNT, CNM) takes a completely different view. Using the power of nutrition and lifestyle as medicine, she works with menopausal and perimenopausal women to understand what is genuinely driving their symptoms, and to build a clear, personalised plan to help them feel well again. Not just cope. Actually well.
Why Symptoms Are So Often Under-Addressed
The conventional approach to menopause tends to focus primarily on hormone levels, but hormonal health during this transition is influenced by a wide web of factors, gut function, blood sugar regulation, nutritional status, sleep quality, and the body’s overall stress load all play a significant role in how a woman experiences this time of life.
When any of these systems are under pressure, menopausal symptoms can become significantly more pronounced. A functional, naturopathic approach looks at all of these interconnected systems together, not in isolation, asking not just ‘what are the hormones doing?’ but ‘why is the body struggling to adapt, and what does it need?’
As Joanne puts it: there is a big difference between managing symptoms and actually healing. If you started with a healthy body, where did the disease start? This is the question that guides every consultation at Solora.
The Physical Reality of Menopausal Transition
The symptoms women experience during perimenopause and menopause are real, wide-ranging, and often profoundly disruptive to daily life. Joanne regularly works with women experiencing:
• Persistent fatigue and low energy that does not resolve with rest
• Hot flushes and night sweats disrupting sleep and daily comfort
• Brain fog, difficulty concentrating, and memory concerns
• Weight changes, particularly around the abdomen
• Mood changes, anxiety, and emotional dysregulation
• Joint discomfort and changes in skin, hair, and overall vitality
These experiences are not trivial and deserve a thorough, personalised response, not a generic protocol or dismissal.
To understand more about the conditions Joanne specialises in, visit the Conditions page.
A Holistic, Naturopathic Approach to Hormonal Health
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) can be a valuable tool for some women, and Joanne works supportively alongside clients who choose this path. However, HRT alone does not address the wider nutritional, lifestyle, and systemic factors that shape how a woman experiences menopause. For those seeking a natural, holistic approach or those who continue to feel unwell despite other interventions, naturopathic nutritional therapy can make a profound difference.
Nutritional therapy for menopause is not simply about eating well in a general sense. It is about using specific dietary approaches and nutritional support to directly help the body through hormonal transition, reducing the symptom burden, supporting energy and mood, and protecting long-term health. Lifestyle medicine, encompassing sleep, movement, and stress regulation, is equally central to this approach. In functional and naturopathic practice, lifestyle is not a secondary consideration: it is a primary therapeutic tool.
The Solora Consultation for Menopausal Women
Every client at Solora begins with a detailed in-depth consultation, combined with a state-of-the-art bioresonance body scan. Together, these give Joanne a comprehensive picture of the client using classical biomedicine, what is happening in your body right now, not just what a standard blood test might show. This thorough foundation means the personalised programme built for you is grounded in your specific biology, history, and goals.
Where functional testing is recommended alongside the consultation, this provides additional objective data to refine and strengthen the clinical picture. The information gathered from all of these elements is then used to create a personalised programme, a genuine springboard to wellness, that may include:
• A personalised nutrition and lifestyle plan tailored to hormonal support
• Dietary approaches to support energy, mood, weight, and sleep during menopausal transition
• Functional testing, where appropriate, to provide objective data
• Holistic support that takes into account the whole person, not just the hormones
• Ongoing education so you understand what is happening in your body and why
Find out more about what a Nutrition & Lifestyle Plan at Solora involves on the Nutrition & Lifestyle Plan page.
Anxiety and Mental Well-being During Menopause
One of the most commonly under-acknowledged aspects of menopausal transition is its impact on mental health. Anxiety, low mood, irritability, and a general sense of emotional dysregulation are extremely common during this time, yet they are frequently treated as entirely separate conditions, without any exploration of the hormonal and nutritional context that may be driving them.
Joanne’s holistic approach takes this seriously. Mental and emotional well-being is not separated from physical health in naturopathic practice, it is understood as deeply interconnected with it. The nutritional and lifestyle support provided through Solora addresses the whole person, including the mental and emotional dimensions of chronic health and hormonal change.
Anxiety is one of the chronic health conditions Joanne specifically works with at Solora, and the menopausal years are a time when this support can be particularly valuable.
Expertise You Can Trust
Joanne is a naturopathically trained nutritional therapist, holding her diploma from the College of Naturopathic Medicine in Northern Ireland. Her background in personal training and aromatherapy gives her a whole-body perspective that goes well beyond nutrition alone. She is registered with both the CNHC (the Professional Standards Council for the regulation of nutritional therapists) and the NNA (Naturopathic Nutrition Association), and is committed to maintaining the highest standards of practice.
For complex clients, Joanne works in close collaboration with her mentor Dr Modestas Jarutis MD, FRCS, HPCM, a former vascular surgeon now working in the holistic and functional medicine field. Dr Jarutis joins consultations by Zoom or digital platform and participates in joint in-person clinics at Solora three to four times per year, providing an additional layer of expert clinical input when needed.
Learn more about Joanne and Dr Jarutis on the About page.
You Deserve to Feel Well, Not Just Manage
The narrative that women must simply endure the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause is one that Joanne is determined to challenge. With the right nutritional foundation, a whole-person approach, and a programme built specifically around you, the menopausal years can be a time of genuine transformation rather than something to be survived.
Many of Joanne’s clients report significant improvements in energy, sleep, mood, weight, and overall sense of well-being once they begin addressing the root causes of how they feel, rather than simply managing the surface symptoms.
If you are a woman in perimenopause or menopause in Belfast or anywhere in Northern Ireland, and you are ready to take a proactive, natural approach to your health, Solora Holistic Medicine is here to help.
Book Your Consultation Today
Solora Nutrition is based at Synergy Holistic, Belfast. To book your holistic menopause consultation, visit soloraholistic.com, call 07861 219371, or email V2health.info@gmail.com.
You can also explore the full range of treatments available, including PRP, IV therapy, and skin boosters, on the Services page.
Find Solora on Facebook at facebook.com/soloraholisticmedicine for regular health insights and updates.
Happy body, happy you.
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