Why the tried and true cold and flu go-tos can stop working in midlife - and the missing piece that changes everything.
Is cold and flu season harder than it used to be?
The vitamin C is out on the counter. The zinc is in the cupboard. Early bedtimes are back on the schedule.
Tried and true support that USED to work.
And lately? Not so much.
So what changed?
Hormones.
Nothing is wrong with the go-tos
Here's what I want every woman in midlife to know.
There's nothing wrong with vitamin C, or zinc, or herbs, or an early night. I'm all for every one of them.
They just don't have a base to work with anymore - once hormones start changing.
Because whatever the cold and flu go-to is, it works SO much better when hormones already have support.
And almost nobody is talking about it.
What happens to the immune system in the menopause years
Research shows the immune system shifts as estrogen drops in the menopause years.
A 2019 review in Frontiers in Endocrinology found that declining estrogen is associated with more inflammation - and less activity from some of the immune cells that fight off viruses.
More inflammation. Less defense.
It's like changing hormones - if they're unsupported - can pull the rug out from under the immune system.
Here's how I explain it in Chinese medicine.
Think of hormones as a bucket. And part of what's in that bucket is a deep, cooling, calming, grounding reserve. I call it watery essence. It's what keeps things moist and calm and settled.
As hormones change in perimenopause, that bucket gets emptier.
And when there's less of that cooling, calming reserve, the immune system gets jumpy. It starts overreacting to things it used to ignore - and many women notice more flare-ups of all kinds in these years.
That same review notes that women make up nearly 80% of people with autoimmune conditions - and that several of these conditions become more common around the menopause transition.
Add stress and years of running on empty, and the immune system ends up overactive AND less effective. At the same time.
Right when cold and flu season shows up.
How it plays out: my lingering cough
I'll use myself as the example.
I've always tended to get a dry, lingering cough after a cold. It used to hang on and hang on. Running? Singing? Cough, cough...
Here's why that happens, from a Chinese medicine point of view.
A cold or the flu dries the lungs out. And lungs need to stay moist to work well. So once the cold is over, the body's job is to re-moisten them - and the lungs draw from that deep watery reserve in the bucket to do it.
But if the bucket is already low, there's nothing for the lungs to draw from.
The cold is gone. The cough stays.
So here's what I do now.
I keep my bucket topped off all year - it's part of my baseline. And when I get to the end of a cold, I double down, with herbs for the watery essence in the bucket and herbs traditionally used to support moisture in the lungs.
These days, that cough clears up far faster than it ever used to.
Why HRT is great - and not the whole answer
Hormones have been all over the news, because the FDA took the black box warnings off HRT - the warnings about heart disease, breast cancer, and dementia that had been on the label for over 20 years.
I think that's great news. HRT can be a wonderful part of hormonal care - and anyone curious about it should talk to their doctor.
But I would never want to face this time of life with only HRT.
HRT fills the bucket. But it doesn't address the leaks or the traffic jams.
I heard a doctor on a podcast recently put it this way - the real question isn't just giving the body hormones. It's what the body does with them downstream.
That's exactly how Chinese medicine looks at it.
HRT gives the body great raw materials. But it doesn't tell the body what to do with them. Which is why so many women notice the hot flashes ease - and the sleep doesn't.
So in Chinese medicine, the question isn't just "are hormones low?" It's:
- Is the bucket actually low?
- Or is there enough in there, but it's not getting delivered where it needs to go?
- And if it's getting stuck - where?
The answer changes what a woman needs. That's what customizing actually means.
Where Chinese herbs come in
Chinese herbs get matched to the woman - not one big splash of the same thing for everyone.
And Chinese herbs aren't one herb. When most people hear "herbs for menopause," they think of black cohosh, or dang gui on its own. Dang gui IS a Chinese herb - but a single herb pulled out of a formula isn't how Chinese medicine uses herbs. We use formulas. Combinations, matched to what the woman is actually experiencing.
So here's the order that matters for cold and flu season:
- Support hormones first - with herbs, or herbs and HRT together.
- Fill the bucket, and make sure those hormones are getting delivered.
- Then the cold and flu go-tos have something to work with.
So to recap
- Changing hormones, if they're unsupported, can pull the rug out from under the immune system - leaving it overactive and less effective at the same time.
- When the bucket runs low, the body doesn't have what it needs to bounce back.
- HRT is great, but it's not the whole answer. Herbs matched to the woman can help fill the bucket and get those hormones delivered - so every cold and flu go-to has something to work with.
From about 38 on, supporting hormones is part of baseline wellness. For the entire rest of your life. Not just when a hot flash shows up.
Because everything works better with hormonal support. Including the immune system.
The next step
Want to know what "hormonal support" actually means - and why getting it into a daily baseline can take about 5 minutes a day?
That's what I walk through in the Menopause Kickstart free video series. Four short videos, no login, easy to watch.
The first three cover the foundation - food, movement, and stress - because a few rules changed and nobody told us. And the fourth is where the herbs come in - my 3-step process for choosing the right herbs at each stage, including where those leaks and traffic jams fit in.
Watch the Menopause Kickstart → The link is the button just below
Thank you so much for visiting me here on the blog. I would LOVE to hear from you in the comments below. What is your question about menopause??
This information is being provided to you for educational and informational purposes only. It is being provided to you to educate you about Chinese medicine in your diet, lifestyle, and supplements and as a self-help tool for your own use. It is not personalized health advice. This information is to be used at your own risk based on your own judgment. For my full Disclaimer, please go to https://danalavoielac.com/disclaimer