About the Book: Why This Guide Exists

Why The Perimenopause Solution Is a Different Kind of Book

For years, women in their 30s and 40s have sat across from me in exam rooms saying the same things:

“I’m gaining weight, but I haven’t changed anything.”
“My labs are ‘normal,’ but I don’t feel normal.”
“I was told I’m too young for menopause—so maybe it’s just stress.”

These women were not imagining their symptoms.
They were experiencing perimenopause—often years earlier, and far more intensely, than they had been led to expect.

Yet the care they received rarely reflected that reality.

The Problem With the Current Perimenopause Narrative

For decades, perimenopause education has been built on averages, not lived experience.

Landmark research—most notably the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN)—has shown that the menopausal transition is not brief, linear, or uniform.
For many women, especially those in higher-risk populations, the symptomatic transition can last 8–10 years or longer, beginning well before menstrual irregularity is obvious.

SWAN also revealed what many women already knew intuitively:

• Symptoms vary significantly by race, ethnicity, stress exposure, and metabolic health

• Black women report earlier onset, more severe vasomotor symptoms, and higher cardiometabolic risk

• Weight gain, insulin resistance, sleep disruption, mood changes, and cognitive symptoms often precede menstrual changes

Yet despite this evidence, millions of women are still told:

Their symptoms are “just stress”

• Their labs are “fine”

• They should “wait until menopause”

This disconnect between clinical science and clinical practice is where women are lost.

Why I Wrote The Perimenopause Solution

As a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner—and as a Black woman living through this transition myself—I saw a painful and persistent pattern:

• Women of color experiencing more severe symptoms with less guidance

• Metabolic changes blamed on willpower instead of hormones, sleep disruption, and chronic stress

• Mental health concerns addressed in isolation, without recognizing hormonal drivers

• Women navigating a complex healthcare system without tools, language, or advocacy

I wrote The Perimenopause Solution to change that.

This book exists to place clear science, real stories, and culturally aware care back into women’s hands—not just inside the exam room, but in everyday life.

What Makes The Perimenopause Solution Different

This is not a symptom checklist.
It is not a one-size-fits-all plan.
And it is not written from a narrow clinical lens.

The Perimenopause Solution bridges the gap between:

• What the research actually shows

• What women are actually experiencing

• What care should look like—but often doesn’t

It establishes a new standard: one that is scientifically rigorous, metabolically informed, and culturally grounded.

What Readers Will Learn

The Unseen Timeline: Stop Delaying Your Health
Uncover the reality that perimenopause often begins in your mid-30s and can last over a decade. Leveraging landmark research, including the SWAN study, you will learn how to recognize the subtle, early signs and symptoms that doctors often miss and how to advocate for care now, rather than waiting for “abnormal labs” to confirm a transition that has already started.

Metabolic Defense in Midlife. Your Guide to Hormonal Stability.

Understand the crucial intersection of estrogen, cortisol, insulin resistance, and sleep. You will build a scientifically rigorous, metabolically-informed defense plan to prevent midlife weight creep, reduce inflammation, and stop relying on traditional advice that was never designed for your changing body.

The Weight–Stress–Sleep Loop

Break the Cycle, Reclaim Your Metabolism. Learn how chronic stress and fragmented sleep dysregulate key hormones (leptin, ghrelin, cortisol) to cause weight gain, and deploy clinical strategies to finally stabilize your blood sugar and achieve lasting weight management—proving it's a physiological problem, not a failure of willpower.

Hormones Beyond Estrogen: Decoding Your Full Hormonal Picture.

Move beyond the focus on estrogen and learn the critical roles of progesterone, cortisol, insulin, and thyroid in midlife mood, energy, and weight. This chapter gives you the clinical understanding and vocabulary to ask precise, informed questions of your provider and ensure all hormonal drivers of your symptoms are addressed.

Mastering Self-Advocacy: Take Control of Your Healthcare.

Stop accepting "just stress" or "normal labs" as answers. This guide gives you the precise scripts and clinical knowledge to navigate a fragmented healthcare system, interpret your blood work like a practitioner, and secure culturally competent, evidence-based treatment without ever compromising your health or intuition.

The Goal of This Book

The Perimenopause Solution is written for women who feel unseen by the current system—and for clinicians who want to do better.

Its purpose is not just education, but translation:

• Translating research into reality

• Translating symptoms into physiology

• Translating cultural experience into credible, actionable care

Because when women understand the why, the path forward becomes clear.

About the Author

Vera Nyonglemuga, FNP-BC, FNP-C, MSCP (Candidate), CCRN is a Family Nurse Practitioner, women’s health advocate, and founder of Macvelly Wellness & Medical Services, a clinic dedicated to evidence-based midlife care, hormonal health, and culturally competent wellness.

As a Black clinician who has walked through her own perimenopause journey, Vera combines clinical expertise, cultural insight, and a deep passion for compassionate, equitable care. Her work centers on empowering women—especially women of color—to understand their bodies, advocate for themselves, and access high-quality support during the most profound hormonal transition of their lives.

She is currently completing her Menopause Society Certified Practitioner (MSCP) credential and continues to work directly with women through metabolic and hormonal care, weight-management support, and global perimenopause coaching.

The Perimenopause Solution is her debut book—a definitive guide written to bridge the gap between medical science, real-world experience, and culturally informed care.

Exclusive Sign-Up Offer (FREE GIFT!)

Don't wait to start reclaiming your health. Sign up today and get your FREE, immediate download!

🎁 FREE GIFT: The Perimenopause Self-Advocacy Toolkit (PDF)

• Your 5 Must-Ask Questions for your next appointment.

• The 3 Clinical Red Flags that signal provider dismissal or inadequate care.

• How to Use the SWAN Study Data in the exam room to validate your symptom severity.

Coming Soon — The Perimenopause Solution (2026)

A groundbreaking, evidence-based guide to hormonal balance, weight loss, and culturally competent wellness by Vera Nyonglemuga, FNP-BC, FNP-C, CCRN.