Natural menopause specialist, brighton, UK and worldwide, online
Functional medicine for menopause – because your symptoms have root causes
Let’s find them, treat them, and give you control of your health and your future.
I’m Sandra Ishkanes – functional medicine practitioner and molecular biologist supporting women in perimenopause and menopause resolve hot flushes, brain fog, night sweats, anxiety, heavy bleeding, and joint pain by finding what’s actually driving them, and building a strong foundation for the decades ahead.
Wherever you are with HRT, we start with your biology.
natural symptom-free menopause
AS SEEN IN
Based on the MenoMorphosis Method – a root-cause framework developed over 10 years of clinical practice
I felt better almost within a week, and 4 weeks later all my symptoms were almost gone. My vitality is back. Transformative.
Heidi B.
Perimenopause symptoms reversed
via Google
Have you tried everything but you still don’t feel like yourself?
You’ve seen the GP. You’ve read the articles. You may have tried HRT, or resisted it. Either way, something isn’t resolved – and you’re wondering about what’s going on whether anyone is actually looking at the full picture.
Your symptoms are a mystery
Your blood tests came back normal. But you don’t feel normal — and haven’t for a long time. You’ve been dismissed, offered antidepressants, or told this is simply what menopause is
You want a body-positive approach
You want to work with your biology, not medicate around it. Whether you’ve tried HRT, are currently on it, or have declined it — you want deeper questions asked.
You’ve got more going on than just menopause
Hashimoto’s, PCOS, endometriosis, PMDD, fibroids, adenomyosis, heavy bleeding – or an autoimmune condition that’s never been fully explained. Menopause arrived on top of a complex background for you..
If any of this sounds like you, you’re in exactly the right place
Your body compensates for oestrogen declining
Menopause triggers 3 natural shifts.
Menopause symptoms are rooted far beyond declining oestrogen — they are the consequences of blocked biological shifts. When those shifts proceed smoothly, symptoms are minimal. When they’re blocked, symptoms flare, persist, and compound.
01
The Energy Shift
From sugar and starch for fuel → to fat for fuel
During menopause, the brain needs to transition its primary fuel source from glucose to ketones. When that switch is incomplete – as it is for most women eating a standard Western diet – the brain experiences an energy crisis. That crisis shows up as:
- Hot flushes and night sweats
- Brain fog and word-finding issues
- Fatigue (even after sleep)
- Anxiety appearing out of nowhere
- Weight gain: weight creeping up without any clear reason
- Heart palpitations
- Low moods that don’t make sense
Support this shift, the brain gets the fuel it needs, the symptoms resolve.
The Energy Shift →
02
The Oestrogen Shift
From ovarian production → to intracrine (local) production
After the ovaries step back, your body is designed to produce oestrogen locally — in brain, bones, skin, and vagina. This is called intracrine production. When it’s blocked by insulin resistance, nutrient deficiency, inflammation, or gut dysbiosis, the tissues themselves become oestrogen-depleted.
- Dryness that wasn’t there before
- Recurring UTIs
- Joint aches and stiffness
- General sense of fragility
- Painful or uncomfortable sex
- Skin thinning, drying, ageing faster
- Lower or different libido
Support intracrine production, the tissues recover, and so do you.
The Oestrogen Shift →
03
The Emotional Shift
From oxytocin-driven belonging — to testosterone-driven becoming
The least-discussed shift, and possibly the most disorienting. The hormonal architecture that drove connection, care, and social cohesion gives way to a testosterone-dominant pattern oriented towards independence, purpose, and self-direction. When unsupported, it can feel like loss. When understood, it can feel like emergence.
- Not feeling like yourself anymore
- Irritability or anger that doesn’t feel like you
- Losing patience for things you used to tolerate
- A flatness where things used to feel meaningful
When supported, it can turn into one of the most clarifying periods of your life
The Emotional Shift →
A functional approach for a natural life stage
What do you need to support these 3 shifts well?
Personalised nutrition
to create the energy you need now
Your body is moving from running on sugar and starch to running, in part, on fat – particularly in the brain. This requires low insulin. Reducing carbohydrates is what brings insulin down and unlocks fat-burning. From
there, the right raw materials matter – enough protein, quality fat, and specific micronutrients. What worked for you in your thirties no longer does.
Targeted supplements
to boost oestrogen and testosterone production
Your body is designed to keep making the oestrogen and testosterone your tissues need – locally, in the brain, bones, skin, and vaginal tissue. But this system is fragile to vitamin, mineral, and other nutrient deficiencies, elevated insulin, sluggish thyroid, gut imbalance, and chronic inflammation. When these are addressed, local hormone production resumes. Unfortunately our modern food supply is often depleted of the vital nutrients we need. This is where targeted supplements are helpful.
A nervous system that isn’t stuck on alert
to ground you in your new emotional state
A body in chronic stress cannot produce hormones well, cannot rest, cannot repair. Settling the nervous system isn’t optional – it’s the physiological foundation that lets everything else work. The drivers are specific: sleep, blood sugar regulation, cortisol rhythm, breath, and where needed, targeted HPA-axis support.
from MY clinic
Clinically proven results within 4 weeks
Understanding the shifts and removing what blocks them gives the body the conditions it needs to heal.
BRAIN FOG · FATIGUE · POST-MENOPAUSE
Reversing Post-Menopausal Brain Fog Without HRT – at 59
Linda, 59
Linda arrived with severe brain fog and low energy that had been affecting her work and daily life. We mapped her metabolic patterns, addressed insulin and thyroid drift, and built a brain-fuel protocol. By week 4 her energy was back and the fog had cleared.
“I finally have a roadmap. For the first time in years, I know what my body needs — and why.”
HOT FLUSHES · NIGHT SWEATS · HRT NOT WORKING
Severe peri-menopausal symptoms resolved in 8 weeks – after HRT failed
Helen, 48
Helen came to clinic having already tried HRT. Her hot flushes and night sweats were severe. We worked the metabolic and inflammatory roots driving the vasomotor symptoms and supported the intracrine system directly. Symptoms cleared in 8 weeks.
“I was told there was nothing else to try. There was.”
in their own words
When the underlying causes are properly understood, the results follow
whole picture care
“Having guidance that doesn’t automatically lead to HRT, but instead looks at the whole picture of health, has been incredibly valuable.”
I
Ida F.
Nature connection facilitator
via Google
back in control
“Thank you Sandra. You have helped me get back in control of my life. No exaggeration. This has set me on a course for health for the rest of my life.”
D
Danielle B.
CEO, Black Minds Matter UK
via Google
trusted with family
“Absolutely mindblowingly good.
Patient, responsive, open, thoughtful. I’ve already suggested my daughters talk to her.”
C
Caron B.
CEO Charity Finance Group
via Google
A Scientific Approach to Natural Menopause
Hi, I’m Sandra Ishkanes
BSc · MA · DipION · ANP MEMBER
I trained in molecular biology at King’s College London, and spent the early part of my clinical career working with complex gynaecological conditions — endometriosis, PCOS, PMDD, fibroids and adenomyosis. When I entered perimenopause myself and was met with the same recycled answer every woman gets — it’s the oestrogen — I knew immediately it wasn’t enough.
So I went looking for a rigorous, root-cause alternative. When I couldn’t find one that met my clinical standards, I built it. That work became the Menomorphosis Method – developed and refined over more than a decade with hundreds of women in clinic.
I think of my role as health detective. Your symptoms are data. They point to patterns. Those patterns have drivers. My job is to find the drivers — and address them with precision, to resolve menopausal symptoms efficiently and permanently, to build a solid foundation for health for every client.
“
As a molecular biologist, Sandra was 100% clear on how my body was out of balance. A change of diet and some short-term supplements have completely resolved issues I thought would never go away. I finally have control of my health and I have Sandra to thank for giving me the roadmap.
Client, Brighton · Long-standing symptoms resolved without HRT, with a history pf PCOS
100+
women supported
10+
years in clinical practice
4
weeks to first results
1:1
every consultation
the menomorphosis method
A biology-first method, refined over a decade
Menopause is not a hormone deficiency to be replaced. It’s a series of intelligent metabolic,
neurological, and microbial shifts that — when properly supported — restore clarity, strength, and confidence. The MenoMorphosis Method is how we get there together.
M
Map
3-day food & lifestyle diary,
full life history. I
see your full picture before
we meet.
E
Evaluate
Identify which biological
shift is under strain.
Standard bloods +
advanced tests where
needed.
N
Nourish
Nutrition, supplements and lifestyle upgrades for gut,
detoxification, hormones,
stress and sleep — the
three pillars of the protocol.
O
Optimise
Every 4 weeks: review labs,
refine the plan, advance.
Portal check-ins between
sessions.
Whatever stage you are in
Early perimenopause
Irregular periods, heavy bleeding, mood shifts, sleep changes, anxiety, weight changes.
Late peri & menopause
Hot flushes, night sweats, brain fog, low mood, fatigue, joint pain, libido, vaginal dryness.
Complex conditions
and circumstances
Want to avoid HRT
Preparing for, or already in, perimenopause and menopause — and HRT is not the route you want to take. We work with your biology, root cause by root cause.
Want to come off HRT
HRT in place, but symptoms unresolved or the side-effects are unacceptable. Coming off well is a process, not an event, and stopping abruptly can cause more problems.
Have come off HRT and are struggling
Your symptoms have returned, or arrived for the first time. Your body has lost the oestrogen extension it was leaning on, and the underlying shifts were not supported.
how it works
Success starts with a plan
My functional medicine approach is centred on identifying the root cause of your symptoms, and using nutrition, supplements and lifestyle upgrades to restore balance and optimise your health.
01
Book a discovery call
30-minute phone call. We talk through your symptoms and history. You get my initial assessment of where the root causes lie — and whether this approach is right for you.
02
Consultation + your plan
A 90-minute deep dive into your biology, history, and goals. You leave with a clear understanding of what’s driving your symptoms and a detailed plan — nutrition, supplements, testing, lifestyle.
03
Results within 4 weeks
Most women notice meaningful change within 4 weeks. Most symptoms resolve within 4–12 weeks. After that, the focus shifts to long-term stability — brain, bone, and cardiovascular resilience.