The blood work every woman over 40 should know: understanding your health baseline
Somewhere in your late 30s or early 40s, things start to feel a little… different. Even if your workouts, diet, and routines haven’t changed at all.
Sleep shifts.
Energy dips.
Recovery slows.
Body composition changes.
But when you bring it up to your doctor, the answer is often the same:
“Your labs are normal.”
Normal for who?
Most traditional lab ranges are designed to detect disease, not optimize health, longevity, and performance.
That’s why this year I decided to take a deeper look at my own baseline.
My Bloodwork Timeline
Over the past year, I’ve worked with three different types of providers:
• my general practitioner
• a certified menopause practitioner and hormone specialist
• a clinician through Joi + Blokes
Each of them looked at the same basic question — my hormones and bloodwork — but through very different lenses.
When I first brought up mood swings and some of the subtle changes I’d been feeling, my GP ran a standard blood panel. My numbers came back within the normal ranges, which was reassuring in one sense. From a traditional medical standpoint, nothing looked wrong.
In fact, she recommended Lexapro for the mood swings and said I was not perimenopausal.
But my intuition told me there might be more going on hormonally.
So I dug a little deeper.
I eventually connected with a certified menopause practitioner who looked at the bigger picture — my symptoms, my age, and how hormones naturally begin to shift during this stage of life. With her guidance, I started hormone replacement therapy.
The difference has been significant. The mood swings that had started creeping in largely disappeared.
As I continue adjusting dosage and moving further along this HRT path, I’m happy to share what I’m learning. We’ll dive much deeper into hormones in the next post, because that topic deserves its own conversation.
Last month, I used Joi + Blokes to dig a little deeper still. Their advanced panel measures 71 biomarkers tied to important health markers like metabolism, bone and muscle health, cognition, and kidney function.
I was curious what else could be optimized so that I can feel better, have more energy, and hopefully live longer.
The results were fascinating. They helped inform what supplements I should consider, what foods I may need more of (and possibly less of), and what peptides might be beneficial.
More on all of that soon.
The Bigger Picture
Bloodwork isn’t just about catching problems.
It can help you understand:
• how your hormones are changing through perimenopause
• whether inflammation is creeping up
• how your metabolism is shifting with age
• how your body recovers from stress, workouts, and life
Think of it as a health baseline.
Once you know it, you can track how your body evolves over time.
What My Clinician Recommended
After reviewing my most recent labs, my clinician outlined a protocol that included:
• hormone replacement therapy adjustments
• targeted supplements
• peptide therapy options for recovery and longevity
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to break down each of these topics.
This space is evolving quickly, and women are finally starting to get better tools for navigating aging.
Coming Next
Part 2
Perimenopause, Hormones, and My Experience Starting HRT
Part 3
What Peptide Therapy Actually Is (and Why It’s Suddenly Everywhere)
Part 4
Peptides for Injury Recovery, Longevity, and Women’s Health
I love this topic. I’m excited to dive deeper with you. Please feel free to leave a comment and let’s have a conversation - it’s all fascinating to me!
In health,
Tenaya
