Hormone Health & Autoimmunity: How To Know Your Body Needs Support

In midlife, shifting hormone health can turn up the volume on autoimmune issues — as estrogen dips, inflammation gets louder, and symptoms can go from whispering to full-on shouts.

When it comes to autoimmunity, I’ve had a front-row seat as one of my childhood besties, beloved actress Selma Blair, lives with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

If you’ve seen the documentary Introducing, Selma Blair, you know her journey is raw, messy, and breathtakingly honest. Fun Fact: In it, I make a quick bedside cameo (blink and you’ll miss me! 😆). In her NYT-bestselling memoir Mean Baby, I’m the friend she calls “Susie Sunshine” (glowing and grateful ☺️).

As one reviewer put it, Selma’s diagnosis wasn’t a bad thing — it was an answer — and one that would lead her to the role of a lifetime: herself. 🥹

Over the decades, what moves me most is how Selma’s living a deeper purpose with MS — as a woman, mother, actress, and fierce truth-teller. She reminds me that dis-ease can sculpt the soul, grow you into your highest version of yourself, and be of service to others as you do. You don’t need a “perfect” body to live a powerful life. 💪🏽

Autoimmune wellness asks for deep inner strength, not white-knuckled willpower trying to force things to go your way. It asks you to surrender how you think things should be, stay open in uncertainty, and choose daily to continue following your heart, especially when things don’t go as planned. 😔

There’s another woman I admire who’s also living with MS: Dr. Amy Behimer. Because of that same inner strength, she navigated the unexpected of autoimmune dis-ease so well that she now guides countless people as an Autoimmune Specialist. You’ll meet her below. 🙂

📣 But first, here’s why shifting hormones in midlife can make autoimmune signals blare extra loud…

 

✦ How to Tell When Hormone Health & Autoimmunity Need Nurturing

Midlife is a symphony: parenting, partnerships, purpose shifts, aging parents, career pivots, and… estrogen dips. When that happens, inflammation gets louder and menopause symptoms move from whispers to shouts.

Hormones like estrogen, cortisol, thyroid, and insulin set your immune system’s “tone” to calm and discerning, or reactive and loud.

When hormones shift, the immune alarm can overreact — like a smoke alarm over the toaster, blaring at burnt toast. Suddenly, minor blips feel like Shakespearean dramas (exit, stage left). 😵‍💫

Stress, poor sleep, and overdoing it can also crank up the volume on autoimmune signals. So when hormone health drifts in midlife, energy, clarity, and resilience can wobble — right alongside familiar menopause changes (sleep, hot flashes, joint aches, cycle, and skin changes). 🙃

But what if hormonal shifts aren’t your body betraying you? What if it’s nudging you forward — kindly asking for the same care you give everyone else, to be given to you? 💝

Here are some friendly flags you might be entering autoimmune dis-ease territory:

😴 The Never-Ending Yawn
Tired that no amount of naps alleviates. You wake up… already ready for bed.

🛠️ The Squeaky Hinge
Joints or muscles feel puffy, achy, or like, “Who swapped out my knees overnight?”

🎨 The Surprise Art Project
Skin throws a plot twist — new rashes or redness. (Hello, uninvited butterfly blush!)

🌵 Desert Mode
Eyes, mouth, skin, or throat so dry you consider packing lip balm in every pocket.

🔌 The Power Dimmer
Stairs, shampooing, or lifting a tote suddenly feel like gym day.

🫧 The Puffy Protectors
Tender or swollen glands in your neck, jaw, or armpits.

🍿 The Drama-Queen Digestive
Plot twists in your belly — cramps, urgent dashes to the toilet, bloat, or bathroom “mystery episodes.”

If one or two of these are occurring regularly, your body is likely signaling you to tweak your inputs (habits, food, sleep, stress, movement, meaning) so your outputs (energy, mood, focus, digestion) can shift too.

✦ Two Easy Steps to Take When You Want Autoimmune Support

Just like you’d never let someone you love go through a serious health challenge alone, your best path to autoimmune wellness isn’t a solitary one.

Thinking smarter (and more lovingly) about your midlife autoimmune & hormone health starts with wisdom 🧠✨ and continues with support. 🫶🏿

Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting down with the brilliant autoimmune specialist Dr. Amy Behimer for a fascinating conversation about the power of asking better questions, the one simple habit that changed her health forever, and whether it could do the same for you.

Curious?

💝 Here are two easy ways to learn more about your autoimmune health today:

✧ 01. Learn How to Ask Better Questions

If you or a loved one is dealing with autoimmune symptoms, this podcast episode could open up new healing possibilities. Dr. Amy and I explore how curiosity becomes a healing habit, the simple daily shift that changed her health, and why “try softer” often beats “try harder.”

🎧 Listen to Podcast Episode

✧ 02. Discover Your Next Best Habit

If you’re done guessing and want a personalized first step, this quick quiz pinpoints the single habit most likely to lower inflammation and lift your energy — so change feels doable (and sticks).

With Dr. Amy’s Autoimmune Quiz, in less than 3 minutes, you get:
🧊 The #1 thing your body needs to reduce inflammation
🔋 A doable plan to start getting your energy back
🧪 The science behind autoimmune habits
🔁 A strategy to stick with it (because, well...life)

📝 Take FREE Autoimmune Quiz

 

✦ You Don’t Need Perfect to Be Powerful

Healing is often messy. Trials happen. Wanting to give up happens. Rekindling your motivation happens. There are hard days, good days, and everything in between.

Selma and Dr. Amy — both living with MS — remind me you don’t need a perfect body to live a powerful life. ✨

Honesty, humor, and a soul-deep willingness to continue showing up can be enough.

If any of the symptoms above feel familiar, let this be your nudge to explore your support options — learn a little more, adjust your self-care routine, listen to the podcast, take the quiz, or loop in your care team. 🌱

You have the inner strength to heal: the patience to persist, the wisdom to surrender the “shoulds,” the ability to know you’re safe even in uncertainty, and the inner love to follow your heart to wellness. 🥰

Your hormones, your habits, your humor — they’re all part of your healing.

Everything you need is already within you. Trust yourself. Take one tiny step forward and see you’ve already come so far. You’ve got this, Mama! ✨

xo,