Menopause occurs when your ovaries stop producing estrogen and progesterone after depleting their egg supply, typically around age 51. Your ovarian follicles decline from millions at birth to thousands by your 40s, then functional exhaustion occurs. Without estrogen, your hypothalamus loses negative feedback, causing your pituitary to overproduce FSH and LH in futile attempts to stimulate absent follicles. Estrogen withdrawal affects multiple systems: your thermoregulatory center in your hypothalamus becomes unstable, causing hot flashes; your serotonin production decreases, affecting mood; your vaginal and urinary tissues thin without estrogen stimulation; your bone-building osteoblasts slow activity, increasing osteoporosis risk; your cardiovascular system loses estrogen's protective effects. Your brain regions with estrogen receptors—hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, amygdala—experience functional changes affecting memory, executive function, and emotional regulation. Sleep disruption from night sweats activates your stress response, creating a cascade of fatigue and mood symptoms. The 'organism as team' framework helps because menopause is a natural transition, not a disease—but the rapid hormonal shift challenges multiple systems simultaneously. Your ovaries have completed their reproductive mission, your brain is adjusting to new neurochemical baseline, your bones need new support strategies. Supporting your team means sometimes hormone therapy to ease the transition, strength training to protect bones, stress management to support brain adaptation, and nutrition to provide building blocks your changing systems need. Your organism is recalibrating to a new life phase. ⚕️ This protocol does not replace professional consultation.