Hormone Friendly | Vet Empowered

The Vet Empowered Hormone-Friendly Vetmed Initiative

Because your hormones don't clock off when you walk into work.

What is Hormone-Friendly Vet Med?

Veterinary medicine is demanding at the best of times. Long shifts, emotional weight, clinical pressure, and the relentless expectation to just get on with it, whatever is happening in your body or your brain.

But here's what we don't talk about nearly enough: for a huge number of people working in this profession, hormones are shaping their experience of work every single day. Their confidence. Their nervous system. Their ability to access their own skills. Their mental health.

This isn't a lifestyle issue. It's a clinical, evidence-based reality, and we believe the veterinary profession is finally ready to have the conversation.

Hormone Friendly Vetmed is a campaign we've been quietly building at Vet Empowered, because we kept hearing the same things in coaching sessions, in community conversations, and in our own lived experiences.

"I fall apart for a week every month and I don't know why."

"I thought it was burnout. It was perimenopause."

"Nobody talks about this at work, I thought it was just me."

It's not just you.

We believe that sustainable veterinary careers need to account for the reality of hormonal health - from menstrual cycles to PMDD, from perimenopause to menopause. Not as a tick-box. Not as an awkward HR conversation. But as a genuine shift in how we understand wellbeing, performance, and what it means to truly support each other at work.

Where to start: The Resources

We started this conversation because it came up, again and again, in the spaces we hold for veterinary professionals. One of our founders has her own lived experience of PMDD - and knows what it feels like to believe something is fundamentally wrong with you, when actually you just needed the right information.

That's always been our north star: giving people the knowledge, language and support to understand what's actually happening - and to stop suffering in silence.

Hormonal health is part of that. It always has been.

We're just finally saying it out loud.

Navigating PMDD, PMS or PME as a veterinary professional?

Free Webinar

Our session with Clinical Psychologist Dr Helena Tucker on PMS, PMDD and PME in Vet Med had nearly 500 people sign up - and the feedback told us this information is genuinely changing lives. The recording is free to access and includes lots of extra bonus resources.

You can access the recording here:

Access Now

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Navigating menopause or perimenopause as a veterinary professional?

Vet Empowered now hosts the incredible set of resources originally created by WellVet. Discover WellVet's free series of menopause resources. Expert content for individuals, partners, and teams, covering everything from symptom management and treatment options to supporting others.

Menopause Resources

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Interested in workplace adjustments and how to make teams more hormone friendly?

Dr Helena Tucker is coming back. Our two-part Creating Hormone-Friendly Veterinary Workplaces series goes beyond awareness into action - what reasonable adjustments actually look like, how to have these conversations with colleagues and leaders, and what sustainable change can look like in the reality of busy veterinary practice.

Additional Resources

We didn't want this page to be another overwhelming list of places to go. So we've been selective - these are the resources we actually recommend, the ones that come up in conversations, that our community has found genuinely useful, and that we trust to give accurate, compassionate information.

Start wherever feels most relevant to where you are right now. There's no right order.

IAPMD: International Association for Premenstrual Disorders)- leading global resource for PMDD and PME. Has a provider directory, self-assessment tools, peer support, and research. This is the one to start with.

https://www.iapmd.org/

Menopause Support - founded by Dr Heather Currie and aligned with NICE guidelines. Medically credible, practically focused, and a solid complement to WellVet's vet-specific resources.

Books:

Period Power by Maisie Hill: a really accessible book on understanding the menstrual cycle and how it affects energy, mood and performance. Highly relevant to anyone exploring the hormones-at-work conversation for the first time.

Apps:

The Balance App by Dr.Louise Newton: free, evidence-based, and widely used. Includes a symptom tracker, information hub, and GP letter templates - especially useful for anyone still trying to access support through their own healthcare provider.

Workplace and Advocacy:

Menopause at Work by ACAS: practical HR-focused guidance on reasonable adjustments and workplace conversations. Useful for anyone wanting to advocate within their organisation with something concrete to reference.

Gov.uk: Menopause and the Workplace: official guidance for employers. Particularly helpful for practice managers and clinical directors attending our sessions.

Neurodiversity & hormones:

IAPMD: Neurodiversity Resources: IAPMD's specific content on the intersection of PMDD, PME, autism and ADHD. Given the higher rates of neurodivergence in our profession and the known hormonal links, this is an important corner of the conversation.

ADDitude Magazine: ADHD & Hormones: practical, accessible articles on how oestrogen fluctuations affect ADHD symptoms across the menstrual cycle and into perimenopause. Particularly relevant given how underdiagnosed this presentation has historically been.

Mental health support

VetLife: free, confidential support for the veterinary community, including a helpline and financial assistance. For when hormonal health is significantly affecting mental health and work.

Samaritans: free to call 24/7 on 116 123. For anyone who needs to talk.

Shout 85258 free, confidential text-based mental health support, available 24/7. Text SHOUT to 85258.

All links were checked and correct at the time this page was last updated February 2026. Vet Empowered is not affiliated with any of the organisations or products listed. We share these resources because we believe in them - not because we're paid to.