You’re in your 40s. You feel exhausted. You’re not sleeping so well and you start to feel low, irritable and anxious at things that never used to bother you. In spite of eating well you notice that you’re putting on extra pounds, especially around your waist; your muscles ache and you’ve started to become forgetful. You just don’t really feel… like ‘you’ any more.
This is a very common scenario for midlife women. It is a time when we are pulled in all directions - children, parents, work, relationships and more. We are busy, and often dealing with additional pressures like children leaving home, ageing parents or divorce, that create high levels of stress. We are juggling so many balls that it’s easy to just put our symptoms down to ‘life’.
But there could be another reason why you feel like that. While these life pressures do undoubtedly cause stress, the underlying problem could be that you are in perimenopause.
But menopause happens when you’re old, you shout! Not really. While the average age of the menopause in the UK is 51, perimenopause - the period of time when a woman’s hormones start declining towards our non child-bearing years - can start up to 10 years prior. This means that some women start will start to experience symptoms as early as their late thirties.
Unfortunately, perimenopause is the most symptomatic phase of the menopause transition but is often left ignored or mis-diagnosed. Many healthcare practitioners don’t have enough training in menopause so midlife women are not always given adequate medical support. So, being personally informed has immense value in ensuring you get the best support possible.
Perimenopause is a very individual experience. For some it is a relatively easy transition, for others a very difficult one. And while every woman’s experience will differ, there are more than 34 common symptoms that can help to identify what is going on. Of these only a handful are openly talked about, another reason that perimenopause often goes unnoticed.
The first sign is usually changes to your menstrual cycle. Your periods may get lighter, heavier, longer or shorter. But because hormones are fluctuating and not just declining in a linear fashion, these changes, along with other symptoms, can come and go.
Commonly experienced symptoms, some of which are experienced more in the early phase of perimenopause, others in the later phase, include: sleep problems; period changes; hot flushes; fatigue; low mood/anxiety/mood swings; brain fog/forgetfulness/difficulty concentrating; weight gain, especially around the waist; muscle and joint pain/stiffness; heart palpitations; headaches/migraines; vaginal dryness/irritation; loss of libido; dry mouth; itchy/dry skin; bleeding gums; tinnitus; bloating/food sensitivities
So, if you think you are in perimenopause what should you do? Due to the fluctuating nature of the hormones at this time a blood test might not be accurate, especially in the early stages. But if you are over 45 and are experiencing any (or a combination) of the above symptoms then a healthcare professional should be able to diagnose perimenopause without testing. It can be helpful to ask to see the doctor in your practice who is a specialist in the menopause and remember you do have a right to a second opinion if you feel you have been mis-diagnosed.
Next time: how to move and keep fit in midlife.
