You walk into the kitchen and struggle to remember what you were doing.
You’ve done nothing different but your jeans feel tighter, your patience thinner, and your emotions more unpredictable than ever.
Your cycles are getting more erratic, and you feel hot randomly but it’s too early for hot flashes, isn’t it?
You think…
“It’s just aging.”
And your doctor dismisses it as well.
But truth is:
These are the initial whispers of perimenopause for women as early as their late 30s.
You are not imagining this. And it’s not just aging. This is the reality of perimenopause, and for far too long, women have been told to just suffer through it.
But the science is changing.
Women’s health research—once an afterthought in medicine—is finally catching up. We now have a deeper understanding of the 40+ symptoms of perimenopause and menopause and how they cascade through your body, brain, gut, nervous system, and emotions.
And that means we now have better solutions—so you don’t have to suffer in silence.
Let’s break it all down.
Signs You Might Be in Perimenopause
Perimenopause isn’t just about hot flashes and irregular periods—there are over 40 different symptoms that can show up in ways you might not even connect to your hormones at first.
And because perimenopause is a hormonal cascade—where shifting estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone affect nearly every system in your body—you may notice changes in ways that feel frustrating, confusing, or even isolating.
Every woman has a different experience. Different symptoms, different severity, different timing. Some symptoms are random, while others may become consistent.
It’s as complex a change as puberty, and it impacts women in a lot of ways. In fact, some call it second-puberty!
Here are some of the common signs of perimenopause:
Cycle Changes (One of the First Signs)
- Irregular periods – Your once-predictable cycle is now shorter, longer, heavier, lighter, or completely unpredictable.
- Heavier or prolonged bleeding – You suddenly feel like you’re back in your teenage years with overwhelming, painful periods.
- Skipped periods – You go months without a cycle, only for it to return without warning.
Temperature Dysregulation
- Hot flashes & night sweats – One minute, you’re fine. The next? You’re flushed, sweating, and peeling off layers in the middle of winter.
- Chills & cold flashes – Oddly enough, some women experience the opposite—sudden chills after a hot flash.
Mood, Anxiety & Mental Health
- Increased anxiety & panic attacks – You used to be calm in stressful situations, but now small things trigger waves of anxiety.
- Irritability & mood swings – One moment, you’re fine. The next? You’re snapping at your family, coworkers, or even the dog.
- Depression & low motivation – You feel a sense of blah, struggling to find joy in things you once loved.
Sleep Disruptions & Energy Drain
- Trouble falling or staying asleep – Your brain won’t shut off, or you wake up at 2 or 3 AM and can’t fall back asleep.
- Daytime fatigue – You drag through the day, chugging caffeine just to function.
- Wired but tired at night – You’re exhausted all day, then suddenly wide awake at bedtime.
Brain Fog & Cognitive Changes
- Memory lapses – You walk into a room and forget why or constantly lose your phone, keys, or train of thought.
- Struggle to focus – You find it harder to concentrate on work, conversations, or even a TV show.
- Word-finding difficulty – That moment when a word is right there—but you can’t quite grab it.
Body Composition & Weight Changes
- Increased belly fat – Even if your diet and exercise routine haven’t changed, fat is redistributing from your hips and thighs to your midsection.
- Slower metabolism & weight gain – It’s suddenly harder to lose weight, and your usual approach isn’t working.
- Loss of muscle mass – You feel weaker and notice less muscle tone than before.
Heart, Gut & Skin Changes
- Heart palpitations – Your heart races out of nowhere, even when you’re sitting still.
- Bloating & digestive issues – Foods you once tolerated now leave you bloated, gassy, or dealing with constipation.
- Skin & hair changes – You notice drier skin, more wrinkles, or hair thinning.
Vaginal & Sexual Health
- Vaginal dryness & discomfort – Intercourse feels painful, or you feel constant irritation.
- Decreased libido – Your desire for intimacy drops, even if your relationship is strong.
- Urinary issues – More frequent UTIs, urgency, or leaks when sneezing or laughing.
But these aren’t just isolated symptoms. As they accumulate and intensify, you may notice them rippling out into your life, affecting everything you do and everyone around you.
At work…
You struggle to stay sharp in meetings, forgetting key details or searching for words mid-sentence. You second-guess yourself more. Tasks that once felt effortless now feel like wading through mental fog.
At home…
You snap at your partner or kids over the smallest things, then feel guilty later. Or you zone out in exhaustion, unable to fully engage in the moments that matter.
At night…
You lie awake staring at the ceiling, your mind racing, dreading how you’ll function on another night of fragmented sleep. Then, when morning comes, you drag yourself out of bed, already running on empty.
In your relationships…
You feel disconnected—from your spouse, your friends, even yourself. Intimacy becomes an afterthought, not because you don’t care, but because your body just isn’t responding the way it used to.
In your body…
You’re doing all the same things—eating healthy, working out—but suddenly, your body feels foreign. Weight settles in new places, your skin changes, and the energy you once had feels like a distant memory. It can even feel like aging 10 years in a sudden burst.
In your confidence…
You start questioning yourself. “Am I losing it?” “Why can’t I just push through?” “Why does no one talk about this?” The world moves on like nothing is happening, yet inside, everything feels different.
This is why perimenopause isn’t just a phase—it’s a full-body, full-life shift. And when women don’t know what’s happening or why, it can feel isolating, disorienting, and downright exhausting.
If you’re in your late thirties or forties, and noticing changes like any of these starting to creep up, then you’re likely entering perimenopause.
Now’s the time to do something about it.
Everything is changing, and especially if we act early, we can now avoid and reduce perimenopause symptoms. We no longer have to simply suffer though.
How Long Does Perimenopause Last and What to Expect?
Perimenopause isn’t a one-size-fits-all experience. It can last anywhere from a few years to over a decade before you officially reach menopause (defined as 12 consecutive months without a period).
But it starts before many women expect.
The symptoms of menopause typically start during perimenopause, which is the transitional phase leading up to menopause. This can begin anywhere from the late 30s to mid-40s but most commonly starts in the early to mid-40s.
The Menopausal Timeline:
Every woman is different, but here’s some generalized timelines and what you might expect.
- Early Perimenopause (Mid-to-Late 30s or Early 40s): Some women notice subtle changes, such as worsened PMS, sleep disturbances, or slight shifts in cycle length.
- Active Perimenopause (Mid-40s to Late 40s): More noticeable symptoms begin—irregular periods, heavier or lighter flows, hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, brain fog, and fatigue.
- Late Perimenopause (Late 40s to Early 50s): Symptoms often intensify before periods fully stop.
- Postmenopause (Average Age 51+): Symptoms can continue but may evolve, such as increased vaginal dryness, joint pain, and a greater risk of osteoporosis and cardiovascular changes.
What determines how hard or easy your menopause transition will be?
Some common factors include:
- Genetics (Did your mother or grandmother have early menopause?)
- Lifestyle factors (Stress, diet, exercise, sleep, and environmental toxins play a HUGE role.)
- Gut health (gastrointestinal health can have a big effect on hormones and our body’s resiliency, and help compensate for the hormonal changes from menopause)
- Liver health (helps with detoxing excess estrogen for example when hormones fluctuate at different rates, throwing off ratios between estrogen and progesterone)
- Your ability to support your body early rather than waiting until symptoms take over.
This is why it’s critical to take action before menopause hits.
All the more so now that the science has completely changed the depth of understanding we now have into the Hormonal Cascade and the chain reactions throughout our body, mind, and emotions.
How the Science is Changing: We Know So Much More About Menopause
For decades, menopause was barely studied. Women were simply told, “Just get through it.”
Women’s health was an afterthought (the research primarily directed by men for decades).
That meant entire generations were left to suffer through, often feeling like strangers in their own bodies, while these 40+ symptoms disrupt their lives.
- Increasingly self-conscious as they watch their skin, body composition, or hair suddenly changing (for the worse).
- Losing interest in things, their sex life drying up, unpredictable moods whipsawing their emotions, and barely recognizing themselves anymore.
- Fatigue and stiff joints keeping them from enjoying precious moments with the kiddoes.
And despite it all, women are being dismissed and unheard by their healthcare.
But now, the research is shifting (as women are finally directing more of it).
We now see exactly what’s happening in women’s bodies during this time with greater nuance and specificity.
Which means we can understand how symptoms appear—and more importantly, how to reduce them at the source.
- We now know that menopause affects far more than reproductive health.
- The hormonal cascade impacts everything—your brain, gut, skin, bones, heart, and mental health.
- By understanding these pathways, we can now target symptoms holistically and effectively.
For example:
- How certain hormone shifts affect collagen, leading to joint pain and skin changes.
- How elevated cortisol worsens menopause symptoms, making stress management a top priority.
- How estrogen dominance can develop in perimenopause, leading to mood swings, anxiety, and night sweats when the liver can’t detox estrogen fast enough.
Menopause doesn’t have to be a burden, not any longer. You have options.
In fact, we put together a free, in-depth masterclass on exactly what’s happening and what you can do about it to reduce symptoms and thrive in The Menopause Toolkit Masterclass »
The Next Steps: What You Can Do NOW
If you’re in your late 30s, 40s, or early 50s, here’s a few ways you can start taking control of your health:
✅ Track your cycle & symptoms – Notice irregularities early.
✅ Support your liver & detox pathways – For example, you can eat more cruciferous vegetables to support your liver to help metabolize excess estrogen properly. And minimize your other toxic load.
✅ Prioritize stress management – Cortisol imbalance makes symptoms worse, and a big source of cortisol spikes is unmanaged chronic stress. There’s a ton of simple things that will not only affect your perimenopause symptoms, but will also help you feel clearer, more vibrant, and more resilient in general.
✅ Optimize your nutrition – Ensure you’re getting enough protein, magnesium, vitamin D, and omega-3s, ideally tailored to your body’s particular needs and deficiencies.
✅ Start Some Strength Training – Muscles loss is exacerbated by the hormone shifts in menopause, and starting some strength training is invaluable for women going through this time of their lives, even beyond just conserving muscle.
✅ Get deeper Functional Medicine hormone testing – A functional medicine provider can help you see what’s happening under the surface much deeper than your typical surface-level hormone labs.
By the way…
We go into a ton more detail in the Menopause Toolkit Masterclass (get access for free).
Perimenopause is Inevitable—Suffering Through It is Not
Your body isn’t betraying you—it’s asking for support.
Your symptoms aren’t just aging—they’re signs of hormonal shifts that you can manage.
You don’t have to wait until symptoms take over your life. You can take action now—and it starts with understanding what’s happening, why, and what to do next.
Imagine waking up in your forties and fifties feeling refreshed, your body rested, your mind clear. You move through your day with energy and confidence, no longer second-guessing yourself or feeling like a stranger in your own body.
You’re fully present with your family, your partner, your work, your passions—without the constant disruptions of exhaustion, brain fog, random mood swings, or unpredictable hot flashes.
You feel strong, capable, and in control, no longer fighting stubborn weight gain, random aches, or the frustration of doing all the right things with little to show for it.
You finally feel like yourself again.
This isn’t just wishful thinking—it’s possible.
But here’s the hard truth:
If you wait until you’re deep into menopause to take action, you’ve already lost precious time and suffered way more than you needed to.
You have the ability to influence the trajectory of this transition.
It can be rough, unpredictable, and a roller-coaster of emotions…
… or you can support your body from the get-go so it has what it needs to keep you more balanced, healthy, and feeling like yourself.
Targeted and personalized to you.
That’s exactly why we created the Peri+Menopause Program—a complete, science-backed roadmap to help you:
- Avoid and reduce symptoms naturally, so you can feel like yourself again.
- Address the full Hormonal Cascade – Menopause symptoms aren’t random. They follow a domino effect in your body. One hormone shift triggers another, creating a chain reaction that can turn your once-reliable body into a frustrating mystery.
- Protect your bones, heart, brain, and gut health—so you’re not just getting through menopause, but setting yourself up for long-term vitality.
- Take a Whole-Body Approach: From calming elevated cortisol to strengthening your bones and improving digestion, we help you balance your hormones, mind, and body all at once.
- Get expert guidance and real support—instead of struggling in silence, feeling dismissed, or piecing together advice from Google.
This 8-week live, expert-guided program takes all the latest science and research and puts it into a clear, step-by-step approach, designed to help you take control of perimenopause now—before symptoms take control of you.
This isn’t just about easing symptoms. It’s about transforming your perimenopause experience so you can fully enjoy this next chapter of your life.
Now is the time to take action.