Symptoms

Perimenopause rarely announces itself. For most women it begins in the mid-forties as a change in cycles, sleep, or temperature that is easy to put down to stress or age. The symptoms that follow are real, well documented, and often go unnamed for years because they arrive one at a time and in no fixed order.

This hub covers the symptoms one by one: what the symptom is, what is known about why it happens, how long it tends to last, and when it is worth talking to a clinician. Each post links to the guidance it draws on, usually from The Menopause Society, NICE, or ACOG, so you can read the source yourself.

Two things these posts try hard not to do. They do not tell you a symptom is nothing, because you are the one living with it, and they do not tell you it is definitely menopause, because some symptoms overlap with thyroid, iron, mood, and heart conditions that deserve their own check. The honest answer is often “this is common in perimenopause, and it is worth ruling out other causes,” and that is what we say.

If you want the quickest route to a useful conversation with your doctor, start with the night sweats post, then the brain fog post, and bring your notes. The Talking to your doctor hub picks up from there.