Perimenopause is having its moment right now. The often overlooked and for the most part not discussed period in a woman’s life before the big event has, for the most part, been dismissed by many.
By doctors, by peers, partners, and families, even older women in families did not so much as muster a word about the varying subtle and dramatic life changes your body goes through before menopause actually starts.
Women’s health hasn’t largely been a talking point throughout history. But now, more and more women are opening up and sharing the changes they’re hitting in their 30s, 40s, and beyond as their bodies gear up to announce they’re done with fertility and the baby‑making years are over. You only have to scout out the “We Do Not Care Club” on social media started by Melani Saunders to see just how much women at this point in their lives wanted and needed this advice, help, and support.
So if you’re coming of age to start experiencing hormonal changes or you want to identify if you could actually already be there, this post is going to help you. It doesn’t replace medical advice, and if you want to, you can book an appointment with your own doctor or an accredited telehealth HRT provider, but it could be helpful in understanding your body just a little bit better.
Here are some of the more common and most often dismissed signs of perimenopause.
You know the ones, where your heart feels like it’s fluttering for a short period before settling back down. It’s usually over in a few seconds, and it can come on sporadically. It’s not anxiety. It can happen anytime. But a racing heart has been linked to hormonal changes in perimenopause.
There’s a difference between being hot and having hot flushes, and you will most definitely know if it’s a flush, not just you feeling a little warm. Around three in four women experience this symptom, and it is possibly one of the more well‑known issues.
Some women experience intense sweating, you might feel dizzy with it, have heart palpitations, or feel and look flushed. Or your hot flushes might feel like a sudden and intense heat radiating outwards as if your inner body is spontaneously combusting. Probably not, but get some cool air anyway.
Similar to the above, but occurring at night. If you’ve hit the point where you need to sleep with the window open and three fans strategically placed, or you’re waking up drenched in sweat each morning, you can thank night flushes.
Some women experience chills right after as the sweat cools them down, and others experience disrupted sleep. But being excessively hot overnight is a common symptom of perimenopause and menopause.
Commonly dismissed as anxiety or depression, when your body is experiencing hormonal changes, your mood can change and fast. Think of it as PMT but without the right timings.
It could manifest as feelings of dread, irrational anger, or you might feel flat or joyless, or even tearful. But mostly you won’t feel like you, and you won’t know exactly why. And people who have suffered from PMS or postnatal depression are more likely to experience mood swings, according to research, but it can impact any woman.
And not just from the night sweats either. It can be those pesky heart palpitations, it can be your mind not switching off, or the common issue most people seem to have after all: the 3 a.m. wake‑up call that renders you unable to go back to sleep. There’s no medical reason, but it seems to be a common thread online that if you’re struggling to sleep, you’ll automatically wake around 3 a.m., and then you’re up for the day.
Can’t remember what you were thinking about a minute ago? Losing your thread mid‑thought? Forgot why you walked into the room? You’re not alone, and an increase in brain fog is all too common during perimenopause.
It’s to do with the hormone receptors in your brain. So when your testosterone, progesterone, and estrogen levels start to drop, your brain takes the hit, resulting in massive brain fog, forgetfulness, and a general feeling of “why can’t I remember why I walked into this room, but I can remember all the words to my favorite song when I was 13.”
A rather vague and unnerving symptom is feeling like you have a metallic taste in your mouth. It can randomly feel like you have blood in your mouth, or it feels off. And while this might seem like it’s uncommon, it’s actually something many women experience.
It’s actually called dysgeusia, and it’s due to the change in hormone levels that impact smell and taste, usually estrogen. Alongside this, you might experience a more frequent dry mouth, you might salivate more, or you could feel like you have a burning sensation in your tongue or mouth.
Or feeling lightheaded when you stand up suddenly. For the most part, this will occur without any type of physical activity or doing anything strenuous. For the most part, you won’t actually faint (unless you have health conditions that make you susceptible to this,) but you might feel like it or lose your balance.
Again, you can blame estrogen for this.
Your skin as a whole could become more itchy, and that is pretty common, but your ears, specifically, an itch inside you can’t get to or an increase or appearance of ear infections.
Usually external ones, but your ears will be a rather odd place to experience perimenopausal symptoms. But lots of women report this is something they’re dealing with as hormones change during perimenopause.
It could be just a small sign of overall itchy skin or a singular symptom on its own, but avoid sticking anything in your ears to satisfy the itch because a) you could do more damage, and b) if it’s hormonal, it will just come back with a vengeance anyway.
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