By EMILY CLEARY FOR YOU MAGAZINE
Updated:
Your stomach cramps, your head pounds and there’s a foggy feeling in your brain that just won’t shift.
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that → update → brain
When they book a consultation with their doctor, they are dismissed with diagnoses of stress, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or lifestyle fatigue.
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they → book → stress
But what if these symptoms, when put together, could reveal another cause?
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symptoms → put → cause
The reality behind these unexpected problems could actually be something rarely discussed in younger age groups: perimenopause.
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reality → discuss → groups
While the conversation around midlife hormonal shifts has grown in recent years, misconceptions about when this transition begins, and how long it might last, are still rife.
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it → grow → begins
Around one in 100 women experience menopause before the age of 40, a condition medically defined as Primary Ovarian Insufficiency (POI).
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women → experience → Insufficiency
Yet millions more in their late 30s begin experiencing the early, turbulent waves of perimenopause without realising it.
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millions → begin → it
Why perimenopause can start earlier than you think
Sonia Dunleavy, 50, from Buckinghamshire, was just 42 when she went through menopause.
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she → start → menopause
For years, she had visited her GP and paid to see specialist doctors to try and curb symptoms that plagued her life, but she was always sent away with a different answer.
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she → visit → answer
‘From my early 30s I experienced awful stomach issues,’ she says.
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she → experience → issues
‘It came to the point where I was afraid to leave the house in case I needed the toilet.
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I → come → toilet
But doctors just said it was IBS.
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it → say → ?
Then I began to experience chronic fatigue.
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I → begin → fatigue
I was a single mum holding down a full-time job - but this wasn’t just tiredness, it was utter exhaustion.
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it → hold → job
Sonia Dunleavy, 50, was just 42 when she went through menopause
Sonia had struggled to conceive but never considered that her disrupted hormone issues could be a sign of perimenopause.
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issues → go → perimenopause
‘I also suffered terrible mood swings,’ she says.
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she → suffer → swings
‘I called them my mood rages!
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I → call → them
But my GP was more keen to offer me antidepressants than do any further investigations or put all the symptoms together and understand the whole story.
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GP → offer → story
‘I became very anxious.
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I → become → ?
I worried about what might be wrong with me and I hated the fact that I felt I couldn’t cope.
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I → worry → fact
I have always been strong and confident but years of being fobbed off left me anxious and unhappy.
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years → fob → me
‘I now know I was in perimenopause and just feel that if somebody had listened, they could have pieced the symptoms together and I could have got help a lot sooner.
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I → know → help
I wasn’t prescribed HRT until after my actual menopause.
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I → prescribe → menopause
I feel my life could have been so different if I had got support when I needed it.’
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I → feel → it
Sonia wants the conversation around perimenopause to be opened up and for medical practitioners and workplaces to understand that perimenopause is not just a ‘midlife’ problem – it can happen to women who may still be raising a young family.
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who → want → family
Perimenopause can begin years before menopause
Dr Charis Chambers is a board-certified obstetrician-gynaecologist and chief medical officer at symptom-tracking app Clue.
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Chambers → begin → Clue
She says the initial problem is that the medical definition of menopause itself is often misunderstood.
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definition → say → menopause
Dr Charis Chambers says the medical definition of menopause itself is often misunderstood
‘Menopause is technically not a years-long period of symptoms, but a single point in time – precisely one day – marking 12 consecutive months following a woman’s final menstrual cycle,’ she says.
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she → say → cycle
‘Once that 12-month cessation period is complete, a woman enters post-menopause.
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woman → enter → menopause
‘Perimenopause – the hormonal precursor to this milestone – can commence up to ten years before that final menstrual period.
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Perimenopause → commence → period
This means women in their mid-to-late 30s can spend years navigating profound hormonal fluctuations while remaining completely in the dark.’
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women → mean → dark
Dr Chambers says that, up until now, traditional medical training has focused almost exclusively on the classic, easily identifiable signs of oestrogen decline.
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training → say → decline
When women mention hot flushes, night sweats and irregular periods, GPs quickly identify an onset of perimenopause.
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GPs → mention → perimenopause
But while these textbook symptoms are widely accepted as key indicators of perimenopause, relying solely on them leaves vast numbers of younger perimenopausal women overlooked, as early-stage perimenopause can often occur without a single hot flush in sight.
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perimenopause → accept → sight
‘Because oestrogen receptors are distributed throughout nearly every tissue in the female body, fluctuating hormone levels during perimenopause can unleash a confusing array of lesser-known symptoms across multiple biological systems,’ says Dr Chambers.
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Chambers → distribute → systems
‘One of the most significant yet underreported areas affected is the digestive tract.
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One → affect → areas
Hormonal shifts frequently cause unexpected changes in gut health, including a sharp increase in acid reflux due to the relaxation of the lower oesophageal sphincter.
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shifts → cause → sphincter
’
So while many women may put their change in toilet habits or episodes of reflux down to ‘wine o’clock’ or a spicy meal, it could be an indicator of perimenopause.
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it → put → perimenopause
‘Women in their 30s may still be raising toddlers but experiencing perimenopausal symptoms,’ says Dr Chambers.
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Chambers → raise → symptoms
‘Women are having children later, and they are combining parenthood with careers and other responsibilities.
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they → have → careers
…and 21 more, not listed.
The Aporia
