In general, I love a good rollercoaster. The ups, downs, the upside downs, the spins, the adrenaline, the yelling, and the clapping at the end as you come to a halt, laughing because you had a fun time. But for f*ck’s sake, I do not enjoy the fresh hell rollercoaster that is perimenopause.

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I remember one day I was getting ready, preparing to swipe some mascara on my eyelashes. I placed my eyelash curler over them and immediately realized that there were less lashes there than before. When had that changed and why? It was confusing. So I stopped using mascara thinking, oh maybe I was curling my eyelashes too much or using mascara too often. Then I noticed the dizziness. It got worse when I would look down at my phone while trying to walk at the same time. Next came the itchy skin. I would scratch my skin raw, wondering what the hell was wrong with me. More symptoms started: heart palpitations, joint pain, brain fog, sleep problems, night sweats, negative thought patterns that weren’t present before, and the worst of all…major increases in anxiety, not spurred by anything specific. 

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This began happening for me at the height (and busyness) of my career and business, in between taking care of my family and my aging parents. And I can imagine that you might be in the same place too. 

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I was full of shock and utter dismay when I learned about menopause and perimenopause. How had no one prepared me for this? How did no doctor look at my age and symptoms and say to me, ‘hey Jen, I think you’re in perimenopause,’ instead of the awesome, ‘all your labs are fine, just eat better.’ (I literally heard this from a doctor.) Instead, I learned about it through memes and lovely doctors on social media. I’m grateful for both, but wow, are we failing women and gender diverse folks with utero-ovarian systems.

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Now, I’m about to educate, get ready! Menopause is the point in time when a person with an utero-ovarian system has gone 12 consecutive months without a menstrual cycle/period. It’s a ‘natural and normal aging process’ that occurs when a person's ovaries stop producing reproductive hormones, i.e. estrogen and progesterone. (Natural and normal doesn’t mean that we have to suffer!) Before reaching menopause, our bodies shift toward the end of our reproductive years, which is known as perimenopause. Like I noted above, perimenopause is a fresh f*cking hell. Perimenopause may begin as early as your mid-30s or as late as your mid-50s. Some people are in it for only a short period of time, while others are in it for several years. (Good lord, let mine be short, and I’ll hope that for you too!) It’s common for hormone levels (estrogen and progesterone, even testosterone) to fluctuate during perimenopause, hence the sensation of a rollercoaster, except this is the kind that sucks and not the kind where you’re clapping and laughing at the end. Although I suspect that when you reach menopause, you will be clapping and laughing at the end. I’ll report back when I get there.

Prepare yourself as I drop more medical education! Estrogen and progesterone play huge roles in multiple body systems because we have estrogen and progesterone receptors everywhere in our bodies. Did you know that? Is your mind blown? Same! Because of these multi-system receptors, these hormonal fluctuations can cause a wide range of physical and emotional symptoms (i.e. the fresh hell) to occur. How a person's body reacts to changing hormones can vary from person to person. Please see possible perimenopause symptoms below.