Perimenopause: The Years Before the Last Period
6 minute read
Perimenopause is the stretch of time when the ovaries wind down but have not stopped. It commonly lasts four to eight years, and it can begin while periods are still arriving on schedule.
What women commonly report
- Cycles that change in length, flow, or both
- Waking at the same hour every night
- Heat that arrives without warning
- Irritability or anxiety that feels unfamiliar
- Difficulty finding words mid-sentence
- Joint aches with no injury behind them
Why it is missed
Symptoms arrive one at a time, often to different clinicians, and each one has an alternative explanation. Written across a single page, in order, they read very differently.