Well, hello everyone. It's Jax, and this is the Midlife Glowgetter Podcast. Today's episode is really a personal one. I'm talking about something I'm actually living through right now in real time while I record this. Perimenopause. I'm going to walk through what's actually happening inside a woman's body during this stage, sharing my own symptoms and my own story, and then give you real practical tips for advocating for yourself at the doctor's office. Because I promise you, that part matters just as much as understanding the science. So grab your coffee and let's get into it.
So, okay, I am 49 years old, and over the last two to three years, I have started noticing changes in my body that I couldn't ignore anymore. Not just one thing, a bunch of little things, all showing up around the same time that made me stop and think, okay, something real is happening here. Here's something interesting. My mom didn't go through her menopause until she was about 55 years old. So for a while, I honestly assumed I had years before I needed to think about any of this. Turns out that's not really how it works. Perimenopause, which is the transition leading up to menopause, can start way earlier than most of us expect. It can begin in your late 30s, but it most commonly starts somewhere between 40 and 44 years old. And here's the thing: nobody tells you. Just because your mom went through it later doesn't mean you will too. Every woman's time loan timeline is her own and each is different. And I actually have a consultation booked in October with the Cleveland Clinic to talk about hormone replacement therapy or HRT. I'll be sharing more about this as time goes on, but I wanted to record this episode first while I'm still in the middle of figuring things out, because I think there's real value in hearing from it when someone is living through it right now, not just looking back on it after the fact.
So let's talk science for a minute, because understanding what actually is going on made a huge difference for me. Once I understood the why behind my symptoms, I stopped feeling like I was losing my mind and started feeling like I could actually do something about it. Perimenopause is a hormonal transition. It's the stretch of time leading up to menopause, and menopause itself is just one single point in time, defined as 12 months in a row without a period. Perimenopause is everything that happens before that, and for most women, it lasts somewhere between four and eight years. Here's the part that really surprised me. Estrogen doesn't just slowly decline in a smooth, predictable line during this time. It fluctuates, sometimes wildly, even within the same day. One day your levels might be relatively normal, and the next day they dip hard. That's actually why a single blood test often can't confirm perimenopause. Your hormones could look totally different depending on what day you happen to get tested. Now here's the real important part. Estrogen receptors aren't just in your reproductive system, they're all over your body, your brain, your skin, your joints, your digestive system, practically everywhere. So when estrogen starts swinging up and down, it doesn't just affect your period. It can affect almost every single system in your body at once. That's why perimenopause symptoms can feel so random and so disconnected from anything reproductive. Your body isn't malfunctioning, it's adjusting to a completely new hormonal environment. And that adjustment touches nearly everything.
Now let me get personal because I think this is the part that really actually helps people the most. Hearing someone else's really experienced, not just a textbook list. For me, one of the first things I noticed was my sleep. I started having trouble staying asleep through the night. And I began waking up earlier than I used to, sometimes wide awake at an hour where I should still be sound asleep. That was really confusing at first because nothing in my routine had changed. I wasn't stressed about anything new, I just wasn't sleeping the way I used to. And it took me a while to connect that back to hormones instead of just chalking it up as getting older. My periods have also become very irregular. Sometimes they come later than expected, sometimes they're lighter, and I've had a couple that are straight up missed entirely. If you've been tracking your cycle your whole adult life like I have, this kind of unpredictability can honestly be a little unsettling at first. You get used to your body running like clockwork, and then suddenly it doesn't anymore. I've also noticed my hair thinning, not dramatically, but enough that I've picked up on it, especially when I'm styling it or looking at old photos and comparing. And then there's the weight gain, specifically around my midsection. This one has been especially frustrating for me because you already know my journey with weight loss. I've worked so hard on that over the last several years, and having my body suddenly want to store more weights right around my middle, even when I haven't changed much about what I'm doing, has been a real adjustment, both physically and mentally. Here's what I want you to take from my story. None of these symptoms showed up because I did something wrong. They showed up because my hormones are shifting. And that shift touches sleep, cycles, hair, and body composition all at once. Once I understood the connection, I stopped blaming myself and started paying attention instead.
Okay, I want to pause here and say something directly to you. If any of this sounds familiar, you're not losing your mind. You are not imagining things. And it's not just stress, even if that's the first thing someone tells you. There are more than 30 recognized symptoms connected to perimenopause, and I want to run through some of the most common ones with you, because chances are you've experienced at least a few of these yourself without ever connecting them back to hormones. Brain fog is a big one, where you forget words in sentence or walk into a room and completely blank on why you're there. Hot flashes bring sudden waves of heat across your face and upper body. And night sweats are basically the nighttime version, sometimes bad enough to wake you up drenched. Joint pain and stiffness show up because estrogen actually helps reduce inflammation in your body. So as it drops, your joints can start aching, especially in the morning. Fatigue during this stage feels different too. It's a deep tiredness that a full night of sleep doesn't seem to fix. Hormonal headaches and migraines can also show up out of nowhere, often triggered by sudden dips of estrogen. And mood swings and anxiety are incredibly common, caused by fluctuating hormones, messing with the same brain chemicals that regulate how we feel. There's a whole other category of symptoms that catch women off guard because they don't seem connected to hormones at all. Dry, itchy skin is one of them, sometimes even feeling like something is crawling under your skin, which happens because of collagen loss. Bloating and digestive changes can show up too, along with new sensitivities to foods or products that never bothered you before. Some women notice a drop in libido or vaginal dryness and discomfort, which happens as tissues lose elasticity and moisture. Tinnitus, that ringing or buzzing sound in your ears, can also be linked to this transition. And a lot of women describe something called electric shop sensations. A quick, sharp feeling under the skin that actually shows up right before a hot flash hits. If you've experienced even a handful of these, I want you to really hear this. It's probably not random and it's not all in your head. And it's most likely your hormones touching nearly every system in your body all at once.
Alright, this next part is one of I really want you to remember because it's a part that can actually change your experience going forward. Here's the honest truth: a lot of doctors, even the good ones, aren't trained extensively on the menopause transition. It's just not a big focus in most medical education. So when a woman walks in describing exhaustion, mood changes, irregular cycles, and body changes all at once, it can be really easy for a provider to label it as stress or anxiety or just getting older without ever connecting it back to hormones. That's not because they don't care. It's often just a gap in training. But that doesn't mean you have to accept a vague answer and go home still confused. So here's what I want you to do. And honestly, this is exactly what I'm doing right now myself before my appointment in October. Track your symptoms. Write them down for 30 to 60 days before your appointment. Use a notebook, your phone's notes app, or a tracking app if you want something more structured. Note what you first experienced and when, especially in relation to your menstrual cycle. Patterns matter here, and having them written down makes your experience much harder to brush aside. Second, bring that log with you to the appointment. Don't just try to remember everything on the spot in the room because it's so easy to blank when you're sitting there with a doctor in front of you. Having it written down means you walk in prepared, not guessing. Third, ask specific questions. Don't just say I don't feel like myself. Ask directly about things like menopause hormone therapy, sometimes called HRT, non-hormonal prescription options, and targeted lifestyle changes. Asking about specific options by name show you've done your homework, and it tends to shift the whole conversation. Fourth, and this is a big one, if you feel brushed off, it is completely okay to ask for a second opinion or to specifically request a referral to a menopause specialist. You do not have to accept it's probably just stress. As a final answer, if your gut is telling you there's more going on. You know your body better than anyone walking into a room for a 15-minute appointment. And fifth, remember that you are allowed to advocate firmly for yourself without feeling like you're being difficult. Asking thoughtful, specific questions isn't being dramatic. It's being your own best advocate. And honestly, it's one of the most powerful things you can do for your own health in this season of life.
So, like I mentioned earlier, I've got my own HRT consultation with the Cleveland Clinic coming up this October. I plan on walking into that appointment with my own symptoms tracked and written down. Sleep changes, irregular cycles, hair thinning, and the weight shift around my midsection. All laid out clearly instead of just trying to explain it from memory in the moment. I'll be sharing how that appointment goes in a future episode. What questions I asked, what they recommended, and what the whole process actually looked like from the inside. If you're somewhere in this same season of life, I really hope hearing my real experience as it's actually happening helps you feel a little less alone in it.
Here's what I want you to walk away with today. Perimenopause is not something happening in your head, it's a real full-body hormonal transition. And estrogen touches nearly every system you have, which is exactly why the symptoms can feel so scattered and confusing. If you're in your late 30s or 40s or even early 50s and something feels off in a way you can't explain, trust that feeling, track it, write it down. And when you walk into the doctor's office, walk in ready to advocate for yourself because you deserve real answers, not just a quick label of stress.
So that's it. That's the end of this podcast episode. If any part of this episode resonated with you, I would love to hear about it. Send me a message and tell me what symptoms you've been noticing if you're in perimenopause and where you are on your own journey. And if this podcast episode resonated with you or any of them, leave a positive review. It helps other women like you, like me, find this community. And subscribe if you want to know about my future um episode about HRT or any other episodes I'm tackling. So that's it. I hope you guys have a wonderful week ahead. Keep glowing, keep growing. You've got this. Love jacks.