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What Is Perimenopause?

Many of the worst symptoms we associate with menopause actually occur during perimenopause.

By Courtney Helgoe | Experience LifeOctober 4, 2022

Perimenopause usually begins somewhere in the early to mid-40s. Cycles can become unpredictable and may be much heavier or lighter, and symptoms such as hot flashes may begin to set in.

Perimenopause can be bewildering, because menstrual periods continue, and we often think of menopause as the time when periods end. Yet many of the symptoms associated with menopause are at their worst during this transitional stage. “If you are in your menopause transition and experiencing that hormonal chaos, know for many women this is the rockiest phase,” notes obstetrician and gynecologist Jen Gunter, MD, and author of The Menopause Manifesto.

Meanwhile, some women barely register a blip. Everyone is different. That said, biological mothers and daughters often find that their menopause begins at or around the same age.

This was excerpted from “What You Should Know About Menopause” which was published in the October 2022 issue of Experience Life.

By Courtney Helgoe

Courtney Helgoe is Experience Life‘s executive editor.

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