Why Perimenopause Is Not About Aging

Perimenopause or “second puberty” is the two to ten years before the final period. It’s different from menopause, which is the life phase that begins one year after the final period. If you experience symptoms (and not everyone does), they’re most likely to occur mostly during perimenopause and are temporary.

Because you could have your final period (menopause) anywhere from age 45 to 55, you could start having perimenopause symptoms as young as your late 30s, but more likely your mid-40s. So, if you were born before 1986, you could be in the territory of perimenopause and yet still be relatively young. That’s why perimenopause is not about aging. Instead, it’s an important (and unavoidable) recalibration of your hormonal system.

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What Estrogen Does in Your 40s (and How Progesterone Can Help)

Estrogen rollercoaster of perimenopause

Night sweats, mood swings, and crazy heavy periods. Is this menopause already? And you’re only 42? No, menopause could still be a decade away. This is perimenopause or second puberty, which is up to twelve years before your final period.

Perimenopause is different from menopause (or post-menopause), which is the life phase that begins one year after your final period.

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How to Increase Estrogen

If you’re a woman of reproductive age, making sufficient estrogen is important for mood, bones, muscles, and metabolism.

Signs you’re making enough estrogen include the presence of cervical fluid and regular ovulation. 

Signs you’re not making enough estrogen include a lack of periods and vaginal dryness.

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Progesterone Is Just as Important as Estrogen for Women’s Health

Progesterone is important for women's health.

It’s time to bring progesterone into the conversation about women’s health. That’s according to Canadian endocrinology professor Jerilynn Prior in her paper “Women’s reproductive system as balanced estradiol and progesterone actions—a revolutionary, paradigm-shifting concept in women’s health.” In the paper, Professor Prior makes the case that historically, there has been a “cultural over-emphasis on estrogen” while “progesterone tends to be ignored or associated with negative effects.”

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