Perimenopause is when the signals coming from the brain don't work on the ovaries anymore like they used to.

The ovaries go out kicking and screaming, you know.

All the processes you had put in place that you could manage the life you built, start failing.

If you find yourself with new anxiety, new depression, snapping at your kids, not sleeping, you're really on the struggle bus.

10,000 women are not lying, are exaggerating.

There's a lot of data out there, but no one was pulling it out of the academic journals and bringing it to the light.

Most women can tell you what menopause is. Hot flashes, the end of periods, sort of

cultural punchline, but ask a room full of 40-year-olds about paramenopause, and you'll get something

very different. You tend to hear, I thought I was losing my mind. I thought I was just stress.

My doctor said I was too young. I didn't recognize myself.

Paramenopause is the long runway before menopause. And for a lot of women, it's the season when

things just start to feel off. Sleep shifts, patience fins, emotions get louder, and focus gets

very slippery. And you're parenting during this time.

And often you have a kid who's going through their own hormonal shift in puberty. There is so much

going on in your house. It feels like two nervous systems colliding and there's a lot of chaos.

For a very long time, this stage was barely talked about.

Women just thought it was in their head or they weren't feeling like themselves. But now,

women are comparing notes in real time and they're naming what's happening. They're asking

better questions and they are demanding better care. Dr. Mary Claire Haver has been a major force in that shift. I was lucky enough

to meet her a couple years ago at a conference, and I'm so impressed by all of her work. She's a board

certified OBGYN, educator and researcher who has spent years translating the science of menopause

and paramenopause into language women can actually use.

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