If you’re in your 40s or 50s and something feels off — sleep is worse, energy dips at odd times, focus isn’t what it used to be — it might not be stress, workload, or getting older. It might be perimenopause.
The tricky part is that perimenopause can start years before periods actually stop, and the symptoms are easy to write off as everything else going on in a busy life. For women in senior roles, that misread has a real cost: months or years spent adjusting workload, questioning capacity, or blaming burnout for something that has a name and a treatment path.
This short piece from Dr. Jennifer Wagner at Canyon Ranch is one of the clearer explainers I’ve come across. It covers what perimenopause and menopause actually are, the symptoms to look out for, and where hormone therapy fits in. Five minutes, no fluff — a good starting point if you’ve been wondering whether what you’re experiencing has a name.