Perimenopause symptoms due to stress: when hormones get out of control

Perimenopausal symptoms due to stress are among the most uncomfortable in a woman's life.

Hormones go up and down at breakneck speed, causing a series of physical and mental ailments that are difficult to understand.

Discover how stress affects your body during perimenopause and how it affects your daily life.

How cortisol (stress hormone) throws your hormonal system into chaos

Before you dive into this whirlwind of symptoms, you should know how cortisol acts on your body during perimenopause.

Do you remember that before reaching this stage, your body could fight against everything, including stress?

Progesterone kept cortisol at bay and estrogen levels lived normally.

Well, when these hormones go up and down, cortisol shoots up beyond normal. It's as if that power is exhausted, leaving you with discomforts you didn't expect.

Perimenopause symptoms due to stress: any given day

To understand this better, imagine the day of a highly stressed perimenopausal woman; let's call her Anabel. Although she could be your neighbor, your friend, or even you.

• 6:00 AM - Anabel wakes up drenched in sweat from another night of sleep interrupted by hot flashes. All because the stress has thrown her body's thermostat (the hypothalamus) out of balance, making her feel like she's slept in a sauna.
• 7:30 AM - She looks in the mirror and feels sad because she notices that her waist is getting bigger every day. She has accumulated fat in her abdomen because every afternoon she has sugar spikes, which make her crave something sweet and she can't resist.
•  9:00 AM - At the office, Anabel struggles with the brain fog that prevents her from concentrating. Where is that report? What did her boss ask of her? Chronic stress affects the brain, causing loss of memory, concentration, and more.
• 11:00 AM - Oh no! A hot flash hits her in the middle of a meeting. Her face lights up like a red light and she looks for the nearest air conditioner to avoid the sweat. Well, 80% of women in perimenopause experience these episodes.
• 1:00 PM - Irritability takes over Anabel. A colleague's comment makes her feel like a volcano about to erupt; so much so that she stopped eating lunch. It's stress affecting her well-being hormones.
• 3:00 PM - Anabel is fighting an uncontrollable craving for chocolate. Her hormones are screaming “Sweet, sweet!” at the top of their lungs. She eats it and feels guilty.
• 5:00 PM - At the end of the day, she is exhausted. She feels fatigued, her bones and muscles ache as if she had run a marathon.
• 8:00 PM - At home, her partner suggests an intimate moment, but Anabel's flame is far from burning. Stress, along with hormonal changes, are responsible for low sexual desire.
• 10:00 PM - Anabel can't sleep. She stares at the ceiling as her thoughts race around uncontrollably. Anxiety sets in as she remembers what happened during the day and the uncertainty of the future. Insomnia is a cruel symptom of stress in perimenopause.

Throughout the day, Anabel experiences other symptoms, such as hair loss, digestive problems, and more.

Every woman experiences perimenopause differently

Not all women have all of Anabel's symptoms, some experience a few or even none.

To do this, maintaining good eating habits, sleeping hygiene, exercising daily and, of course, controlling your stress will help you.

Remember: perimenopause is temporary!

Important: This content is for educational purposes only and should not be used as medical advice. If you have any health conditions, please consult your doctor.

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