✨ It Starts Sooner Than You Think — My Wake-Up Call to Perimenopause

A woman wrapped in a blanket gazes thoughtfully out the window, embracing the warmth and promise of a new day's sunrise.

I always thought menopause would be something that hit me way down the road — with hot flashes and no more periods and maybe a few mood swings. I didn’t expect it to creep in quietly while I was still juggling work, family, and life in full motion.

But it did. And looking back, the signs were everywhere.

First, it was my sleep. I was waking up in the middle of the night wide awake, drenched in light sweat, unable to settle my mind. Then came the emotional waves — snapping at things that wouldn’t have phased me before, or crying over stuff that felt totally random.

But what really threw me? The return of my periods.

Back in 2021, I had an endometrial ablation to finally deal with the heavy bleeding I’d lived with for years. I’m talking soaking through the biggest tampons every hour. (Younger women reading this: that is not normal. It took me until I was 41 to meet an OBGYN who asked the right questions and helped me address it.)

After my ablation, my periods became a non-event. A panty liner for a couple of days — that was it. But at 44, BOOM — they were back. Not heavy this time, just… gross. Clots. Dark, muddy colors. For the first time in my life, my own period grossed me out. I knew something was shifting.

Then came the changes in my sex drive and lubrication — and let me just say: what in the actual hormone hell?!  One week I was feeling completely fine and connected, the next I was dry as a desert and totally disconnected. It wasn’t just physical — it was emotional, too. Confusing, frustrating, and honestly, kind of isolating. Sometimes I feel bad for the guy I'm seeing, thank God he's patient and gentle with my ever-changing wave of emotions. He doesn't tell me I'm crazy or to snap out of it; he just adapts to my ever-changing moods (hello, healthy relationship - that was new for me, too).

That’s when I started digging into what was really going on.

Checklist for recognizing menopause and perimenopause symptoms, featuring common indicators such as hot flashes, mood swings, and more, against a floral design.

All signs pointed to perimenopause — the long, often-misunderstood runway leading to menopause. And no one talks about how messy and strange this phase can be. But the good news? Once I started making nutritional changes, things began to shift.

This 5-part series is my real-life guide to how food, mindset, and a few key choices helped me feel more stable, more like myself, and a lot less freaked out by what my body was doing.

For you amazing gals reading this already in menopause, it would be hypocritical of me to say I know what you are going through... but I will share what my research has told me you are experiencing and how to combat that too!

Wednesday, we’re talking about the most underrated starting point: blood sugar. And trust me, even if you think it doesn’t apply to you — it probably does.