I’m 42 and suddenly experiencing perimenopause symptoms on and off and it’s absolutely terrifying. I have talked about this over on my personal blog on Life of Maria, but I want to summerise it on here as well.
Before I launch into it, I do want to say I talk a lot more about my struggles with perimenopause over on Life of Maria, so please be sure to check that out.

About 10 months ago (at the beginning of 2024) I started getting hot flushes. I’ve never experienced them in my life but as soon as I started getting them I just had a feeling it was perimenopause. I’d also get headaches and generally not feel so great.
Then it stopped for about a month, but started up again a few weeks ago accompanied by morning nausea. I swear I’m not pregnant, but this nausea resembled morning sickness, so I googled it and guess what?! Also a perimenopause symptom.
Then I think back to the last year and my periods have gone from being completely average, to being HEAVY. Like “lets have your entire 4 day period in the space of a day” heavy.
Last year I had a pretty serious mental breakdown and I’m now wondering whether or not these fluctuating hormones contributed to this; its hard to tell but it is a possibility.
The overall symptoms of perimenopause can be quite broad, so if you’re unsure yourself give it a google. My doctor said it’s hard to pinpoint if someone is going through perimenopause exactly because hormones fluctuate, but I have a feeling for me it is, especially given the history with my own mum (she went into menopause at 42).

Anyway … at this stage as I really have no idea what’s happening with my body, I’ve realised I should probably tread carefully with it.
I need to recognise that I’m either going through, or about to go through a challenging time in my life – especially for my body.
I dont know why but this realisation hit me really hard after listening to a podcast called Growth Game, where Franki Turner chatted about her own journey with perimenopause, and it made me stop and actually pay attention to what I was doing.
My exercise has dropped off lately, and my eating habits are out the gate. I have never been great at looking after my body, and have constantly struggled with my own self image, and in this moment I realise that none of this is doing any good and that I am doing myself a disservice.
So I think I am going to get back into my daily walks as much as I can, and I will enlist the help of a nutritionist who specialises in perimenopause/menopause.
I will also not hesitate to use HRT (hormone replacement treatment), but if I can support my body in other ways as well, during this time, then I should do that. It’s really the least I can do.
I also struggle with depression and anxiety, so I need to be mindful of that as well, although I have a feeling that when my exercise and eating start to improve, my mental health will as well.
The next step is the nutritionist though and I’m excited to have some guidence in this area from someone who actually knows what they’re talking about …
Okay so I said I was going to summarise my journey so far but I ended up just copy and pasting from my Life of Maria post. Would love you to go over there and bookmark my website and/or sign up for my newsletter which is essentially just whenever I do a post.
Let me know if you’ve gone through menopause or are starting out on your journey!