# What is Perimenopause? ##### Menstrual Cycle Awareness for Perimenopause --- ![[Pasted image 20261024191357.png]] --- ## TL;DR - Perimenopause is a natural process before menopause. Menopause is reached after 12 months without a period. - Perimenopause is a sequence of hormonal changes, not a single event, and it can last years. - It can be a critical window for health and a window of opportunity to make small changes that benefit us later. - I’m not belittling the symptoms; I want us to see what perimenopause actually is. --- ## Transcript So the next thing we need to understand is: what is perimenopause? So perimenopause is a natural process that occurs before menopause. So people often get these two confused. Menopause is a single day event. So after 12 months of no periods, you are menopausal. The average age is around 51. OK, but obviously everybody’s different. So again, perimenopause, on the other hand, is the time before menopause. Peri means around. So perimenopause is not a single event, but is in fact a process. And this is something we’re going to look at a little bit more. So it is a sequence of hormonal changes that usually last around about seven-ish years, although it can last as long as 14 years. There is some debate over the time frame. And obviously it’s different for every woman. So notice that I said it’s a natural process. It is not a pathology. Yes, we can have symptoms that we may need help with. And it can suck sometimes—a lot of the time, but it’s still a natural process. Think of it like puberty, but in reverse. So we would never think of puberty as something that needs fixing. And it’s the same for perimenopause. So again, I am not by any means belittling symptoms. That’s not what this is about. It’s about seeing what perimenopause actually is. So the second thing is that perimenopause is not about ageing. There’s this fear that when things are changing with our hormones, that we’re getting old. You know, and yeah, of course we are. We’re getting older. But perimenopause doesn’t mean that we are past it. Perimenopause itself isn’t caused by ageing. So Lara Briden actually says that perimenopause is happening alongside ageing, but is not caused by ageing. OK, perimenopause literally is an independent process. So that’s point number two. Number three, it is a critical window for health. Perimenopause is a critical window, a time of physiological change. OK, so changes. So, for example, I mentioned already puberty. Pregnancy, postpartum and perimenopause are others. So again, these are physiological changes. And it means that during this time, small issues we may have can become amplified in a way they wouldn’t when things are steady. So these are like tipping points. So again, perimenopause is a critical window and it is also a window of opportunity for preventing heart disease. It is when the immune system remodels itself. That’s why it can be a risky time for the onset or worsening of autoimmune diseases. It is also a time when the brain recalibrates itself. So again, it is a risky time for the brain. An analogy I really love is a computer software update. Think of it like a software update. So if all goes well with the update, then there is a slight difference. There’s still healthy brain function, but if there is a glitch encountered during the update, then there can be larger health problems. Even if we don’t have symptoms, this is a sensitive period where, again, small health problems could become larger problems later on if we don’t address them now. It’s a window of opportunity for us to make small changes now that will benefit us in the future.