When 32-year-old business owner Katie Braden finally considered that she might be experiencing perimenopause, her friends and family laughed. Here, she talks to Living360 about the signs she missed.
As the founder of her own PR company, Katie Braden was used to a fast paced, high-performance job that came with heightened anxiety at times. So, at 32, when she started experiencing unusual mental and physical symptoms, she instinctively passed them off as work stress, assuming they’d dissipate on their own.
But after a few months, her symptoms were so bad that she found it impossible to travel or even complete daily tasks.
“I couldn’t bring myself to do anything that wasn’t completely necessary, so social activities got shaved down and all my effort went into keeping my work afloat,” Katie says.
Katie’s partner, while being supportive, felt more like her carer during this time. “We both had to be constantly vigilant over my symptoms, spending so much time and money consulting various healthcare professionals.”
Had she received her diagnosis sooner, she might have been spared the pain of feeling out of control and hopeless.
What are the first signs of perimenopause starting?
The first symptom that struck Katie as odd, was vertigo. Despite being common in the early stages of perimenopause, Katie was so much younger than the typical age for reaching menopause that she didn’t even consider it a possibility.
At first, Katie booked a consultation with a physio. A previous doctor had suggested she might have a vagus nerve issue — she trialled various medications, had MRIs and cameras down her throat, but still, there was no clear reason.
Eventually, her physio put it down to neck and back stiffness causing an issue with her vagus nerve. And when Katie addressed this, the vertigo did subside for a few weeks, but it came back.
The trouble is that both vertigo and neck and back stiffness are early signs of the perimenopause, says GP and hormone expert Dr Louise Newson. “It’s likely caused in women by an increase in body inflammation, which happens due to a decline in the hormones oestradiol (the most beneficial form of oestrogen), progesterone and testosterone.”
When these hormones are in short supply, the cells that help reduce inflammation can “turn against you,” she explains. “They become pro-inflammatory and can then damage tissues, leading to symptoms such as long-term pain, joint pain, muscle stiffness and fatigue.”
But because no one assumed anyone as young as Katie could be experiencing the perimenopause, the link was missed.
How quickly do perimenopause symptoms progress?
Once the vertigo, neck and back pain and muscle stiffness worsened, the rest of Katie’s symptoms arrived in quick succession.
Over the course of two or three months, she experienced an accumulation of heart palpitations, poor digestion — alongside uncontrollable blood sugar dips and spikes — and extreme heat sensitivity.
Read more: Menopause is finally on the NHS checklist — a long-overdue step for women’s health
But some of her most challenging symptoms were emotional.
We often hear women describe perimenopause as if their whole personality is changing or they feel like they’re going crazy. And for Katie, all this happened without the explanation (or diagnosis) to reassure her.
Extreme anxiety, panic attacks and feelings of hopelessness became her daily norm.
“I was struggling to contemplate how I could go on in life,” Katie says. “Everything was hard, even doing things I loved, because I was constantly in fight or flight.”
Even when a symptom dissipated, she was worrying about when it might return: “I was constantly scanning to see how I was feeling, pre-empting symptoms so I felt trapped inside my own body.”
How long did it take to get a diagnosis?
The final straw for Katie came when she suffered a panic attack in the middle of a meeting that she was leading.
“I’d managed to keep my head above water at work but now that was starting to feel impossible,” she says. “I’d completely lost touch with who I was and I was at a stage where I didn’t remember how it felt to feel normal -— it was really frightening.”
When she finally began to suspect perimenopause, people were incredulous, dismissing it as a hypochondriacal idea fuelled by anxiety. But luckily for Katie, she knew someone who’d gone through the menopause at 35 and, with her help, felt reassured that she might finally understand what was happening to her.
Read more: This simple activity could be the secret to easing 6 menopause symptoms — including hot flushes
After receiving a recommendation for a private doctor who specialised in women’s health and menopause, she was put on HRT (hormone replacement therapy) straight away.
Now, with treatment, an abundance of information and through her own research, Katie’s experienced significant relief from symptoms and she’s slowly rebuilding her mental health after five months of extreme lows.
But it’s not lost on her that this could have been avoided had she been better educated.
What doctors don’t tell you about early perimenopause symptoms
The most surprising part of it all, for Katie, was how easy it was to dismiss the likelihood it was perimenopause because of her age.
The one symptom she thinks women should watch out for the most: vertigo. The first symptom she noticed, had she been more aware of the chance she was experiencing perimenopause, she might have received her diagnosis (and started HRT) before her symptoms became so debilitating.
This, combined with the neck stiffness and back pain, could have been enough to point her in the right direction.
The key thing, she says, is to keep an open mind and do your own research. “There’s so much misinformation about menopause and the norms around it,” she says. “But it’s actually not that rare at all — one in every 100 women experience early perimenopause.”
Early perimenopause warning signs to look out for
Looking back, Katie can now see how her symptoms all pointed to perimenopause. Because they accumulated gradually and with an intensity that made life difficult to manage, she couldn’t connect the dots at the time.
These are the symptoms she suggests you shouldn’t ignore:
- Vertigo
- Heart palpitations
- Poor digestion
- Uncontrollable anxiety
- Blood sugar spikes and drops
- Panic attacks
- Feelings of hopelessness
- Body temperature control issues
- Dizziness
- Depression
Read more: Listening to your body: a gentle guide to navigating perimenopause
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Are symptoms different if you experience perimenopause early?
While perimenopause differs from one person to the next, Dr Louise emphasises that the symptoms themselves are no different depending on your age.
However, if you do experience perimenopause at an earlier age, there are a few potential health risks to be aware of, such as associated health conditions including osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease and low thyroid function, as well as mental health challenges like anxiety and depression.
The most important thing, says Dr Louise, is to monitor symptoms and consult your GP if you notice any changes. You can also use tracking tools such as the free Balance app to help assess your symptoms, spot changes to your cycle and any early perimenopause signs.
Early diagnosis is key, says Dr Louise.
“It’s a misconception that you should wait until symptoms are severe or your periods stop and you’re in full menopause,” she says. “Consult your GP as soon as you notice symptoms. Seeking early treatment means early access to treatments that can not only improve symptoms but protect them from the potential health risks of early menopause.”
Feature image: Pexels
