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Feeling off during perimenopause?

Feeling off during perimenopause?

In recent years, perimenopause has finally entered the public conversation – and rightly so. But as awareness has grown, so too has the tendency to blame it for just about everything.

Weight gain? Must be perimenopause.
Brain fog? Changing estrogen.
Hair loss? Hormones.
Itchy ears? You guessed it – perimenopause.

While hormonal shifts during this transition are very real, they aren’t the only drivers of discomfort. If they were, every woman would suffer and we know that’s not the case.

Some women move through this phase of life with relatively few symptoms. Others find it deeply challenging. So what’s the difference?

One key factor – and one I’ve seen countless times in clinic – is iron.

Iron deficiency is incredibly common during the perimenopausal years, yet it’s rarely part of the conversation. For some, it’s a long-standing depletion that began in adolescence. For others, it’s more recent – triggered by heavier or more frequent periods resulting from hormonal changes. 
And because many of the symptoms overlap with those typically attributed to perimenopause – fatigue, brain fog, low mood, anxiety, poor sleep – iron deficiency is often tolerated rather than treated.

But here’s the truth: iron plays a critical role in some of the body’s most essential processes including thyroid hormone production and activation, neurotransmitter production (think dopamine, serotonin and GABA) and liver detoxification, not to mention cellular energy. 
These all profoundly influence how you feel on a day to day basis.
So if your iron levels are low during this already dynamic time, your resilience takes a hit. Symptoms worsen. And the whole experience of perimenopause can feel far more difficult than it needs to be.

What if some of what we’re calling “perimenopause” is actually the compounding effect of years – or decades – of subtle biochemical changes, nutrient insufficiencies and deficiencies (like iron) and persistent stress? What if progesterone and estrogen have been quietly buffering those challenges... until now?

And what if, with the right support, you could feel better than you thought possible in this phase of life? I can’t encourage you enough to know your iron status and correct any degree of insufficiency or deficiency you find.