August 9th, 2026

Ladies! Lets open up Pandoras Box on Perimenopause! 

Lets chat about it!!

As I enter my mid 40’s, I am 44, I am most certainly in perimenopause. I think the biggest thing for me that hit me like a truck and the most unexpected was the depression.

it is something that is difficult to explain to someone who has not been through it but it feels like a switch has been flipped the wrong way in your brain and you can’t control it. Your emotions flood heavily and your very overwhelmed by your thoughts. I am one that has been up and down with depression throughout the years since I was a teenager (probably hormone related) but has been manageable. 

I realized this type of depression was out of my control and after talking to several friends and colleagues, I decided it was time to go on an antidepressant. I am on low dose Lexapro and it takes the edge off. I am at least not crying as much anymore. I am still able to feel and process. My fear with going on these medications is that it would make me feel numb and not feel anything at all. For some people this is ok, no judgement, but for me, I want to process and continue to grow and navigate this issue. I think the small dose of Lexapro is balancing out the chemical imbalance with perimenopause just enough that I am able to work on the other parts of my depression.

Other symptoms I am experiencing from Perimenopause are weight fluctuations, night sweats, and BRAIN FOG!! Oh lord is it bad. I have a tough time remembering things in the short term. I will be looking for my keys or phone and will legit be holding them. Anyone else???! As much as I try to laugh it off, if you think about it, it is concerning for sure.

Night sweats are brutal, the 3 am wake up call. I know I am not alone on this. This has been occurring for many years. I used to call this the 3 am curse since I worked night shift a fair amount in my career, it was always the darkest hour of the night. I guess now it is for other reasons. Another symptoms is vaginal dryness, which can be painful at times actually.

Hot flashes come out of no where as well and at the worst times! I sweat a lot at baseline but nothing worse than sweating through your newly washed shirt when you just got to work.

For decades estrogen therapy, hormonal therapies have been viewed in a negative light. Not many studies had been done. You know the whole, no research on women’s health thing! But now more studies have been done and the evidence is showing the safety profile is a lot better than we all once thought. It is still advised to be used cautiously in women with heart issues but definitely worth a discussion! Why should we suffer through these symptoms, don’t we go through enough as women? 

For my women who suffer from endometriosis like me as you may notice a lot of the symptoms i described for perimenopause are also the same symptoms for endometriosis. Its a double whammy!! It is really hard to deal with to say the least, this is an understatement. We really need the world to make a major shift in women’s health and I, being in the medical field will continue to advocate, not only for myself but for all of us women, we deserve better.

Chat soon,

Foxy xoxo