Is it peri-menopause, or is it just stress?
I get asked this question often, “Is this peri-menopause? Or am I just stressed?” How will I know when I’m in peri-menopause? And I understand why these questions come up for women in their late thirties/forties. Stress and peri-menopause share a number of symptoms, and when life is already full with work, kids, relationships, ageing parents etc etc, it can feel impossible to know what’s actually going on in your body and why!
Why Stress and Peri-Menopause Feel Similar
Here’s the thing;
Chronic stress and peri-menopause both impact your nervous system, hormones, and sleep, which means the symptoms can blur together.
Mood swings or emotional sensitivity
Fatigue that no amount of caffeine can fix
Broken sleep
Brain fog or “where did I put my keys… again?”
Irregular cycles
Feeling flat, overwhelmed, or unlike yourself
Sound familiar? These can all be symptoms of stress. They can also be peri-menopause. And sometimes? It’s both.
What’s Actually Happening Behind the Scenes
During peri-menopause, your ovarian hormone production becomes more erratic. Oestrogen fluctuates, progesterone gradually drops, and your brain and body are impacted.
At the same time, ongoing stress pushes your body into a “survival mode” pattern, increasing cortisol levels and placing pressure on your adrenals, nervous system, and metabolic health. And here’s the kicker:
High stress makes peri-menopausal symptoms feel worse, and peri-menopause makes you less resilient to stress. It’s a vicious cycle!
How Do You Know Which One It Is?
You can look for a few clues:
1. Track your cycle changes
Are your periods becoming irregular, heavier, lighter, closer together or further apart? That’s a peri-menopause sign.
2. Check your symptom timing
If symptoms come and go in patterns throughout your cycle, hormones are likely involved.
If they flare during stressful periods and settle when life calms down, stress is a likely driver.
3. Notice your “baseline”
Has your tolerance dropped? Does everything feel bigger than it used to? That can be the combination of hormonal changes and a tired nervous system.
4. Gut changes, skin changes, or new PMS patterns
These are classic peri-menopausal shifts, especially if you’re noticing new PMS, breast tenderness, breakouts, headaches or bloating you never used to get.
Why Your Adrenals Matter Now More Than Ever
Something we don’t talk about nearly enough is how much your adrenals matter as you move through peri menopause. If you’re a patient of mine, prepare to hear me preach about adrenal health! By your 40s, most women are carrying years (often decades) of emotional load, multitasking, and low-grade stress and your adrenals feel it. These tiny glands are responsible for your stress hormones, but they also play a crucial role in your hormonal transition. Once your ovaries fully retire in menopause, your adrenals take over producing the small but precious amount of oestrogen your body continues to rely on particularly for cardiovascular and bone health. So if you’re heading into this phase already depleted, wired, or running on adrenaline and coffee, peri-menopause can feel much harder than it needs to. Supporting your adrenals through nourishment, rest, nervous system care, and stress modulation is a foundational piece of helping you feel more stable, more resilient, and more like yourself during this transition and beyond.
The Truth? You Don’t Have to Figure This Out Alone
You don’t get a badge for pushing through on your own (even though I think every woman deserves one!). The stress–peri-menopause overlap is something I support women through every single day at Solisse, and there is so much we can do, from nutrition and lifestyle shifts to functional testing, herbal medicine, and targeted supplementation.
Your body isn’t failing.
You’re not “losing it.”
And you’re certainly not imagining it.
You’re simply navigating a phase of life that deserves more support, clarity, and compassion.
A discovery call is a simple first step to understanding what’s really driving your symptoms and what your body needs right now. Reach out if you’d like to chat a bit more about this. Remember; this phase won’t last forever and there is a steadier, clearer, stronger version of you on the other side!
