Welcome to Chaos to Calm podcast episode number 96. I'm Sarah McLachlan, The Perimenopause Naturopath. This episode is for anyone in their late 30s or early 40s who's been told you're too young for perimenopause. I'll cover what too young is really based on, what the early signs actually look like in early perimenopause and what to track to better answer the question is it perimenopause? I was 42 when I was told I was too young for perimenopause. I believed it, I went home, tightened up, tried harder and lost two years. I didn't need to lose on working on the wrong things. So if you're in your late 30s or early 40s and something has changed with your sleep, your cycle, your mood but you've been told you're too young for perimenopause, this video is for you. By the end you'll know what too young is actually based on, what the early signs of perimenopause really look like, why they're so easy to miss and what to track so your next appointment goes differently. Hi I'm Sarah McLachlan, The Perimenopause Naturopath. Let's start with the numbers. So where does too young even come from? It comes from averages. In Australia perimenopause usually starts for most women at around 47 and the average age of menopause is 51. Those numbers are real. They come from gene hails. They're a fair description of the average woman that I see in my clinic but an average is just that. It's the middle not the minimum. Now up to 12% of women have their last period by the time they're 45 so perimenopause is the years for them leading up to that. So for those women it starts even earlier still, often in their late 30s or early 40s. So when someone tells you you're too young for perimenopause, what they usually mean is that you're younger than average and that's a totally different sentence and totally different outcome. It doesn't mean it isn't happening. It means that you're just earlier than most people. So if something has changed for you, you're probably not imagining it just because you're 39 instead of 47. So what does it actually look like when perimenopause starts early? Most of us have been taught to wait for less. Fewer periods, then hot flashes, then you know it's all over. But early on it's the opposite. It's usually more. Heavier periods. Periods coming closer together. PMS is worse than it's ever been. Sleep that breaks in the small hours when you used to sleep through. Shorter fuse, more anxiety, more foods and drinks that you might have been fine with but suddenly they disagree with you. That's because early on oestrogen doesn't just drop away. It swings and rollercoasters up and down. Sometimes higher than ever before while progesterone, your calming hormone, it starts to quite rapidly. So night sweats and hot flashes can turn up in your late 30s and your early 40s too. But for most women, they're more common in mid to late perimenopause. So if you're waiting around for the flashes before you think it's perimenopause or take it seriously, you might be waiting a while. Now none of these on its own means that it's perimenopause. Several of them change over a few months is a pattern that's definitely worth taking seriously. So that leads me to why does it get missed so often? Well there's two big reasons and the second one surprises a lot of women. The first reason is that people expect a blood test to settle it and tell you is it perimenopause or not. But that can't. In perimenopause your hormones don't just drop in a nice tidy straight line, they rollercoaster up and down. Oestrogen could be high one moment and low the next. And your follicle stimulating hormone FSH, the hormone that's often checked to see if you are in perimenopause, that can change around too and you know from moment to moment. So a blood test captures just that one moment in time. Your result on a Tuesday morning is completely ordinary but Friday if you measure it again it might look totally different and tell a different story. So that's why a normal hormone result doesn't tell people about perimenopause and it's why clinical guidelines in Australia and around the world now actually advise against using hormone tests to identify perimenopause in women 45 and over. They go on your symptoms and how your cycle is changing instead. Now I don't want you to hear blood tests don't matter because they really do. I love reading blood tests in my clinic. They're how we check your iron, your thyroid, your blood sugar and many other things which can block or get in the way of your body adapting to those menopause hormone changes. And those three iron, thyroid and your blood sugar they can all cause symptoms that look a lot like perimenopause. So they'll tell us a lot blood tests but they can't give us a simple yes or no on perimenopause itself. Now that brings me to the second reason, one a lot of women don't see coming. So when you don't have a period to watch what are you going to do? That's the biggest clue that most of us have been told to watch for is our cycle changing, getting further apart with our periods and coming less often. In early perimenopause though they're coming closer together, heavier and much more unpredictable. But if you've had an endometrial ablation for heavy bleeding or you've got a hormonal IUD or you're taking the pill, you might have very light periods or none at all. So that clue that is hidden, it's not available for us to use. There's nothing to watch there really. But that doesn't mean perimenopause isn't happening. Of course it needs the evidence is somewhere else. We've got to find it somewhere else. Maybe it's in your sleep, your temperature or your sensitivity to hot and cold, your mood, your energy, your skin. You know and these count just as much. So what do we do with all this information? Our list that's written the night before an appointment is easy to wave away. Longer term viewing of your symptoms is much harder to be dismissed. So for the next week, months keep some simple notes. It doesn't have to be complex. Use your calendar, your app or if you have a cycle tracker you can use that as well on your phone. Your periods are how often you need to change your pads, waking in the night. What does it take you to get back to sleep? Your mood, your energy, your bowel motions, how are you reacting to food. Any and all of these symptoms are wonderful data to keep. Night sweats, hot flushes, put it all in. How your mood and your patience are across the month. Energy, brain fog, headaches, any new foods that you're reacting to. It's all beautiful data to help understand what is behind your symptoms. So then I want you to take that with you and then when you're asking the question could it be perimenopause? If it's not or the answer's no and hopefully you won't get dismissed as too young. Ask what else should we rule out then? You're allowed to ask that question. You're allowed to keep asking that no matter what your age is. You should, you know, always ask for what it might be. If it's not one thing okay that's fine, why not? What else might it be? So I'd love to know how old were you when you first noticed something was different? Tell me in the comments. Now if you want to head start on gathering that pattern and understanding what's going on for you, you can take my free Perimenopause Decoder quiz. It's 10 questions in about 2 minutes and it'll show you whether your symptoms fit perimenopause and so what phase that you're likely in and then you can walk into your next appointment with more than a hunch. The link to my free Perimenopause Decoder quiz is in the show notes and when you do it please send me a message on Instagram at the Perimenopause Naturopath and tell me what phase you're in. Did it surprise you or not? The Perimenopause Decoder quiz is 10 questions about 2 minutes and you'll know if your symptoms fit perimenopause and which phase you're likely in or in other words how much longer. Thanks for joining me today friend. Remember perimenopause doesn't have to be a sh!t show.