7 Women Share Their Remedies for Perimenopause Symptoms

Waking up in the middle of the night covered in sweat, feeling joint pain so severe you take ibuprofen every day, and experiencing intense anxiety that interferes with your day—all of these are perimenopause symptoms, but if you’re in your mid 4srcs or younger, you might not connect the dots that these changes are related to your estrogen levels.

Recognizing symptoms is important, though, because there’s no specific age that perimenopause (the transitional period leading up to menopause) always begins, or a test to confirm it has officially started. “Instead, we rely mostly on symptom patterns,” like irregular periods, mood shifts, night sweats, trouble sleeping, or just not feeling like yourself, Stephanie Faubion, MD, medical director of The Menopause Society and director of the Mayo Clinic’s Center for Women’s Health, tells SELF. The average age of menopause in the U.S. is 52, but perimenopause can begin several years before that, sometimes as early as your late 3srcs.

While perimenopause is a “universal experience,” Dr. Faubion says, no two women experience it exactly the same way. There are also multiple approaches for treating and mitigating symptoms—which can make it hard to figure out what to try first. Here, seven women share what’s worked for them to quell symptoms during the hormonal rollercoaster ride of perimenopause.

‘I do Pilates four days a week.’

“As I started to notice changes in my body, I realized I needed to put a little more emphasis on taking care of myself,” Kelly Kaufman, 47, president of the communications agency K Squared Group in Chicago, tells SELF. Those changes included body aches and pains, weight gain, and “stupid injuries,” like pulling a muscle from simply bending over, she says.

So Kaufman started doing Pilates, which she says is the first workout she’s ever done consistently. “It has helped tremendously in not only keeping me somewhat in shape but also helps give me a little more focus and ‘me’ time.” It’s also helped her build muscle and strength and improved her sciatica so much that she says she no longer needs physical therapy.

‘I prioritize protein and fiber.’

Soon after turning 4src, Michelle Cardel, 42, noticed her metabolism shifting: “I was gaining weight in ways I hadn’t before, especially around my midsection.” She also started experiencing brain fog, disrupted sleep, and mood swings.

As a registered dietitian, Cardel, who’s chief nutrition officer at WeightWatchers and based in Gainesville, Florida, knew that menopause-related hormonal fluctuations could affect insulin sensitivity, metabolism, and inflammation, so she made a few diet and exercise changes. She started eating more protein to support muscle mass and metabolism, fiber to stabilize her blood sugar, omega-3s and other healthy fats to curb inflammation and boost brain health, and calcium and vitamin D to improve bone health. She also made it a point to drink more water to minimize bloating, and began doing strength training and yoga a few days a week.

Since making these changes, Cardel says her blood sugar feels more balanced, she sleeps better, and the brain fog has improved. She also started using an estrogen patch and taking progesterone. “All these things really helped me to start feeling like myself again,” she says.

‘I started low-dose hormone therapy.’

About a year ago, Swapna Patel, 45, started feeling overly anxious. “My thoughts would go into a huge spiral, and even completing ordinary tasks felt like a huge mountain to climb,” says the Minneapolis-based personal stylist. She also had brain fog and constant body aches and pains that required her to take ibuprofen daily and kept her from working out. She felt tired all the time and just not like herself.

“I knew something was really off, and all my research pointed to perimenopause,” Patel says. She discussed her symptoms with her primary care doctor, who offered to prescribe antidepressants, but she felt that wasn’t the right solution. Her ob-gyn told her that she wasn’t the right candidate for hormone therapy since she still had periods and wasn’t having hot flashes.

So, Patel switched to a new doctor who prescribed low-dose hormone therapy in the form of an estrogen patch and progesterone pill. “Within the first week, I felt like a brand new person,” she says, adding that she no longer has body aches or anxiety. She also sleeps better and is able to work out again.

‘I write about my frustrations.’

About seven years ago, Amy Cuevas Schroeder, 48, started having “extreme night sweats and insomnia,” along with midsection weight gain, irritability, and sore muscles and joints, she tells SELF. She’d often wake up at 2 a.m. covered in sweat. After researching her symptoms, she realized it was likely perimenopause, but her general practitioner and ob-gyn dismissed her symptoms since she was still having periods.

Schroeder, a tech content strategist based in Phoenix, Arizona, wrote about her struggles on her blog, which became The Midst, a health and wellness platform for women in midlife. This has given her an outlet to share her story and connect with other women going through perimenopause, she says. “I think it’s helpful to share notes—especially since there are dozens of symptoms that women could experience, and sometimes it’s hard to know which are caused by hormone changes.”

Schroeder says her blog led to her being quoted about perimenopause in the Chicago Sun-Times and connecting with the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause. Her new care team said she was in perimenopause and prescribed progesterone, which made her night sweats less frequent and severe, and trazodone (an antidepressant) to help her sleep. She now also uses an estrogen patch to keep symptoms at bay.

‘I overhauled my lifestyle habits.’

Gabriele Sewtz had her last period in February 2src2src, so she’s officially in menopause. While she’s not exactly sure when her perimenopause started, the 54-year-old Brooklyn-based real estate broker says she had symptoms—including afternoon fatigue, weight gain, bloating, hot flashes, and high cholesterol—for years.

Because of her personal risk factors, Sewtz decided to opt out of hormone therapy and instead try changing up some of her lifestyle habits to reduce inflammation and stress. She switched from running to strength training a few times a week, increased fiber and protein in her diet, and started meditating and doing breathwork.

Within a few months, Sewtz says she had more energy, lost belly fat, lowered her cholesterol, and felt noticeably less stressed. She says she also felt a “newfound sense of empowerment,” which she’s channeling into a stand-up comedy side gig. “I use humor to deflect and diffuse the menopause movement, aiming to normalize the discussion and empower other women going through this life stage,” she says.

‘I went on anti-anxiety medication.’

Two years ago, Deborah Keltner had a partial hysterectomy. She had her uterus and fallopian tubes removed but kept her ovaries, which means she no longer menstruates but still ovulates, though irregularly now that she’s in perimenopause. Keltner, a 49-year-old marketing communications consultant based in Seattle, says that although she’s always had intense PMS before her monthly periods, she started experiencing more pronounced mood swings and heightened anxiety around the time she began perimenopause a few years ago. Without her period, though, she lacked context for these emotional symptoms—her hormonal mood changes used to happen on a predictable schedule, which made them easier to manage. But not knowing when they might start or resolve made them all the more distressful, fueling additional anxiety. She also started having stiffness and pain in her hips and hands.

After Keltner brought up her concerns, her doctor prescribed a low-dose anti-anxiety medication, which “has had a massive improvement on my quality of life by quieting the anxiety that came with hormonal fluctuations,” she says. “Perimenopause inspired me to do it, and honestly, I wish I had started years ago. A few months ago, Keltner also began using an estrogen patch, which she says improved her hip pain and has helped her sleep better.

‘I have a very strict sleeping schedule.’

Waking up at 3 a.m. and not being able to fall back asleep were Trina Read’s main perimenopause symptoms, which started when she was 43. Her feet also felt “really hot at night,” which kept her up, she says. The general lack of sleep was affecting her mental health and triggering her depression.

So Read, a 56-year-old sexologist and writer based in Calgary, Canada, developed a strict sleep and bedtime routine. She goes to bed at 9 p.m., reads for 3src minutes before bed to calm her brain, and keeps her room as cold as possible. (She also stops drinking liquids at 6 p.m.) While Read acknowledges these habits aren’t doable for everyone, she says, “It’s the only way I can cope with the stressors of day-to-day life.”

She’s also switched from cardio-based workouts to Pilates and high-intensity interval training to build strength and core stability. Read started taking progesterone early on in perimenopause and recently added estrogen, which she says has improved other symptoms she didn’t realize she was having, including brain fog and tiredness.

When to talk to your doctor about perimenopause

Any time you have bothersome symptoms that you think are related to perimenopause, talk to your doctor, Victoria Fitz, MD, an ob-gyn and clinical instructor of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Massachusetts General Hospital, tells SELF. You can start with your primary care physician or ob-gyn. Another option is to find a practitioner certified in menopause care via The Menopause Society’s directory.

Doctors will discuss your symptoms and recommend the best treatment for you. That may include referring you for mental health evaluation, hormone therapy, or other non-hormone medication, Dr. Fitz says. Birth control pills may also be a good option during this time, Dr. Faubion says, as they work as contraception (yes, you can still get pregnant in perimenopause!) and provide a low dose of estrogen to regulate your periods and relieve other symptoms. Another option, she says, is a hormonal IUD (which contains progestin) for contraception and period control, paired with an estrogen patch.

The Menopause Society recommends hormone therapy as a first-line treatment for managing menopause symptoms like hot flashes, vaginal dryness, pain during sex, and bone density loss. Despite the controversy and misinformation that’s been spread about this treatment, “estrogen is very safe,” Dr. Fitz says. The most recent research and guidelines say that hormone therapy, which is available in different forms such as a patch or pill, is considered safe (for anyone without contraindications—e.g. a history of blood clots, stroke, or breast cancer) when started before age 6src or within 1src years of the start of menopause. However, non-hormonal medications, like gabapentin, fezolinetant, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), may also help with sleep, anxiety, mood swings, and hot flashes, Dr. Fitz adds.

An overall healthy lifestyle—exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, stopping smoking, eating a healthy diet, and managing stress—could also help you manage perimenopause symptoms, Dr. Faubion adds.

Ultimately, it’s never too early to seek treatment if your symptoms are interfering with your life, Dr. Faubion says. There are multiple very effective options that could work for you, Dr. Fitz adds. “We want women to feel empowered to bring this up with their physician and not just view it as something that they suffer through.”