And can we just talk about how extremely unhelpful doctors are? I just barely (like last month) tested as being in perimenopause, but I've had symptoms for years. And my older sister has been told she's not actually in peri. But she's obviously in late stages since she'll go 60, 70, 80 days with no period. So what would be really helpful is if doctors, 1) knew how to recognize the symptoms, and 2) knew how to help alleviate them. I finally discovered that the stair master at the gym helped with most of my symptoms - most specifically joint pain, the inability to stay awake, etc. Don't get me wrong - I'm still tired all of the time, but I'm able to stay awake.

Anyway! Great article! I'm hoping to make it through this to figure out what my new normal is post menstruation.