Free checklist

40 Hidden Signs of Perimenopause Nobody Warned You About

Hot flashes are just the beginning. Tick what you've noticed, see your pattern, and bring it to your next appointment.

Cover of the 40 Hidden Signs of Perimenopause checklist

A sample from the checklist

1. Your cycle is shifting

  • 1. Periods coming closer together. Your cycle has quietly gotten shorter [A7, C2].
  • 2. A cycle that won't stay put. The gap between periods keeps changing by a week or more [C1].
  • 3. Heavier or lighter bleeding. Your usual flow has changed, in either direction [C2, C3].
  • 4. Skipped periods. A month goes by with nothing, then it's back [C1, C2].
  • 5. PMS that hits harder. The days before your period feel worse than they used to [C2].

What's inside

  • 40 signs in 7 groups: your cycle; heat, chills and sleep; brain fog; mood; heart, joints and body; skin, hair and mouth; bladder and intimate health.
  • A source for every sign, from clinical guidelines and trusted health organizations.
  • When to see a clinician promptly: the signs that shouldn't wait.
  • 6 printable pages, US Letter.

How to use it

  1. Tick every sign you've noticed in the last 3 months.
  2. Next to each tick, jot down when it started and how much it bothers you.
  3. Bring the page to your appointment. A clear list is much harder to brush off than "I just don't feel like myself."

Where the facts come from

The checklist draws on The Menopause Society, the Endocrine Society, ACOG, the STRAW+10 staging system, NICE (UK guidelines), Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, the NHS and the National Institute on Aging. The full list of sources is at the end of the checklist. How we research