Perimenopause at 35? Yep, And Here Are the 10 Symptoms No One Talks About 🦋

The Deep-Dive, Warrior-Mom Edition with Faith, Functional Medicine, and the Truth Women Deserve

There’s this moment every woman knows it.
You’re standing in your kitchen, or in your car, or in your bathroom at 7 AM staring at your own eyes in the mirror and you whisper:

“Why don’t I feel like myself anymore?” 🔥

I remember that moment vividly in my own life.
When Chloe was in the thick of her mental health struggles, the appointments, the fear, the advocating, the sleepless nights, the overwhelming responsibility of trying to hold everything together, my heart was in battle mode. My nervous system was exhausted. My faith was stretched. And my body was waving a giant white flag.

I kept telling myself I was just stressed. Just tired. Just a mom carrying too much.

But the truth was deeper:

I wasn’t just overwhelmed by motherhood…
I was also in perimenopause.

My patience felt razor thin.
My anxiety felt louder.
My sleep disappeared.
My emotions swung harder.
I felt overstimulated and under-supported.
And I didn’t recognize the woman I saw in the mirror.

In my book Warrior Mom Rising, I share what that season looked like, the collision of a mother’s deepest fears, a daughter’s pain, and my hormones shifting underneath me. I thought something was wrong with me, but now I know:

✨ I wasn’t failing.
✨ I wasn’t falling apart.
✨ I wasn’t “too emotional.”
✨ I wasn’t losing my strength.

🔥 I was a Warrior Mom carrying the weight of my child’s crisis
while navigating a hormonal transition. WHOAH!!!

And I share this because you need to know this:

You are not alone.
You are not imagining this.
Your life stress + your hormone physiology are BOTH real and they stack on top of each other.

Understanding this was the beginning of me finding my way back to myself.
And it can be the beginning for you too.

🩷 What Women Think Perimenopause Is vs. The Truth

Most women have only heard:

“Menopause happens at 50.”

So they assume hormone shifts come much later.
But functional + integrative medicine tells a different story:

👉 Perimenopause can start 7–10 years before menopause
👉 That means many women begin shifting at 35–38
👉 Some feel symptoms long before their cycles change
👉 And the emotional + mental symptoms often hit first

This is why so many women walk into clinics saying:

“I feel crazy.”
“I feel overwhelmed.”
“I feel like I’m losing control.”
“I feel like I’m aging overnight.”
“I feel like my body betrayed me.”

But what’s actually happening is:

✨ Your body is transitioning, not failing.
✨ You’re shifting, not slipping.
✨ This is wisdom, not weakness.
✨ And you can absolutely be supported through it.

🩷 What’s ACTUALLY Happening During Perimenopause

During perimenopause, these shifts occur:

1. Progesterone drops FIRST

This impacts your sleep, calm, and anxiety levels.
Progesterone is your “exhale hormone," or "nature's xanax."
When it dips → calm dips.

2. Estrogen becomes erratic

Some days high. Some days low. Some days on a roller coaster.

High estrogen can cause:
• heavy periods
• irritability
• swollen breasts
• headaches

Low estrogen can cause:
• hot flashes
• night sweats
• memory issues
• vaginal dryness
• low libido

3. Testosterone quietly declines

This changes:
• energy
• drive
• motivation
• muscle mass
• metabolism
• sexual desire
• confidence

4. Cortisol becomes dysregulated

This happens from years of stress stacked on top of hormone shifts.

5. Blood sugar becomes more sensitive

Which means more cravings + more mood swings.

This is why so many women think,
“I feel like my body is changing faster than I can keep up with.”

Because it IS.

🩷 The 10 Symptoms of Perimenopause No One Talks About

1️⃣ Anxiety that hits out of nowhere

You’re not imagining it.
Low progesterone means low GABA, your brain’s calming pathway.
This is chemistry. Not character.

2️⃣ Waking up every night between 2–3 AM

This is the cortisol spike, progesterone drop, and blood sugar dip combo.
If you’re wide awake at 2 AM?
Your hormones are talking.

3️⃣ Heavy, clotty, painful periods

This is often estrogen dominance which is fixable with proper testing, detox pathways, minerals, and bioidentical support.

4️⃣ Soul-deep fatigue

The kind that doesn’t shift with a nap.
Think cortisol, thyroid changes, and low progesterone.

5️⃣ Mood swings that feel foreign

You know it’s not “you,” but you can’t stop it.
Be patient with yourself, your brain is literally recalibrating.

6️⃣ Weight gain around your midsection

This is hormonal.
Low estrogen + high cortisol = belly fat increase, not because of “willpower,” but because of physiology.

7️⃣ Brain fog much deeper than simple distraction

You’re not losing your mind.
Low estrogen = low acetylcholine → cognitive dips.

8️⃣ New gut issues you never had before

Hormones regulate EVERYTHING including gut motility, inflammation, and microbiome tone.

9️⃣ Low libido and often painful intimacy

Vaginal estrogen and testosterone matter more than women are ever told.
You were not designed to endure pain or shame in this area.

🔟 Feeling detached from yourself

Not depression.
Not failure.
Not weakness.

This is the grief of transition and the call to rise into a new season with support, not shame.

🔥 Here’s the Part Women Never Hear: You Don’t Have to Suffer Through This

You don’t have to “wait it out.”
You don’t have to “deal with it.”
You don’t have to “push harder.”

And you definitely don’t have to lose yourself in the process.

There is support.
There are solutions.
There is a way forward.

At Graceful Wellness, here’s what we target:

1. Bioidentical HRT (the RIGHT way)

• Estrogen
• Progesterone
• Testosterone

Fully customized.
Fully monitored.
Fully YOU.

2. Peptide Therapy for Perimenopause

💛 CALM lowers cortisol, supports GABA
💛 RESTORE deep sleep (this is EVERYTHING)
💛 HYDRATE minerals + stress resilience
💛 LEAN cravings + stress eating
💛 FIT metabolism + muscle
💛 ENERGIZED clean energy without caffeine

3. Thyroid + Adrenal Testing

Because “normal labs” do NOT equal a normal life.

4. Gut + inflammation pathways

You can’t balance hormones with an inflamed gut, period!!

5. Blood sugar stability

This reduces:
• anxiety
• irritability
• cravings
• fatigue
• weight gain

6. Sleep restoration

Sleep is the foundation of hormone balance.
You can’t out-supplement poor sleep.

7. Nervous system support (faith + physiology)

Prayer, breath work, magnesium, peptides, slowing down because it all matters.

Perimenopause is not punishment.
It’s not God aging you.
It’s not a downgrade.

It’s a holy invitation:
To slow down.
To pay attention.
To honor the body He gave you.
To receive help instead of hustling harder.
To make room for the next season He’s preparing you for.

Your body isn’t betraying you.
She’s guiding you.

🩷 You Deserve to Feel Like Yourself Again

And you CAN.

At Graceful Wellness in Rockwall, we specialize in:
• Hormone optimization (bioidentical)
• Perimenopause + menopause
• Thyroid + adrenal health
• Peptides
• Sexual health
• Weight + metabolism
• Sleep + nervous system

📞 Call (214) 758-7757 to book your hormone consult.
You don’t have to lose yourself to your hormones.
You’re a Warrior Woman and this is just the next chapter you get to RISE through.

With grit and grace,
🩷 Jenn/Warrior Mom

🩷 Save this for the days you need to remember who you are.
🩷 Share it with another mom who needs to be reminded she’s not alone in the fight.

🩷 Want more encouragement like this? Visit warriormomcoach.net and join my email list so you never miss a blog, newsletter, or Warrior Mom update. You’ll also get access to free resources created to help you advocate, overcome, and thrive as a Warrior Mom.

🦋 The Warrior Mom Reset: From Burnout to Battle Ready Course Your next step toward strength, clarity, and peace.

If this blog is hitting you right in the soul, the exhaustion, the overwhelm, the hormone chaos, the pressure to hold everyone together then sis, it might be time for a reset.

That’s exactly why I created The Warrior Mom Reset: From Burnout to Battle Ready.

This 6-module program is the roadmap I wish I had when I was fighting for Chloe, losing myself, and trying to navigate motherhood, hormones, and faith all at once.

Inside the course, you’ll learn how to:

✨ Reclaim your identity when life has stretched you thin
✨ Reset your nervous system so your body feels safe again
✨ Calm cortisol and step out of survival mode
✨ Understand your hormones and advocate for your healthcare
✨ Build strength in mind, body, and spirit — not just one
✨ Create a rhythm of rest, boundaries, and soul-care
✨ Walk with God through the fire instead of trying to do it alone

This isn’t another fluffy “self-care” checklist.
This is transformation backed by faith, science, and lived experience.

If you're tired of running on empty…
If you're ready to rise instead of just cope…
If you’re craving clarity, peace, and purpose again…

🌿 The Warrior Mom Reset is your next step.
Because burnout doesn’t get the final say breakthrough does.

P.S. If you’re looking for some of my favorite resources, books, and tools that have encouraged me on this journey, you can check out my Warrior Mom Amazon Storefront, I’ve curated it just for you. SHOP HERE

Come hang with us in the Warrior Mom Facebook group. It is a space where we remind each other that we’re not machines. We’re moms. We are Warrior Moms. And we need rest too.
👉 FB WARRIOR MOM GROUP

👉 If this resonates with you, I share more of our story in my book, Warrior Mom Rising, a battle plan of faith, grit, and advocacy for moms walking through hard seasons.

Book (Amazon) Link: https://a.co/d/f2WC1Ra