In this bitesize moment pulled from the Laura Dowling Experience back catalogue, GP and menopause specialist Dr Sarah Callaghan explains why perimenopause so rarely arrives with a bang — and why so many women spend years "muddling through" before they realise what's actually going on.

She tells Laura about the slow, sneaky creep of symptoms, the patterns she sees most often in clinic, and the women who mistake their perimenopause for postnatal anxiety, burnout, grief, or "just life". It's a powerful reframe: if something feels off, you deserve more than "just cope".

• Why perimenopause symptoms rarely arrive all at once — and why that matters
• The fluctuating, "good week / bad week" pattern that makes women doubt themselves
• Common mislabels: postnatal anxiety, stress, grief, COVID, burnout
• The "I just don't feel like myself" phrase she hears in clinic over and over
• Why you don't need to be in crisis to ask for help — even a 20–30% drop in functioning is worth investigating

🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

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