Chances are, if you are a woman in your late 30s or 40s, you can't spend much time around other women your age without the topic of perimenopause coming up.

And for good reason.

We are finally talking about something that affects a huge number of women, often during the exact years when we are also taking on more responsibility at work, leading teams, running businesses, raising families and generally carrying a lot.

Which is exactly why I wanted to talk about it on a women in leadership platform.

Because perimenopause is not just a health issue that stays quietly in the background. If you are not sleeping, if your anxiety is suddenly higher, if you are struggling to focus or dealing with brain fog, that absolutely affects how you show up professionally.

And for a long time, I did not connect any of that.

I had a lot going on in my life, so when I started waking up around 3:00 a.m. and could not fall back asleep, I blamed stress. When I felt that constant low-level anxiety, like my body and brain were always slightly on high alert, I blamed stress. It made sense because there were plenty of stressful things happening.

Then, like every other woman over 40 with an internet connection, my social media feed started filling up with content about perimenopause, and I started hearing more women around me talk about sleep, anxiety, brain fog and not feeling like themselves.

And I started thinking…well, this sounds very familiar.

What really struck me is how easy it is for women to interpret these symptoms as some kind of personal decline.

You are tired, so you think you are not managing your life well enough.

You can't focus, so you think you need to get more organized.

You lose your train of thought in a meeting, and suddenly you are wondering whether you are as sharp as you used to be.

That is where this becomes a career issue.

Brain fog when you are standing in your kitchen trying to remember why you walked into the room is annoying. Brain fog when you are presenting to a client, speaking in front of your team or sitting in a meeting where your credibility matters feels very different.

In that moment, you are not only trying to remember the word. You are also wondering what everyone else thinks that moment means about you.

Do they think I am unprepared? Do they think I cannot handle this? Do they think I am losing my edge?

And then, because women are incredibly good at compensating, we usually respond by doing more. We make more lists, overprepare, work longer, push harder and tell ourselves we need to become even more disciplined than we already are.

Meanwhile, there may be a biological reason why things suddenly feel harder.

That does not mean every bad day is hormones, and it does not mean the stress in your life is not real. It means maybe the better question is not, “Why can’t I handle this anymore?” but, “What has changed, and is there something else going on?”

Perimenopause is a normal biological transition, but that does not mean poor sleep, constant anxiety, exhaustion or feeling unlike yourself needs to become your new normal. There are treatment options, there are providers who understand this stage of life, and there are things women can do to feel better.

And maybe most importantly, there is no prize for quietly powering through while putting yourself last.

That part feels especially relevant to women in leadership because we are very good at prioritizing everyone and everything else first. The team needs something, the family needs something, the business needs something, the calendar is packed, and taking care of ourselves becomes the thing we will get to eventually.

Except eventually has a funny way of never showing up.

This week on Loud & Lifted, I’m talking with Dr. Caissa Troutman about perimenopause, why women often mistake the symptoms for stress or burnout, how it can affect confidence and credibility at work, and why understanding what is happening matters before we start assuming we are somehow becoming less capable.

Dr. Troutman also happens to be my doctor, so I share some of my own experience in this one too.

If any of this sounds familiar, listen to the full episode. It is practical, reassuring and a reminder that you do not have to just white-knuckle your way through this stage of life.

🎧 Listen to the full episode:

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Stay Loud & Lifted,

Betsy

Lead louder. Grow stronger. Don’t do it alone.