Is it Perimenopause, a Thyroid Problem, or Both?
Perimenopause is a transitional state of midlife that tends to come with a number of symptoms. According to my friend and researcher, Andrea Donsky at Morphus, there are over 100 signs and symptoms you might experience. Some of those include fatigue, brain fog, weight gain, period changes, digestive changes, and more.
It turns out, many of those same symptoms overlap with the symptoms of thyroid problems!
This is important to know as it’s estimated that Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism are way more common in women ages 30-50 years old.
In fact, this study states, “The prevalence of HT varies by region and socioeconomic level, ranging from 4.8–25.8% in women and 0.9–7.9% in men.” HT being hypothyroidism.
Another study in 2024 looked at the overlap between women going through the midlife transition and either hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism.
(Gesthimani Mintziori, Stavroula Veneti, Poppe K, et al. EMAS position statement: Thyroid disease and menopause. Maturitas. 2024;185:107991-107991. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2024.107991)
I talk a lot about appropriate lab testing while in perimenopause through post-menopause and it’s for this reason. There can be a lot of overlap with other conditions that I would hate for you to miss. Imagine if someone kept telling you your fatigue, hair loss, low libido and weight gain were from perimenopause when in fact you had low thyroid!
Having an untreated thyroid problem can also predispose you to other conditions such as bone loss and cardiovascular disease.
Make sure you are requesting updated lab work at your next medical appointment for this reason.
I have an entire labs checklist here you can get for FREE but in the meantime, a few of my personal favorites for the thyroid are:
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH)
Free T4
Free T3
Thyroid antibodies (Thyroid peroxidase antibody and thyroglobulin antibody)
If your doctor suspects hyperthyroidism, they may add Thyroid Stimulating Immunoglobulin (TSI)
While it’s true there is no test for perimenopause, there are a lot of tests to help evaluate other reasons you might feel the way that you do. I don’t want you to get missed!