Contrary to myth, women can experience menopausal symptoms when they are still having periods. Typically, this happens around the age of 40 to 42 during the perimenopause – aka the months and years leading up to the menopause – when hormone levels can fluctuate wildly. 

Perimenopause symptoms are like menopause symptoms and include anxiety, irritability, irregular and heavy periods, sleep problems, mood swings, hot flushes, frequent urination, concentration problems and breast tenderness. 

Tania Adib said that women who are in the perimenopause and still having periods won’t realise that these symptoms are connected to the hormones. “Especially as they tend to start slowly – they might find they can’t exercise as much as they did previously or can’t focus at work as well. It creeps up and just becomes the new normal for them.” 

If you’re under 45 and having these types of symptoms your GP may do a test for levels of a hormone called Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) which stimulates the growth of eggs in the ovaries. But, because hormones fluctuate so much in the perimenopause even within one cycle, it’s not regarded as a reliable test.