upworthy

perimenopause symptoms

Humor

Tween flips the script on his perimenopausal mom in hilariously spot-on 'cougar puberty' bit

Touché, kid.

Courtesy of Kristina Kuzmic/TikTok

Kristina Kuzmic and her son Ari nail the reality of perimenopause, aka "cougar puberty."

Women who've found themselves thrust into the throes of perimenopause know that symptoms in the years preceding actual menopause can be extreme. The family members who live with perimenopausal women are well aware of it, too, bless their hearts and stable hormones.

So when a tween boy talks about his mom's perimenopause period the same way a parent talks about their child going through puberty, it's an apt comparison. But when it's delivered with a deadpan delivery using terms like "cougar puberty," it's comedy gold.

Kristina Kuzmic and her 11-year-old son, Ari, hit the nail on the head with their video comparing perimenopause to puberty, and people can't get enough. Ari sits at a kitchen counter in a robe, coffee cup in hand, and says right to the camera, "My mom is going through puberty—cougar puberty. I knew this day would come—I just didn't think it would happen this fast."

Watch:

@iamkristinakuzmic

He’s not wrong. #cougarpuberty #perimenopause #menopause

"This is a very confusing time in her life," Ari continues. "There are some complicated feelings. I don't even know if she knows how to process them all."

Uh, yeah. Accurate. The video goes on to cover "coug-erty" realities like mood swings, bodily changes, sleep disturbances, fashion choices, hormone replacement therapy, and shifts in attitude, all while Kuzmic cries over cheese, shaves her face, wears PJs and slippers to the store, and shoves ice down her shirt.

"At the end of the day, it's my job to love her through it and remind myself that this is all normal development," Ari concludes before telling his mom, "Growing up is tough, but I'm really proud of the woman you're becoming."

perimenopause, menopause, hot flash, women's health, aging Menopause Hot Flashes GIF by Kino Lorber Giphy

Ari's delivery and Kuzmic acting it all out is perfection, and women who relate are sharing the video widely with commentary like:

"Calling menopause cougar puberty is hilarious and sounds so much better than menopause 🤣🤣"

"My mustache is coming in and soon my sons will be coming in too. At least we have something to bond over."

"BUT… why is this 100% accurate?!"

"This is so accurate! I haven't had this many bodily changes since I was a teen 😂😭"

"But why do I have to hit cougar puberty as my kids are hitting theirs? It's a perfect storm. 😵💫"

"I’m so glad that perimenopause is being talked about. I’m currently in menopause but would have loved knowing more years ago."

perimenopause, menopause, hot flash, women's health, aging Menopause GIF by Better Things Giphy

Perimenopause is no joke, but it's something that simply wasn't talked about—or even studied on a large scale—until fairly recently. Most of us grew up hearing about menopause and learned that it's when women's menstruation ends. We may have heard hot flashes come along with that change, but that's about it. The fact that the hormonal changes start years before menopause happens and that there are dozens of possible symptoms—many of which no one would guess could be associated with it—has only been a recent revelation to the general public.

As Kira Merman writes for Yale School of Medicine, "Long-lasting misconceptions around menopause linger. A simplistic view of menopause as a sudden, binary change has shaped decades of inadequate care. We don’t expect any of our other organs to shut down overnight as we age; why is it that we’ve come to expect such an abrupt change for our ovaries?"

There have been more studies since the 1980s, when the term "perimenopause" first came into use, but some of the conclusions from the research have been confusing. For instance, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) became widely used up through the 1990s, but when some research showed it increased the risk of breast cancer and other health problems, its popularity dropped. Since then, more research and analysis has come out that counters those risks, but not all medical providers are fully educated on the subject. Considering that fact that half the population will eventually go through this transition, the lack of knowledge and training is bizarre.

perimenopause, menopause, hot flash, women's health, aging Doctors need to be better prepared to help patients through perimenopause.Photo credit: Canva

Berman shares that even OB-GYNs don't receive adequate education on the subject: "A 2023 survey found that over 90% of obstetrics and gynecology residency program directors in the U.S. agreed that residents should have access to a standardized menopause curriculum, yet less than a third reported that their programs actually offer one. This critical knowledge gap risks leaving many health care providers ill-equipped to address menopause causes and symptoms effectively, ultimately compromising women’s access to appropriate care."

As helpless as many women feel during perimenopause, access to knowledgeable caregivers needs to change. In the meantime, we can keep talking about it and laughing about it. It's much better than crying into our cheese.

You can follow Kristina Kuzmic on Instagram and TikTok.

From Your Site Articles
humor
HumorJoy
Health

Menopause advocate shares 5 big perimenopause symptoms that blindside women in their 40s

OMG the itching.

Photo credit: Canva

Shoulder pain is a symptom of perimenopause?! Yep, can be.

Living in a female body is wild. There's the whole period thing to begin with. Then, for many of us, there's the pregnancy and childbirth thing that pushes your body to its limits. And then there's the menopausal stage where you get to say goodbye to periods forever. Yay!

But between those last two is a phase that has been woefully neglected by clinical research and is only now starting to get the attention it deserves. Perimenopause happens in the years prior to actual menopause. Filled with super special symptoms that seemingly come out of nowhere, perimenopause can make you feel as if you've moved into an entirely different body. Most women experience perimenopause in their 40s, though it can start as early as the mid-30s, and is something all women should be aware of.

Author and former news anchor Tamsen Fadal shared five perimenopause symptoms she wish she'd known about in her 40s on Instagram, and so many women resonated with it.


The symptoms she shared were:

1. Weight gain

It's very strange to suddenly have your baseline weight go up by 10 pounds when you didn't change anything about your diet or exercise routine. It's also strange to suddenly gain weight in parts of your body that you never previously gained weight.

"I suddenly looked in the mirror and didn't recognize my body despite changing nothing about my routine," Fadal wrote.

"I was probably in perimenopause for ten years and just thought I was going crazy. And that I was lazy and the weight gain was all my fault," shared one woman. "If only I’d known."

"Looking at food and gaining weight is not fun 😭," quipped another.

2. Sudden Anxiety

Even women who aren't prone to anxiety can start experiencing anxiety symptoms during perimenopause. And those who already deal with it can find themselves feeling anxious at a whole new level.

"I felt like I was losing my mind and no doctor was giving me a straight answer which made my anxiety through the roof," wrote Fadal.

"The freaking anxiety rocked my world 😢" shared one woman.

"I've always been anxious. What I'm noticing is now it's gotten worse and I'm feeling paranoid, crazy," wrote another.

3. Itchy skin

This one is weird and not something anyone talks about until all of a sudden you and everyone your age talks about wanting to scratch their skin off.

"Not only was my skin SO dry, it felt like I had little electric shocks underneath my skin at the most odd times," Fadal shared.

"The itchy skin is not talked about enough! Sometimes I just can’t stand it, I want to scream!"

"All.of.this!!!👏 add tinnitus, itchy ears and dry eyes to that list 🫠"


4. Irritability

Whether it's a symptom of its own or a side effect of the many other symptoms piling on is a legitimate question, but perimenopause can definitely make you want to bite someone's head off.

"The irritability isn’t something we talk about enough!" Fadal wrote. "It was like one day I woke up and suddenly I was moody over EVERYTHING and my patience was very, very low."

"I can be fine one moment then suddenly I hate everyone and want to go live in the forest by myself. Then that slides into sadness because we're all going to die. It's exhausting."

"Yes, I was very very irritable with most things that no patience whatsoever! My 15 year old son was like 'why are you always so angry?' That was something unusual of me and it was like a “wake up call” in a way that I realized I wasn’t just same and my body was always under fire with sleepless nights!"

5. Joint pain

Fadal shared that she had sudden pain in her shoulder and wasn't able to put her arm around someone for a picture. I went through about a year where I couldn't reach over to turn my bedside lamp on and off.

"The shoulder pain! So true."

"The joint pain! OMG. Started out of nowhere two weeks ago. Cannot lift arms up to get dressed and my hands are excruciating. It’s not a little bit sore… it’s a LOT sore."

"The shoulder pain out of nowhere is insane!!"

Of course, any symptoms that are concerning to you should be checked out by a medical professional and not just be assumed to be perimenopause. But what so many women shared is the same thing Fadal found when she started experiencing perimenopause symptoms—there's just not nearly enough information out there about it. That may seem shocking, considering the fact that women make up half the population and have been going through menopause for literally all of human history, but meaningful research on perimenopause really only began in the 1980s, and there's still so much that's not fully understood.

Fadal has been on a mission to get more and better information out to women about perimenopause and menopause since she had her first anxiety attack and hot flash live on the air in 2019, which left her shaking on the bathroom floor. Her book, "How to Menopause," is coming out in March of 2025 and she has co-created a documentary, "The M Factor," that will air on PBS on October 17, 2024.


Perimenopause feels impossible to prepare for, but knowledge is power and the more we understand about what's happening with our bodies and what we might expect, the more equipped we will feel when our time comes.

You can follow Tamsen Fadal on Instagram for more about menopause and perimenopause.


From Your Site Articles
women's health
HealthWomen's Health
Women's Health

People are loving Drew Barrymore's live reaction to her first perimenopause hot flash

“I don’t know that I have ever heard a celebrity talk about a hot flash in the moment. Thank you for being so real."

The Drew Barrymore Show/Youtube

Drew Barrymore getting a quick assist from Jennifer Aniston

It feels safe to say that many, if not most people hail Drew Barrymore as the “Queen of Candid.” She can seemingly talk to absolutely anyone about anything in a way that’s consistently warm and authentic.


That even goes for when she experiences her first hot flash in front of a live television audience, apparently.

While speaking with guests Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler on her talk show, Barrymore abruptly appears flustered, fanning herself and removing her jacket.

Without missing a beat, she says, “I am so hot, I think I'm having my first perimenopause hot flashes.”

“Oh, I feel so honored!” Jennifer Aniston quips as she fixes Barrymore’s mic, which is a sweet moment in and of itself.

“I’m so sorry!” Barrymore continues, laughing through it all. “Do you feel this?!” she says, placing Aniston’s hand just below her neck. “Or maybe I’m just excited!”

@drewbarrymore I either had my first perimenopause hot flash or got really exciting! Maybe both? @thedrewbarrymoreshow ♬ original sound - Drew Barrymore

Sandler, then reaching for Barrymore’s palm, assures her, “Yeah you got a hot hand.”

“Well, I’m so glad I have this moment documented!” Barrymore exclaims.

One viewer on TikTok gushed, “I don’t know that I have ever heard a celebrity talk about a hot flash in the moment. Thank you for being so real.”

Another echoed, “Drew, we have a whole generation (X) entering the change. Let’s normalize it. Just wait until you’re soaked with sweat, then cold lol.”

One person commented on the exchange between Aniston and Barrymore, noting how refreshing it was to see two “beautiful, authentic, powerful women my own age to look up to.”

Only a week prior, Barrymore had again been an unofficial spokeswoman for perimenopause when she sat down with Gayle King of “CBS Mornings” to share more of her personal experiences, including having a period “every two weeks.”

"One doctor also just told me this could last, in the worst-case scenario, 10 years. And I was like, ‘I will never make it 10 years like this!’" she told King.

@cbsmornings How did Drew Barrymore know she was in perimenopause? She tells Gayle King and Nikki Battiste one of the main symptoms she experienced. Watch their full conversation tomorrow on #CBSMornings. #drewbarrymore #gayleking #menopause #perimenopause #fertility #health ♬ original sound - CBS Mornings


Considering that every woman who lives past their 40s will probably go through at least some version of this—even earlier, for some—one would think that there should be more conversations about this pivotal life chapter. Maybe then it wouldn’t be so daunting.

Or at the very least, there might be less stigma around it. As Barrymore eloquently put it in her interview, “The way menopause has been branded is, 'You're old, you're done.' That's not it." Instead, she feels that in reality, "more women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s are looking so attractive, feeling so vibrant, living their best lives.”

Imagine that—life getting better as you grow older. What a radical thought.


This article originally appeared on 3.30.23

From Your Site Articles
drew barrymore
Women's HealthHealth
Health

Woman lists 100 perimenopause symptoms in a 7-minute, unforgettable viral video

It seems like everything outside of 'breathing' is on this list.

Kari Anne Wright/YouTube

Woman lists 100 perimenopause symptoms in 7-minute video.

Perimenopause is the sort of gift you never really wanted but you can't take back because you lost the receipt. It's like the last hoorah of your fertility as it slowly makes its way out of the door, but it overstays its welcome and has to mess stuff up on the way out so that you're stuck cleaning up like the responsible adult you are.

Many people are familiar with the term menopause and equate that to symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats. But menopause is actually just the term for not having a menstrual cycle in 12 months or longer. Perimenopause is the time before the year-long absence of a menstrual period, and it can last a pretty long time, as much as four to eight years for some people.

But like a lot of things that involve women's reproductive health, it's under-researched, so even doctors may scratch their heads at some of the symptoms.

A comprehensive list of symptoms can be helpful even if some may still constitute a trip to the doctor to check for other causes, because chances are, if you're nearing 40, perimenopause symptoms are knocking loudly. Thankfully, YouTube creator Kari Anne Wright has compiled a visual list to help you feel a little less alone on this wild ride.

Everyone knows the most talked about symptoms such as hot flashes or vertigo, but Wright takes the time to list things people may not know. Heart palpitations, hair loss, joint pain and forgetfulness are all symptoms of perimenopause. But so are things like foot cramps, itchy ears, weight gain and cold flashes. Yeah, you can just randomly become freezing cold and nothing works to warm you up.

Honestly, the list of symptoms for perimenopause is so long that it feels like the only things not listed are breathing and spontaneous combustion. But having a list and knowing you're not alone may be just the thing you need to survive this inevitable part of life, so hurry and watch the video below. Save it to your favorites for when you have a moment of wondering, "Is this perimenopause or am I losing it?"

From Your Site Articles
perimenopause symptoms
HealthWomen's Health
Trending Stories