Irritability was one of the changes I took personally. I thought I was just less patient, more stressed, or not handling life very well. Looking back, it was another clue that something in my body was shifting — and that I needed better questions, not more self-criticism.

My periods became heavier, longer, and much harder to manage — but I kept treating it like something I just had to deal with. Looking back, it was one of the earliest signs that my body was changing. Here’s what I wish I’d understood sooner about heavy bleeding in perimenopause.

Perimenopause didn’t start for me with a dramatic hot flash. It showed up as a handful of changes I kept explaining away — heavier periods, exhaustion, irritability, brain fog, and eventually night sweats. Looking back, there were clues. I just didn’t know how to connect them yet.