18/08/2026
Anxiety in perimenopause...you could be the most laid back person and then BOOM! you wake up with a feeling of dread, sudden panic and heightened irritability.
First of all, I see you! This is a real thing and you are not alone!
So why is this happening?
I'm simplifying here, but in essence anxiety during perimenopause is primarily driven by the erratic hormone fluctuations during this period our of lives.
Progesterone, our body's natural calming hormone, decreases during perimenopause and as a result the natural "brake" it provides on our nervous system is gone. (Imagine no brake in a car! It would be chaos!)
Oestrogen directly regulates serotonin (the "happy" neurotransmitter) and dopamine. So when our oestrogen spikes and plummets unpredictably, serotonin levels drop, leading to sudden feelings of panic, dread, or heightened irritability.
On top of that, the decline of these two hormones means that cortisol is not regulated in the same way which means minor stressors can trigger full "fight-or-flight" adrenaline surges.
Then there's the hypothalamus (regulates our body temperature) part of our brain which now isn't getting the same messages from oestrogen it used to l, which not only leads to hot flushes and night sweats but can result in heart palpitations and adrenaline spikes that can feel like a panic attack!
I'm feeling anxious just writing this!!!!! And even if none of that really makes sense to you right now, hopefully you can see that it's a real thing that's happening to you. You aren't making it up!
If you want to join a community where we explore this kind of stuff and so much more, check out the link to Perimenopause Mastery in my bio.