Dr. Mary Claire Haver

Marie Claire presents, You're Gonna Want to Hear This.

You wouldn't have built a life you couldn't manage.

And then all of a sudden, like the works pulled out from under you and you've lost your resilience, right?

That's perimenopause.

And there's two very, very warring factions.

One is menopause ruined my good marriage, right?

Because my emotional state changed so much and my partner and I just couldn't navigate through it.

Okay, that's half.

The other half, menopause gave me the clarity to leave a partner that was no longer serving me and it is the best thing I've ever done.

So I think it can go either way.

There's a story of when I was in training and there was a woman who was in perimenopause.

I know now, right?

I did not know it then.

And she came in with multiple vague complaints.

She was in her 40s.

You know, she was having anxiety, some weight gain, some headaches, itchy, dry skin.

And she'd bounced around to several different doctors.

So at the time I was a brand new intern, like my first year of training.

So you have to present your case to the upper level trainees.

And so I, you know, gather my chart and I go and present this case and he,