Perimenopause Myths BUSTED!

With all the misguided information circulating on social media, knowing the facts about this life stage is more important than ever. So we turned to the experts to help separate fact from fiction

-  BY COURTNEY SHAPIRO

MENOPAUSE IS OFFICIAL when you've gone one year without a period. It marks the end of a woman's reproductive years. But most of us start experiencing symptoms of hormone imbalance 7 to 10 years before menopause, which is known as perimenopause, says Bruce Dorr, M.D., a senior medical advisor for Biote.

"In this stage, women experience an imbalance of the rise and fall of estrogen and progesterone from the ovaries, which causes unpredictable menstrual cycles," he says.

But misinformation on this life stage abounds. Here, experts debunk top myths.

MYTH Your body overheats in perimenopause

In addition to hot flashes, many women also experience the opposite: a cold flash. Ob-gyn Barbra Hanna, D.O., founder of MyMenopauseRx, explains that the hypothalamus regulates body temperature. "When estrogen drops, the hypothalamus becomes oversensitive, making you suddenly feel cold," she explains.