Jo Rennie

I was in my teens when I was first put on synthetic hormones to manage endometriosis. What I didn't know was that those same hormones were quietly masking something else entirely. I was diagnosed with early menopause at 41 and by then, the transition had likely been underway for years. Here's what I wish someone had told me sooner, and what you can do differently.

Most guides give you three stages of menopause and stop there. But there's a part of this conversation that rarely makes it into the standard answer - one that could completely change how you understand your own experience. Here's the complete picture, including what happens when menopause arrives far earlier than anyone told you to expect.

Many women navigating menopause tell me they don't recognise themselves anymore. They are more reactive, more anxious, more overwhelmed. But hormones are only part of the story. Here's what's really happening inside your nervous system, and why it matters more than most people realise.