Dr Punam Krishan warns Morning Live viewers on perimenopause in 30s and 40s
Dr Punam Krishan used morning live to warn women in their late 30s and 40s that feeling like they are “losing” their minds may be perimenopause. The NHS GP, who is 42 and was born in Glasgow, said she hears the issue every single day in her clinic.
“If you are a woman in your late 30s or 40s and you feel like you're losing your mind, you're absolutely not. You're not making it up, you're not going crazy, it might be that you're perimenopausal,” she said in an Instagram post. Krishan added: “today, I heard it three times” and said, “every single day in my clinic, I hear women say this.”
Krishan on Instagram
Krishan said the problem often appears before many people expect it. “Perimenopause just doesn't mean its hot flushes or missed periods; it can sneak up years before menopause actually begins,” she wrote, adding that it is “often gets dismissed as stress, burnout, or even depression.”
That is the practical fault line in her message: women in their 30s and 40s may be looking for the wrong explanation when the body is already shifting. She said symptoms can include hot flushes, difficulty sleeping, palpitations, headaches and migraines, muscle aches and joint pains, weight gain, skin changes, reduced sex drive, vaginal dryness, recurrent urinary tract infections, and sensitive teeth and gums.
Menopause at 45 to 55
In most people, perimenopause happens naturally between the ages of 45 and 55, but Bupa describes it as a period that can last from a few months to several years while hormone levels change and ovaries produce fewer eggs as periods continue. Menopause itself begins after 12 months without a period, so the stage Krishan is talking about sits well before that line for many women.
Krishan said support may include lifestyle support, HRT, or finally being heard. “there is help and support, whether that is lifestyle support, HRT, or just finally being heard,” she wrote, and she urged women not to suffer in silence.
HRT and being heard
“I am right at the beginning of my perimenopause journey too, so I totally get it—not just as a doctor, but as a woman who's feeling all the wobbles too,” Krishan said. That places her message in two roles at once: clinician and patient-in-progress.
The blunt takeaway is that women in their late 30s and 40s should not wait for the “classic” menopause age before asking about symptoms that do not fit stress or burnout. Krishan’s warning is simple enough to act on: if the pattern sounds familiar, seek support early rather than letting it harden into months of dismissal.
