For many women, the most disruptive symptoms of perimenopause (the transition leading up to menopause) and menopause (when you’ve gone 12 months without a menstrual cycle) aren’t just the hallmark ones, such as hot flashes and night sweats. Instead, they may struggle to remember names and words or feel unusually anxious. Or, like Stephanie, who spoke on the condition that only her first name be used to discuss sensitive medical information, they may suddenly be consumed by “unbridled rage,” as she puts it.
