How Stress Wrecks Your Hormones in Perimenopause — and What to Do About It

Written By Sarah Dobbs

How cruel is nature?

As if hormonal changes weren’t enough, perimenopause hits at exactly the time life gets wild. We’re juggling kids (toddlers or teens), aging parents, demanding jobs, and about 87 other responsibilities — all while our hormones are shifting gear with zero warning.

Add to that rising mortgage rates, the relentless news cycle, and the general chaos of the modern world... and it’s no wonder your hormones feel totally out of whack.

But here’s the good news: when you understand what stress is doing to your hormones, you can take steps to balance things again.

Let’s break it down.

1. Sleep is falling apart

There’s a reason you’re tossing and turning.

One of the earliest hormonal shifts in perimenopause is a drop in progesterone — your calming, sleep-supporting hormone. It makes drifting off harder and waking in the night more common.

Now add stress to the mix. Your body uses the same precursor to make both progesterone and cortisol (your stress hormone). But survival comes first, so under pressure, your body chooses cortisol. That’s a double whammy to your sleep quality.

To make things worse, oestrogen becomes unpredictable in this stage, and your liver has to work harder to clear it. If you’re relying on wine, chocolate, or comfort carbs to cope with stress, your liver’s workload skyrockets — and that can lead to those frustrating 2am wakeups.

2. Mood swings go next level

Perimenopause can already make your emotions feel all over the place, thanks to declining progesterone and erratic oestrogen.

But throw in chronic stress, and your cortisol levels stay elevated, amplifying irritability, anxiety, and mood swings. That quick temper? That random crying spell? It's not just hormones — it’s also your stress response talking.

3. Weight becomes harder to manage

Stress and perimenopause are both known to cause weight gain, especially around the belly.

Cortisol drives fat storage and insulin resistance (hello, stress belly). At the same time, oestrogen — which normally helps keep insulin sensitivity in check — is declining. This double effect makes weight loss way harder, even when you’re doing all the "right" things.

So What Can You Do?

Here’s where the tide can turn. You don’t have to let stress and hormones run the show.

✦ Love Your Liver

Support your body’s detox and hormone metabolism:

  • Cut back on alcohol

  • Limit takeaway and processed foods

  • Focus on whole foods and regular meals

  • Add leafy greens, cruciferous veg, and lemon water

✦ Create Calm

You can’t boost progesterone directly, but you can:

  • Meditate or practice mindfulness

  • Move your body gently — think yoga, walking, swimming

  • Laugh, sing, dance — anything that brings joy and lowers cortisol

✦ Eat to Balance Hormones

Fuel your body with:

  • High-quality protein

  • Healthy fats like extra virgin olive oil, ghee, avocado, nuts, seeds, and oily fish

  • Wholefoods that stabilise blood sugar and reduce cravings

Eat three solid meals a day, and make sure they leave you feeling satisfied, not starving. Balanced blood sugar = balanced mood and hormones.

Now’s the Time

If there was ever a time to prioritise your health, it’s perimenopause. Stress resilience is not a luxury — it’s a necessity.

You’ve got this. Let’s make stress work for you, not against you.

Feeling like your hormones have hijacked your life?
Let’s map out what’s really going on — and how to feel like yourself again.
Book your Metabolic Mapping session today.

Sarah Dobbs
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Stages of Perimenopause