One in Three Women Have Had Their Menopause Symptoms Misdiagnosed

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, SheKnows may receive an affiliate commission.

Women can experience perimenopause symptoms for years before officially hitting menopause, which occurs, on average, at around age 51. There are common signs such as irregular periods and hot flashes, but others that can be more subtle, like sleep issues or weight gain, which may be attributed to something else.

A new survey from the menopausal care company Kindra conducted with The Harris Poll finds one in three women between 45 to 54 are given an incorrect diagnosis before finding out their symptoms are related to menopause. What’s more, 32 percent of women were worried their doctor was not very knowledgeable about the topic.

“This recent poll shows us it’s much more of a concern than what was previously understood and fits into the larger context of women’s health concerns being poorly researched and misunderstood,” says Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, an OBGYN and senior medical advisor for Kindra. While it’s important to rule out illnesses that share symptoms with menopause like lupus and fibromyalgia, she says perimenopause should be on every doctor’s list because of how common it is for this age group.

Over a million women in the US enter menopause each year. Here’s what to know to get help identifying and correctly treating symptoms of perimenopause.

Perimenopause can create a wide range of changes in the body—because of this, they can often get misdiagnosed by a health care provider.

Menopause symptoms can mimic other health problems. Sleep disturbances are one of the most overlooked signs of menopause, especially since many people today are sleep deprived from overpacked schedules or other stressors. “People don’t directly connect difficulty falling asleep or waking up in the middle of the night to menopause, but it is absolutely associated with hormonal changes in our bodies,” explains Flow Advisory Council member Dr. Jennifer Lang, an OBGYN and CEO of Buzz Labs.

Another commonly misdiagnosed symptom? Joint pain. A full 71 percent of perimenopausal women experience some form of musculoskeletal pain as the drop in estrogen levels increases the risk of inflammation, making age-related wear and tear more painful. Still, Dr. Lang says joint pain is often attributed to developing arthritis or Lyme disease. This can delay getting treatment for perimenopause symptoms.

Women often aren’t getting enough guidance about menopause from their healthcare provider. In the Kindra survey, nearly 60 percent of women, who went to the doctor for menopause symptoms felt the advice was unhelpful. In today’s short appointment slots, there often isn’t time for the kind of nuanced conversation that might surface more helpful advice. Changing health insurance coverage can force a patient to switch to a doctor they haven’t known for a long time, increasing the odds that the provider might not recognize unusual symptoms.

Or worse, women will share a menopause symptom with a provider who minimizes it. “Many women will have the experience of having a symptom dismissed, discounted, or unheard,” Dr. Lang says, adding that a provider might attribute adult acne and insomnia, for example, to stress from a job or relationship issues. “If you know something is going on in your body that is different or uncomfortable, then really advocate for yourself until you get to the bottom of it.”