Women are building online communities to get answers about whether they’re in perimenopause

 

More than 34% of women don’t know what reproductive stage they’re in, according to a new study published in The Menopause Society’s journal Menopause.

That confusion peaks in a key group: 42% of women ages 40 to 44 said they are not sure if they are in perimenopause. The study found that women who’d benefit most from clear answers are also the hardest to diagnose.

Now, some women are taking their most personal questions to AI chatbots instead of a doctor, lvim Health reports.

What Is Perimenopause?

Perimenopause marks the hormonal phase before menopause.

Approximately 2 million women in the U.S. begin this transition every year, according to the National Institutes of Health, yet there is a massive gap in the clinical understanding of perimenopause.

“In this group, it’s easy to miss. Most of these women are still getting regular periods, so they assume nothing hormonal is happening yet, and their doctors often assume the same,” said Dr. Jessica Duncan, an obesity medicine physician and chief medical officer at the telehealth practice Ivim Health. “But hormones often start declining well before periods stop. The early symptoms are subtle. Trouble sleeping, weight settling around the middle, brain fog, a mood that’s a little off. Any one of those is easy to write off. And a single blood test won’t settle it, because a woman’s hormones aren’t a snapshot, they’re a movie. Levels shift across the cycle, so one lab draw can look completely normal on the day you feel your worst.”

There are no tests on the market that can definitively determine perimenopause. Symptoms vary widely among patients and often overlap with other conditions. There’s also inconsistent timing for the transition’s onset.

For Clara Watkins, a design engineer and mother in Boston, it wasn’t until she spoke to other women that she began to connect her collection of symptoms.

“I think a lot of the symptoms that I experience, and I know that many other women experience as well, are so normalized. Things like having trouble sleeping, being maybe a little bit more moody than usual. Those things, they do tend to go under the radar,” said Watkins. “The reason that I started talking about it online is because without that, I don’t know if I necessarily would have recognized that as perimenopause.”

In the Menopause Society’s study, nearly a fifth of the women in that key demographic said navigating the healthcare system was the biggest barrier when trying to get answers about perimenopause.

Watkins described leaving her first appointment demoralized after being dismissed because she was in her late 30s. Her first doctor said her symptoms were likely stress-related since she had just moved to the U.S. from Europe.

“As a woman, I’ve been experiencing stress, anxiety, mood swings, my entire life, you know, as we all have,” said Watkins. “You know when something isn’t right, you know when something is different.” When she told her friends, they all said to get a second opinion, reporting similar experiences despite all living in different countries.

“One of the only things that’s universal appears to be the dismissal of women’s medical problems,” said Watkins.

Where Are Women Getting Perimenopause Information?

Internal data from Reddit shows that the subreddit r/perimenopause nearly quadrupled from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2025, compared to the same period in 2024, according to a new report from Weber Shandwick.

A brief scroll through the page reveals common themes: confusion over symptoms, frustration with healthcare providers, relief after successful treatments, advice on how to speak with doctors to access hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and excitement over new research. One phrase echoes throughout posts and comments, highlighting the camaraderie in this corner of the internet:

“Sharing in the hopes that someone else will be helped by this.”

Watkins started sharing her perimenopause experience online and said she was amazed at the response.

“The amount of views that those videos are getting when I’m talking about perimenopause and the amount of messages, comments, saves on the videos when I’m making recommendations or I’m talking about my symptoms. It’s absolutely crazy,” said Watkins, pointing out that the numbers are disproportionate to her few dozen followers.

“That just tells me that there is an enormous cohort of women who are desperately seeking out information and they’re desperately seeking out a community of people who feel like them and are struggling like them,” Walkins said.

More than half of the women in that report said they rely on Reddit forums to determine which symptoms are normal and which are serious concerns. Then they’re bringing that community knowledge to the doctor’s office.

The Weber Shandwick report, citing U.S. data from an April 2026 Reddit Custom Survey titled “Women’s Reproductive Health,” found 70% of women felt more prepared for healthcare conversations after using Reddit.

“The internet helped me be armed when I went to my doctor with my symptoms and what I wanted,” one anonymous Redditor wrote. “The best thing that came from the internet is we could start sharing info with each other.”

What Happens When AI Replaces the Doctor?

“I’m glad women are reading and comparing notes. A patient who comes in able to describe her symptoms clearly and ask specific questions is easier to help, not harder,” said Dr. Duncan. “What I tell people is that what you find online is a starting point, not a diagnosis. A forum can tell you you’re not imagining it and that other women feel the same way. It can’t take your history or weigh your individual risk. So bring what you’ve read into the room. Just don’t let it be the last word.”

New research from Pew conducted in June found 55% of women in their 30s and 40s said they get health information from influencers, and 41% of American women told Pew in October 2025 that they get health information from AI chatbots, even if only on a rare occasion. Within online forums, women are encouraging each other to check their doctor’s recommendations against artificial intelligence.

“With all the AI and communication technology available we should be able to put our symptoms in a computer and have the best results for you individually rolled out,” wrote one r/perimenopause member.

“I think one of the things that the AI told me to do was to start tracking my symptoms, so that’s what I did,” said Watkins. “That was a big breakthrough when it came to my next doctor’s appointment.”

As an engineer, Watkins studies AI prompt generation and said she uses AI with caution.

“I’m aware of the fact that it is predicting what I want to hear,” said Watkins. “I was very selective in what I was taking and how much importance I was putting on [the AI’s response].”

“Hormone therapy is a good option for a lot of women, but it isn’t risk-free. No medication is,” Dr. Duncan warned. “The right dose and the right form depend on your symptoms, your history, and your own risk factors, and that’s a real conversation, not a checkbox. If a provider recommends something, ask why it’s the right choice for you specifically, and ask what the alternatives are. Do all the research you want and bring questions. But once you’re ready to start hormones, this is the point where you need a clinician in it with you.”

Can Telehealth Close the Perimenopause Care Gap?

“So many of us have the same story,” one Redditor said. “Online providers were the only way I got listened to.”

“The problem usually isn’t the doctor, it’s the fifteen minutes. In a standard annual visit, you’re covering blood pressure, blood sugar, whatever’s new that year, and hormones slide to the bottom of the list. They don’t always get covered,” said Dr. Duncan. “What a woman with these symptoms actually needs is time, and someone who’ll take the whole picture seriously and work through the options with her. Telehealth done right builds the visit around that instead of squeezing it into what’s left. That’s the part the current system makes hard, and it’s fixable.”

Historically, if women wanted more access to doctors, longer visits, day-of appointments and 24/7 chat, they would have to use a concierge healthcare service. These typically cost in the range of $10,000 a year.

Even if someone can afford this luxury, they are not widely available.

The online world is addressing a clear need in healthcare. Women want doctors who will take the time to hear their concerns, consider the whole picture and then be willing to work through various options together.

This story was produced by Ivim Health and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.