You Don’t Need to “Grin and Bear It” Through Perimenopause

Karen Worline
1 day ago
6 min read

Do you find yourself telling yourself, “Everyone goes through this, I just need to push through”? Maybe your nights are restless, your focus is continuing to slip, and you snap at the people you love the most—but still, you keep powering forward, thinking this is just part of being a woman in midlife. Afterall, that’s the message you’ve received all these years!

But here’s the truth: you don’t need to grit your teeth and endure perimenopause silently.

Not everyone experiences this transition the same way. Symptoms aren’t a measure of weakness or failure—they’re signals your body is giving you. And releasing the myth that you must “grin and bear it” is the first step toward reclaiming your energy, clarity, and sense of self.

In this post, we’ll explore why it’s so easy to believe this myth, why holding onto it keeps you stuck, and what’s actually true. You’ll learn practical ways to take back control, support your body and nervous system, and navigate perimenopause with informed and intentional strategy instead of struggle. Ready? Let’s dive in.

Why It’s So Easy to Believe “Everyone Feels This Way”

First, know that it’s not your fault. Many women were raised in households and cultures where endurance was expected - even celebrated.

Mothers who never complained about fatigue, hot flashes, or stress.
Grandmothers who had no language for hormones.
A culture that normalized exhaustion as part of womanhood.

“Common” doesn’t mean “healthy,” and “normalized” doesn’t mean “optimal.” Your grandmother and her peers might have quietly suffered, but that doesn’t mean you have to. Modern women live under different conditions: 24/7 digital stimulation, high-pressure careers, sleep deprivation, and chronic stress. Perimenopause layered onto these factors is not the same experience as previous generations…not even close.

So, if you catch yourself thinking, “Everyone goes through this,” it’s often just a protective thought—a way to avoid seeming dramatic, asking for help, or confronting how hard things really feel.

Why Believing This Myth Holds You Back

White knuckling it actually makes symptoms worse. When you push through fatigue, ignore blood sugar dips, minimize anxiety, and avoid asking for help, your cortisol spikes. Elevated cortisol can worsen hot flashes, make sleep elusive, sharpen mood swings, and intensify brain fog. In short, “grin and bear it” can actually fuel the very symptoms you’re trying to ignore!

Believing this myth also:

Keeps you from seeking support early. If you assume suffering is unavoidable, you delay education, lifestyle adjustments, and medical or coaching interventions—making recovery that much slower and harder.
Encourages self-blame instead of strategy. You ask, “What’s wrong with me?” instead of “What support do I need now?”
Erodes confidence at work. Brain fog, anxiety, and fatigue can make you over-prepare, second-guess decisions, or avoid well-deserved and earned leadership opportunities altogether.
Strains relationships. Minimizing your experience leads to irritability and withdrawal, leaving loved ones feeling confused or rejected.
Prevents lifestyle recalibration. Perimenopause often requires new rhythms: earlier bedtimes, adjusted workouts, nutrition tweaks, and nervous system care. Believing suffering is normal keeps you stuck in old patterns that no longer work and perpetuates harmful and unnecessary suffering.

In short, enduring instead of adapting transforms a natural transition into unnecessary decline.

What’s Actually True

Here’s the good news: perimenopause is a transition, not a life sentence.

Your experience is valid and unique. Symptoms are signals, not signs of failure. Fatigue, brain fog, hot flashes—they are messages from your body asking for your attention and support.
You don’t have to suffer silently. With education, coaching, and personalized strategies, women feel steadier, more energized, and more like themselves.
Support changes outcomes. Symptom management is multi-dimensional. Sleep, nutrition, mindset, nervous system support, and lifestyle adjustments all matter—often more than lab results alone.
Perimenopause can be empowering. With guidance, you can regain clarity, confidence, emotional balance, and agency over your life.
You are not alone. Many women quietly struggle, but solutions exist. Community, coaching, and education help you thrive rather than just merely survive.

This is why so many famous women are now generously using their platforms to speak openly about their experiences, showing that a supported, informed approach can make midlife transitions not only manageable but truly transformative.

What You Can Do Differently Now

Releasing the myth that you must grin and bear it opens up space for supportive and intentional action. Here’s how you can start:

Listen to your body and track patterns. Notice fatigue, mood shifts, or energy dips. Start identifying patterns so you can respond rather than react.
Seek personalized support. Coaching, support groups, or perimenopause specialists can provide guidance tailored to your body and lifestyle.
Set boundaries and reprioritize energy. Say no to obligations that drain you of energy, introduce micro-breaks, delegate tasks, and adjust expectations.
Educate yourself. Understanding hormone changes, sleep, blood sugar, and lifestyle factors empowers you to make informed choices.
Experiment strategically with lifestyle shifts. Gradually adjust sleep, movement, nutrition, and stress management. Small, sustainable changes compound into noticeable improvements.
Reframe the narrative. Instead of “I must endure this,” think “This is a transition I can navigate.” This simple mindset shift moves you from survival mode to agency over your life again.

How Coaching Helps

You might wonder, “Doctors couldn’t help me—why would coaching?”

I hear you—and this frustration is common. Many modern-day doctors are trained to diagnose and treat conditions, but perimenopause is highly individual and multi-dimensional, meaning it impacts many aspects of a woman’s overall health and life. Coaching focuses on your body, mind, and lifestyle together. It’s about strategies you can implement daily: nutrition, sleep, stress regulation, nervous system support, habit design, and mindset—tailored to how you experience perimenopause.

For example, in coaching, we:

Explore your unique energy rhythms and pressure points during the day.
Look at triggers like food timing, stress load and capacity, and sleep patterns.
Experiment gently to find what supports your steadiness and presence.
Build boundaries and routines that protect energy, relationships, and professional performance.

Clients often report feeling more steady, clear-headed, and like themselves again—not because everything is perfect, but because they finally have support, validation, and practical strategies.

The Results You Can Expect

Taking these actions opens up tangible improvements:

More steadiness and energy. Regain clarity, confidence, and emotional balance.
Stronger relationships. Respond calmly rather than react impulsively, improving communication and connection. Gaining confidence in sharing openly about changing needs.
Greater professional confidence. Reduced brain fog and stress load help you perform without fear of overwhelm.
Reduced shame and isolation. Community, coaching, and education normalize your experience.
A positive midlife transition. Instead of enduring, you can strengthen, clarify values, reclaim health, and design a life you love.

A real-world example: Alana, a former client, applied these strategies to help her prepare for her board exam while also navigating some big midlife changes. With support, she regained confidence, motivation, and organization. She passed the exam feeling empowered— and her midlife transition became a period of growth that led to celebration - instead of jaw clenching endurance.

Common Question

“I’ve gone to doctors and nothing helped—why would coaching make a difference?”

Health Coaching doesn’t replace medical care; it complements it. Many of my clients have felt stuck and discouraged in doctors’ offices before discovering coaching. With a personalized approach, they finally understood their symptoms and implemented daily strategies that improved their energy, mental clarity, AND emotional resilience. They could actually understand and follow through with their doctor’s recommendations for lifestyle changes AND gain confidence with communicating their needs to their doctor - even when their opinions differed from their doctor’s approach. Coaching is about turning knowledge into action—so you feel more like yourself again, even when the medical system hasn’t fully addressed your changes. Together, we put you back into the driver’s seat of your own health and life.

Bottom Line

Believing the myth that you must “grin and bear it” keeps women surviving instead of thriving, enduring instead of adapting, and performing strength instead of building resilience.

Releasing that myth allows you to:

Take agency and implement strategies that support your body and mind.
Reclaim energy, clarity, and emotional balance.
Thrive during midlife instead of just surviving.

Perimenopause doesn’t have to be a silent struggle. You can navigate it with support, strategy, and compassion—for yourself and your body.

A Note for You

I know just how confusing and exhausting perimenopause can feel—and you don’t have to go through it alone. If it feels right, you can fill out a short application to book a FREE call with me, or simply join our weekly emails for gentle guidance, tips that actually help, special discounts, and invitations to FREE community events and workshops. I hope you take this small step for yourself today—you deserve to feel like 'you' again, and I’ll be here to support you every step of the way