Dr. Phares with his wife Leriane RN, and their dogs Stallone and Kira.

As my wife approached age 40, she had symptoms of joint pain and stiffness, poor sleep, fatigue, irritability, and weight gain. These symptoms were worsening over time and interfering with her quality of life.

She saw many doctors including a rheumatologist, a gynecologist, an endocrinologist, and an integrative medicine specialist. She was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and depression among others.

As a nurse, my wife began investigating her own symptoms. At age 40, she thought all her symptoms could be related to perimenopause.

I questioned her about “hot flashes” without using that term, as it can conjure up stereotyped images that one may not associate with. Turns out she indeed had “flushes” and I knew at that point she was suffering from perimenopause.

I sent her to multiple gynecologists, who said she wasn’t going through perimenopause or didn’t want to treat her properly. They wanted to put her on gabapentin, birth control and anti-depressants.

At that point, I decided to treat her with estradiol and progesterone. All of her symptoms have greatly improved!

• Unfortunately, this is a common story I have heard from friends, family, and patients. Currently only 3-4% of women who seek treatment get treated.

• This is a crisis, because treatment has been shown to decrease all-cause mortality!

• Men are also going through their own midlife transition, which is under treated. Low testosterone in men has become an epidemic. It’s important for men to get treatment due to many benefits such as improved memory and decreased mortality especially if diabetic.