Why Perimenopause Can Feel Harder for Highly Sensitive and Neurodivergent Women

If you're a highly sensitive or neurodivergent woman going through perimenopause and wondering why it's hitting so hard, I want you to know that
you're not imagining it. You're not weak. You're not failing.
It's your nervous system going through a massive change and reminding you that you need to take extra care of yourself.

Your nervous system was already doing a lot

For women who are highly sensitive (read for about HSP/Sensory Processing Sensitivity here: https://hsperson.com/ ) or are neurodivergent (Autistic or ADHD'ers) and naturally are wired to feel things deeply, experience extreme empathy and sensory sensitivities— the world can already feel loud, fast, and overwhelming.

You might have spent years learning how to regulate your emotions, manage sensory overload, or mask your struggles to fit in. But when perimenopause begins, the hormonal rhythms that once helped keep things (somewhat) balanced start to shift. And suddenly, those long-practiced coping strategies… don’t work as well.

You’re not broken. You are not falling apart (although it may feel like it at times!) Your system is simply responding to a very real, very physical change.

Hormonal shifts affect neurotransmitters and this has an amplified impact if you're sensitive or neurodivergent

Estrogen isn’t just about reproduction. It plays a key role in supporting serotonin and dopamine — the very neurotransmitters that influence your mood, attention, sleep, and ability to feel emotionally steady.

For neurodivergent women, especially those with ADHD or a sensitive stress response, this shift in brain chemistry can hit especially hard. You might feel foggier, more irritable, more anxious. Tasks you used to juggle feel impossible. The emotional and mental load becomes heavier — not because you’re less capable, but because your inner wiring is suddenly without the chemical support it once relied on.

Emotional and sensory sensitivities intensify

Perimenopause often brings a lower threshold for stress and stimulation. Things that once felt manageable — loud sounds, temperature changes, busy environments, even social interaction — can suddenly feel too much.

If you’ve always had a sensitive system, this drop in tolerance can feel like a breaking point. But it’s not a flaw. It’s a signal. Your body is inviting you to slow down, protect your energy, and give yourself permission to honour your needs in a new way.

There may also be a quiet kind of grief

Perimenopause isn’t just about hormones and hot flushes. For many women, it stirs up deep emotional layers — grief over changing roles, shifting identity, or simply not feeling like yourself anymore.

For neurodivergent and highly sensitive women, this can feel even more complex. You might be grieving a version of yourself you worked so hard to maintain. You might be recognising neurodivergent traits in yourself for the first time. Or you might be facing the reality that the world wasn’t built for your nervous system — and that you're tired of trying to fit into it.

This grief is real. And it deserves space.

Much of the mainstream conversation around perimenopause assumes a neurotypical, emotionally regulated, highly resilient nervous system and this is all valid and important. But for those who live with heightened sensitivity — whether emotional, sensory, or cognitive — some of the standard advice may not resonate.

You might have tried all the “right” things and still feel overwhelmed. That doesn't mean you're doing it wrong. It means the support needs to be tailored to you.

If you are navigating perimenopause with a sensitive nervous system and finding it really hard at times, remember that you are not broken. You are not too much. You are in a powerful, sacred transition and it's not about being stronger, or doing more, it's about finding ways to really listen to and honour your needs and finding ways to support your finely tuned, sensitive nervous system through this time of great change.

If your sensitivity feels heightened right now… it’s because it is. But within that sensitivity lies your strength (even though it doesn't always feel like it!), your wisdom, and your truth.

Be gentle with yourself and if you need some support from someone who has also lived it, appointments can be booked below

Annabel

Book an appointment:

Initial consultation (new clients or clients who haven't had an appointment in the past 18 months):
https://blossomwellbeing.as.me/initial-consultation

Current/returning clients:
https://blossomwellbeing.as.me/naturopathic-review-appointment-online