“I just turned 42 and I don’t feel like myself anymore. My labs came back normal, so why do I feel like something is wrong?”
That’s the real patient question that opens Episode 4 of More Life for Living. In this episode, Dr. Candice Westgate, Director of Women’s Health at Cascaid Health and board-certified OB-GYN, unpacks one of the most misunderstood chapters in a woman’s life: perimenopause.
From brain fog and anxiety to heavier periods and unexplained fatigue, Dr. Westgate breaks down why so many women are told their labs “look fine” while still feeling like something is off, and why that disconnect isn’t in their head.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why perimenopause can begin 7–10 years before menopause, sometimes in a woman’s mid-30s
- Why “normal” labs don’t rule out real hormonal changes
- The connection between estrogen and heart, brain, and metabolic health
- Why cardiovascular risk changes for women after menopause
- Why women’s heart attack symptoms often look nothing like the “textbook” version
- How iron deficiency and thyroid issues can mimic, and mask, perimenopause symptoms
- Why decades of research left a gap in menopause education for both patients and providers
- How to find a provider who’s trained specifically in menopause care
“We are not small men.” That’s how Dr. Westgate describes why so much of women’s health research, and the way symptoms get dismissed, has fallen short. For years, women were told their heart palpitations, fatigue, or brain fog were “just stress” or “just aging.” Dr. Westgate explains why that dismissal has real consequences: heart disease risk rises sharply for women after menopause, once the protective effects of estrogen fade, and symptoms of a heart attack in women often look completely different than the chest-clutching version most of us picture.
She also walks through a simple but often-missed piece of the puzzle — iron deficiency and thyroid changes can produce nearly identical symptoms to perimenopause, which is why a thorough workup (not just a standard blood panel) matters so much during this transition.
Whether you’re in your mid-30s and just starting to notice changes, or you’re further into perimenopause and tired of being told everything’s “normal,” this episode is a reminder: the whispers your body is sending are real, and they’re worth listening to.
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