Perimenopause can cause real shortness of breath and air hunger. Falling estrogen and erratic progesterone affect airway tone, lung tissue, and the brain's breathing control center, while anxiety, iron loss from heavier periods, and disrupted sleep breathing often add to it. Cathy breaks down what peer-reviewed research actually shows, what helped in her own tracking, and the red flags that mean it's time to call a doctor rather than wait it out.

Your blood test comes back normal. Your GP says your iron is fine. But you are exhausted in a way sleep doesn't fix, your hair is coming out in handfuls, and your workout breathing is worse than it was a year ago. The problem may not be your haemoglobin — it may be your ferritin. Ferritin is the protein that stores iron, and it can fall critically low months before anaemia appears. In perimenopause, heavier and more frequent periods accelerate the loss. This is the iron probl