Perimenopause, Menopause and Autoimmune Disease. Why Your Symptoms Deserve More Than “It’s Just Hormones”
- Muriel Wallace-Scott
- Mar 11, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 26
If you are in your 40s or 50s (and even in your 30s) and finding that symptoms are stacking up and becoming harder to ignore, it can be unsettling. Many women entering perimenopause describe feeling physically different in ways that don’t align with the old narratives about menopause. It isn’t just hot flushes or mood swings. It can feel like your body is turning against you.
Despite this, countless women are told that these changes are simply part of getting older. But the connection between perimenopause, menopause and autoimmune disease is well established in research and clinical experience. This transitional phase can activate immune imbalances that were previously silent, leading to new autoimmune diagnoses or worsening symptoms of an existing condition.
You deserve healthcare that takes your experience seriously and seeks to understand what your body is trying to tell you.
Menopause, How Hormonal Changes Affect Autoimmune Disease Risk
Oestrogen plays an important role in immune regulation. It helps maintain a balance between fighting infection and preventing the immune system from mistakenly attacking the body itself. It also helps stabilise mast cells, which are key immune cells involved in allergic reactions, histamine release and inflammatory responses. When oestrogen starts to fluctuate throughout perimenopause and then declines during menopause, this stability becomes disrupted and the entire immune balance can shift.
During this time, the immune system can react in ways that feel unpredictable and intense. Some women describe sudden food sensitivities, unexplained skin reactions, flushing, itching or increased histamine-type symptoms. Others experience a resurgence of joint pain, new digestive issues, overwhelming fatigue or brain fog that affects their confidence at work and at home. These are not minor shifts. They are signs of an immune system under strain, responding differently to the same world you used to navigate with ease.
Declining oestrogen does not directly cause autoimmune disease, but it can reduce the threshold for immune misfiring and mast cell activation, especially if there is an underlying susceptibility. When the hormonal support that once kept the immune system regulated begins to fade, previously silent vulnerabilities can become more visible and symptomatic.
Genetics + Hormones = A Perfect Storm for Autoimmunity
You may have lived for years with a genetic predisposition to autoimmunity and never noticed a problem. Then perimenopause arrives, hormonal stability shifts, and symptoms can flourish seemingly overnight.
Women frequently tell us, “I used to cope with everything… and now I can’t.” This change is not a reflection of resilience; it is biological.
Genes set the stage. Hormones can act as the trigger.
This is why we often see new diagnoses of:
• Psoriatic or rheumatoid arthritis
• Vitiligo
• Coeliac disease
• Sjögren’s syndrome
• Lupus
... around the time of menopause. It is no coincidence. It is immunology.
Symptom Overlap Creates Diagnostic Confusion
Symptoms common to both perimenopause and autoimmune disease include:
• crushing fatigue that rest doesn’t resolve
• joint and muscle pain that disrupts daily life
• brain fog that makes you question your ability
• anxiety or mood instability that feels unfamiliar
• unexplained skin, gut or temperature regulation issues
These symptoms are frequently dismissed as hormonal or emotional. Women are often reassured that this is simply menopause and to give it time.
Yet, many women know instinctively that something deeper is wrong. Autoimmune disease may be silently progressing while the label “menopause” is used as an all-purpose explanation. This diagnostic blind spot results in delayed support and unnecessary suffering.
Your symptoms deserve proper investigation, not minimisation.
Stress, Life Load and Immune Dysregulation
The menopausal transition rarely happens during a peaceful chapter of life. Many women are simultaneously managing:
• teenagers or adult children with their own challenges
• ageing parents with increasing care needs
• demanding careers or business pressures
• significant emotional and relationship changes
This cumulative stress raises inflammation and places further pressure on an immune system already shifting due to hormonal change. Stress does not cause autoimmunity alone, but it absolutely worsens it.
Your immune system is not failing. It is overwhelmed.
When to Consider Autoimmune Disease Investigation During Menopause
You may want to explore whether autoimmunity is part of your experience if:
• symptoms are escalating rather than settling with time
• you feel unwell despite being told your results are normal
• family members have autoimmune or inflammatory conditions
• symptoms involve multiple systems of the body
• topical or one-dimensional treatments are no longer enough
If your body feels inflamed, reactive, and unpredictable, it is worth asking why.
Trust yourself. You know your body better than anyone.
You Deserve a Practitioner Who Looks at the Whole Picture
At The Autoimmune Clinic, We take the time to listen to your full story, explore root contributors such as gut health, nutrient status and environmental exposures, and help you create a clear, empowering plan for healing.
Our role is to validate your experience and uncover the mechanisms driving your symptoms – not to dismiss them as inevitable or “just hormones”. Women thrive when they are understood. And when the immune system receives the right support, the body can regain balance.
If This Sounds Like Your Story
If you feel like you have lost the version of yourself who coped well and felt strong, it is possible to find your way back. Your body is not failing you. It is asking for care, attention and deeper investigation.
You are welcome to book a discovery call with our team. We would be honoured to help you understand what is happening beneath the surface and guide you toward meaningful, long-term improvement.
Menopause may be a transition, but it does not have to be a health decline. With the right support, it can be a turning point.
