Is It the Winter Blues or Perimenopause? How to Tell the Difference

The winter blues are so common that researchers have started to look into them. As it turns out, that sense of sadness during this time of year comes from a very real condition called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). If you’ve felt low energy and more down than normal, it could be SAD.

Pay attention to your symptoms, though. The ways SAD impacts your mood pretty closely match some of the mental health impacts of perimenopause. You don’t want to spend the winter waiting for this to pass, only to find it doesn’t. 

Our team at Elite Gynecology wants to make sure women know how to differentiate between winter blues that will eventually go away and the symptoms of perimenopause. For help, you can visit us at one of our offices in Manhattan, Forest Hills, or Rego Park, New York. 

Broadly speaking, there are some telltale signs your down mood is menopause-related rather than winter-related. 

The overlap between perimenopause and SAD

The confusion here comes from the shared symptoms of SAD and perimenopause. You might not realize that you’re dealing with a major period of bodily transition, because many of the signs of approaching menopause mirror the winter blues. 

Some of the overlapping symptoms include:

• Low mood
• Low energy
• Low libido
• Trouble concentrating
• Weight gain
• Changes in sleep patterns

To make all of this even more complicated, going through menopause makes you more likely to develop depression. The symptoms of seasonal affective disorder and depression are fairly similar, but depression doesn’t lift once the weather warms. 

Signs it’s not just winter blues

The best way to differentiate between SAD and perimenopause is to watch for symptoms that only come with the latter. Some signs your body is transitioning toward menopause include:

• Hot flashes
• Night sweats
• Irregular or skipped periods
• Vaginal dryness

If those sound familiar, you might be dealing with more than the winter blues. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean this has to be your new normal.

At our office, we can help you figure out what’s behind these symptoms. We ask you about the issues you’ve been experiencing, your menstrual history, and what your period has been like lately. We might also order blood work to measure your current hormone levels. 

If we determine your symptoms likely come from perimenopause, we have a targeted way to help. Here at Elite Gynecology, our team offers hormone replacement therapy. 

This means we can replace the hormones your body no longer makes on its own. This offsets the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause, including mood changes that often come with this transition. 

If you think you might be dealing with more than the winter blues, call Elite Gynecology or book a consultation online today.