She has a family. A stable life. "Everything is quite good," she says.

And yet, for the past few months, something has been off. About 10 to 15 days before her period, anger creeps in. Sometimes she feels like crying, with no specific reason at all.

If you've sat across from a woman in her 40s, you may have heard a version of this story. She doesn't say "I think it's perimenopause." She says "I just feel different."

The voices that talk her out of it

What makes her story so real is what happens next. A friend visited a doctor, took medicines, and ended up with pimples. Her advice: don't go. Her parents weren't in favor either. In many Indian families, she says, it seems very normal to just carry on.

So she took a step back. But the question stayed in her head: "What if I don't deserve to go through this actually?"

Then she went anyway

She did eventually see a doctor, and the doctor was kind. She listened, explained that this happens to many women initially, and suggested starting with a yoga practice rather than medicines.

When the woman herself asked whether this could be perimenopause, the answer was "probably." But they didn't discuss it in detail. There was very little time.