Menopause will happen to every woman, so why do some Colorado doctors dismiss so many symptoms?

A Colorado woman discovered changes in her body and needed an expert's help. Then her primary care physician dismissed her symptoms of hot flashes, insomnia, and weight gain as work-related stress and that she was too young for perimenopause -- something she'd never heard of.

Kesha Klaw is 44 years old. In February, she thought something was off with her body.

"It wasn't just being over-tired or over-stressed," she said. "My body was going through changes."

But Klaw never thought menopause was at the forefront. That's when a specialist in women's health told Klaw she was experiencing perimenopause. 

Lack of Funding

Despite how common it is, research funding to study menopause has been limited.    

Perimenopause is the time up to 10 years leading to menopause, according to the Mayo Clinic. Most American women will experience menopausal symptoms at age 51. This is around when the ovaries aren't producing as much estrogen as they used to.

"More research into the impacts of estrogen on our bodies and how it's related to how women age would be huge," said Dr. Abby Barnes, an OB-GYN at HCA HealthONE in Denver.

In a study published in November 2025 by Mayo Clinic Proceedings, of the nearly 5,000 who responded, 87% of women ages 45 to 60 said they didn't go to a doctor for menopausal symptoms because they were either too busy or didn't know enough about possible treatments. It's a signal of a broader theme, that, although more women are talking about menopause, not enough is being done at the expert level. 

Fewer than 20% of primary care physicians receive formal menopause training, which is why dismissals and misdiagnoses are common, according to the Menopause Society. In fact, one-third of women wait at least three years for their symptoms to be correctly diagnosed as menopause-related. This is according to a survey of 5,000 women from Newson Health Research and Education. The survey also found that 18% of those women returned to the doctor an average of six times before they received the help they needed.

Barnes said providers need to be good listeners. However, there also needs to be more information across departments. This way, if you see your primary doctor, you'd get the same feedback as you would if you went to a specialist. That's because not everyone has access to more than a primary doctor, if that.  

Validation

Klaw isn't alone.

"That validation is so important," said Dr. Jennifer Harned Adams, a clinical psychologist at HCA HealthONE. "This is a natural and expected change in a woman's life, and so it is something to be validated. It's not 'in their head,' as they say."

Classic symptoms, according to the Cleveland Clinic, like irritability, hot flashes, weight gain, insomnia, night sweats, and irregular periods, are all part of menopause. What comes out of that can vary for every woman.

"Hot flashes can be really embarrassing," said Barnes. "It has a huge impact on (women's) ability to feel comfortable at work, feel comfortable in their clothes."

Harned Adams said menopause can "impact how (women) view themselves, how they view the world around them and their relationships." In this stage in life, women may be less willing to put up with things they did in the past and have more courage to set boundaries.

"Do I hate my husband, or could this be my hormones?" she said, as an example.

Treatment

Hormone therapy is the most effective treatment for hot flashes and night sweats, but it is not suitable for everyone, especially women with a history of breast cancer, said Barnes. In October, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Lynkuet, a new daily pill from Bayer that provides a non-hormonal option for treating hot flashes.

For Klaw, once she had options for treatments, a weight was lifted. Plus, talking to peers gave her relief.

"It helps to know what my body was going through," she said.

More women are forming a sense of community around speaking up for themselves.

"Connecting with friends and having that social support," Harned Adams said, can be helpful, but it also helps women become educated on a topic historically kept underground.

"I remember my mother telling me that she had some symptoms," Klaw said. She added that her mother's generation didn't talk about specifics.

"With perimenopause," she said, "I think it's very important that these conversations be had so that the generation after us can know what's happening, even beforehand."