Here's what's actually happening inside your body.
During perimenopause, your oestrogen levels fluctuate. That part your doctor got right.
But here's what they missed: fluctuating oestrogen destabilises the beneficial bacteria that protect your gut. When that defence drops, a specific type of organism moves in.
They're called methane-producing archaea. They're not bacteria. They're an entirely different domain of life — older than bacteria, with different cell walls. And they do something very specific.
They produce methane gas. Methane slows your gut muscles by up to 59%. Your food sits there. It ferments. Gas builds. Your stomach swells — visibly, predictably, after every single meal.
This condition is called IMO — Intestinal Methanogen Overgrowth. And perimenopause is one of the most common triggers.
That's the bloating. Not ageing. Not stress. Not your diet. A methane-producing overgrowth that your hormonal changes triggered — and that nobody tested for.