Women are taught to tolerate discomfort. But pain, fatigue, and emotional changes are often signals, not personality traits.

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Most women don’t miss the warning signs, they, or we normalize them. Pain becomes "normal.” Fatigue becomes "life.” Mood changes become "stress.” Until one day, the body proves it was never just that.

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Health problems don’t check your age. Many women grow up believing serious conditions come later in life, after a certain age, after children, after "real adulthood.” But the body does not follow the timelines we assume. Changes can begin quietly, gradually, and sometimes much earlier than expected.

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In my early 30s, I went through a health experience I never imagined could happen so soon.

Like many women, I believed I was too young for a significant health issue. That belief delayed how seriously I took the signs my body was giving me. And that is something many women share: we don’t always lack symptoms; we lack permission to take them seriously.

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Heavy periods become "just how my body works.”

Constant fatigue becomes "life is busy.” Pain becomes something to push through. Mood shifts, poor sleep, or mental fog become "stress.”

At one stage of life, these signs may be linked to conditions like uterine fibroids, non-cancerous growths that affect a large percentage of women, especially women of African descent, and often go unnoticed because symptoms feel familiar rather than alarming.

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Research also shows that heavy menstrual bleeding is more common than many women realize. In a large survey of nearly 4,000 women conducted by the research institute Ipsos BVA, 60 to 70 percent reported heavy periods that can affect both physical energy and emotional wellbeing. These experiences are not isolated or "just normal,” but part of a broader pattern in women’s health.

At another stage, similar confusion may come from perimenopause, the hormonal transition before menopause. While many associates this phase with the mid-40s, hormonal shifts can begin earlier, sometimes in the late 30s and in some cases even earlier. Emotional changes, anxiety, sleep disruption, fatigue, brain fog, and irregular cycles can feel intense and disorienting. Because society links hormones with "older women,” younger women experiencing these changes often feel misunderstood, or dismiss themselves.

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Experts note that these experiences are not "in your head.” Neuroscientist Dr. Lisa Mosconi explains that hormonal transitions also affect the brain, influencing mood, sleep, energy, and cognitive clarity. Neuroscientist Dr. Wendy Suzuki adds that the brain constantly responds to stress, lifestyle, and internal body changes, meaning emotional and mental symptoms often have real physiological roots.

Different causes. Different processes. But the experience often looks the same: something feels off. It builds slowly, or sometimes suddenly. And we minimize it.

We hear about pregnancy. We hear about menopause. But the years in between, when the body changes quietly and unpredictably, are rarely discussed openly. So, women feel alone in experiences that are actually common.

Silence does not protect us. It delays care.

This reflection is not about self-diagnosis. It is about awareness. You can be young and still have a health condition. You can be "not menopausal” and still experience hormonal shifts. You can look fine and still be struggling physically or emotionally. Your body does not wait for the age you had in mind.

Bodies change over time, and not every symptom signal something serious. However, when changes in energy, menstrual patterns, sleep, mood, or general wellbeing persist or interfere with daily life, many women find that speaking with a healthcare professional brings reassurance or clarity.

Women rarely experience health challenges in isolation. Partners, families, colleagues, and communities all shape how symptoms are understood and supported. Greater awareness of these phases of women’s health helps create empathy, patience, and mutual support. Women’s health awareness benefits everyone because when women are well, families, workplaces, and communities function better.

Your body is not dramatic. It is not weak. It is not overreacting. It is communicating. And learning to listen, earlier, without shame or delay, may be one of the most important forms of self-care a woman can practice.

Christine Biraro is an International Coaching Federation (ICF) certified coach and customer experience manager at Bank of Kigali.