Why Are My Autoimmune Symptoms Worse in Perimenopause?Why Are My Autoimmune Symptoms Worse in Perimenopause?
The Biology of Trauma™ With Dr. Aimie
Three things change at once in midlife, and each one is invisible on its own. Dr. Aimie on the mechanism where autoimmunity and perimenopause intersect.
24:53•15 Sept 2026
Perimenopause, Autoimmunity and Trauma: Why Your Symptoms Feel Worse
Episode Overview
- Autoimmune diagnoses in midlife usually reflect patterns the body has been holding for decades, not sudden disease.
- Perimenopause hormone shifts remove physiological "margin", making pre-existing survival patterns and inflammation more visible.
- Stored trauma is described as ongoing nervous system programming of danger, which instructs the immune system and raises susceptibility to autoimmunity.
- Stabilising the nervous system with specific somatic exercises and parts work is presented as the first step before building resilience.
- Targeted biological support, such as addressing brain inflammation and mitochondrial function, can help create a physiology of safety for healing.
“Perimenopause does not create the autoimmunity. It removes the margin that had been holding the pattern quietly because it never comes out of the blue.”
How do different strategies aid in addiction recovery? This episode of The Biology of Trauma™ With Dr. Aimie zooms in on a very specific question many women have: why do autoimmune symptoms seem to flare during perimenopause? Drawing on research and clinical experience, Dr. Aimie connects the dots between early stress, nervous system survival patterns, hormone shifts and the immune system.
You’ll hear the story of Elena, a woman whose lupus diagnosis in her 40s seemed to "come out of the blue" until her lifelong patterns of overwhelm and stress were viewed through a biological lens. Dr. Aimie explains that, "By the time a diagnosis shows up for us, our body, our biology has been organising itself around something for a very long time.
We just haven't known it." Perimenopause, she stresses, doesn’t create autoimmunity; it removes the margin that had been keeping those patterns quiet. The episode breaks down how estrogen and cortisol act as messengers to the immune and nervous systems, and why unpredictable hormone changes can feel like danger to a body already primed for survival. There’s a clear emphasis on the role of stored trauma—not as a past event, but as ongoing programming that shapes physiology today.
For anyone balancing autoimmunity, perimenopause and recovery from trauma or addiction, this conversation offers a structured way of thinking about symptoms: start with stabilising the nervous system, create “safe enough” moments through somatic work, then build capacity for harder emotions like grief and change. Dr. Aimie also talks about using parts work to stop the internal battles that often show up around food, self-care and people-pleasing, and adding biological supports like magnesium, mitochondrial support and brain inflammation care.
If your symptoms feel worse with age and hormones, this episode asks a different question: what survival pattern is driving your version of this—and what might change if your body could finally feel safe?
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