Unlocking Relief: 7 Perimenopause Vitamins for Managing Symptoms

As you get older, your body changes. 

Perimenopause is one stage of change, marking the transition away from your reproductive years and towards menopause. Perimenopause usually begins around your late 30s to mid 40s, and can last anywhere from a couple of years to over a decade.

>>RELATED: Perimenopause vs. Menopause: What’s the Difference?

During perimenopause, your body progressively produces lower amounts of key reproductive hormones, like progesterone and estrogen. As these hormone levels fluctuate and decline, their balance with each other is also thrown off. 

Taken together, fluctuating, declining, and out-of-balance hormones can cause physical and emotional perimenopause symptoms. These symptoms can make navigating life during perimenopause overwhelming.

Luckily, there are ways to ease perimenopause symptoms and get relief, including by getting more vitamins.

Here are seven perimenopause vitamins to help you manage symptoms.

Perimenopause vitamins to use for symptom management

While each person’s experience of perimenopause is different, some of the common symptoms that perimenopause vitamins may be able to help you manage are:

• Bone loss (and an increased risk of fractures and osteoporosis)
• Joint pain and inflammation
• Mood swings, depression, and depressive symptoms
• Brain fog
• Sleep disturbances
• Poor sleep quality
• Insomnia
• Hot flashes
• Headache
• Vaginal dryness and discomfort 
• Skin changes

1. Vitamin B12

The first on our perimenopause vitamins list, vitamin B12, can help manage perimenopause symptoms like mood swings, depression, and depressive symptoms, as well as brain fog.

Vitamin B12 is a water-soluble vitamin. Water-soluble vitamins are dissolved in water and absorbed into the tissues. Excess amounts of this type of vitamin are not stored in the body, exiting the body in urine, instead. This means that you may need to take water-soluble vitamins more frequently.

Low levels of vitamin B12 may be associated with a higher risk of developing depression and depressive symptoms. Conversely, higher vitamin B12 intake may reduce the risk of depression, particularly in women.

Low levels of vitamin B12 may also be associated with poorer cognitive function and memory issues – similar to the brain fog that some people experience during perimenopause. Increased vitamin B12 intake may help combat brain fog, but more research is needed.

Vitamin B12 occurs naturally in animal products. Other foods are fortified with it, meaning the vitamin has been added to it. 

As you age, your body is no longer able to absorb enough vitamin B12 through food alone, so it’s recommended that people over 50 take a supplement.

Good sources of vitamin B12 include:

• Vitamin B12 multivitamins and dietary supplements 
• Meat, like beef liver, ground beef, and turkey
• Shellfish, like clams and oysters
• Fish, like salmon and tuna
• Milk
• Yogurt
• Eggs
• Vitamin B12-fortified nutritional yeast 
• Vitamin B12-fortified cereals 

2. Vitamin B6

The second of the perimenopause vitamins on our list, vitamin B6, can help manage emotional and mental perimenopause symptoms like mood swings, depression, and depressive symptoms.

Vitamin B6 plays an important role in creating neurotransmitters, or chemical messengers that carry signals between cells. In particular, this vitamin helps produce dopamine and serotonin, two neurotransmitters crucial for regulating mood and emotion. 

Low vitamin B6 levels have been shown to be associated with depression, while higher vitamin B6 intake can help protect from depression risk. As with vitamin B12, higher vitamin B6 intake may be particularly effective for lowering depression risk in women.

Older research indicates that vitamin B6 supplements may also help reduce symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), although more studies are needed. Perimenopause mood symptoms can occur at any time throughout your cycle, but otherwise, they can look and feel a lot like PMS symptoms. It stands to reason that if vitamin B6 may help relieve PMS symptoms, it may also help with perimenopause mood symptoms. 

Good sources of vitamin B6 include:

• Vitamin B6 multivitamins and dietary supplements
• Chickpeas
• Meat, like beef liver, ground beef, chicken, and turkey
• Fish, like tuna and salmon
• Starchy vegetables, like potatoes and winter squash
• Bananas
• Watermelons
• Raisins
• Vitamin B6-fortified cereals

3. Vitamin D 

The next of the perimenopause vitamins, vitamin D, can help with bone and joint-related perimenopause symptoms, like bone loss, joint pain, and inflammation.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin. Fat-soluble vitamins are dissolved in fats, and any excess is stored in the liver and fatty tissue. Your body absorbs fat-soluble vitamins best if you take them with food containing fats.

Vitamin D supports bone health by aiding in bone growth and strengthening bones. It does this in part by helping your body absorb calcium from the food you eat. 

Vitamin D also helps to reduce inflammation, which can aid in perimenopausal joint pain relief.

Very few foods naturally contain vitamin D, although some foods are fortified with it. This can make it challenging to get enough vitamin D through food alone. In fact, many people take supplements to meet their daily needs.

Your body also makes vitamin D itself when your skin is directly exposed to the sun. However, factors like your age, skin color, clouds, and smog reduce the amount of vitamin D that your body can produce this way.

Good sources of vitamin D include:

• Vitamin D multivitamins and dietary supplements 
• Fatty fish, like salmon or tuna
• Egg yolks
• Beef liver
• Vitamin D-fortified cereals 
• Vitamin D-fortified dairy and plant milks
• The sun (to a certain extent)

4. Calcium

Calcium can help with the perimenopause symptom of bone loss.

Calcium is a mineral. For your calcium intake to be most effective, your vitamin D intake needs to keep up. This is because your body requires vitamin D in order to absorb calcium.

Calcium, like vitamin D, also supports bone health and bone growth. 

Sufficient calcium levels have also been associated with lower risks of hypertension and colorectal cancer, conditions that are more likely to occur in perimenopausal and postmenopausal people.

Good sources of calcium include:

• Calcium multivitamins and dietary supplements
• Milk
• Dairy products, like yogurt and cheese
• Canned sardines and salmon with bones
• Green, leafy vegetables, like spinach, kale, and broccoli
• Grains, like bread and pasta
• Calcium-fortified cereals 
• Calcium-fortified plant milks 
• Calcium-fortified tofu

5. Magnesium

Magnesium can help manage a wide variety of perimenopause symptoms, like:

• Bone loss
• Headache
• Sleep disturbances
• Poor sleep quality

Magnesium is a mineral that, like vitamin D and calcium, also supports bone health and bone growth. It has also been shown to help prevent headaches and migraine. 

This mineral may also help you sleep better and improve sleep quality.

Good sources of magnesium include:

• Magnesium multivitamins and dietary supplements 
• Nuts, like cashews, peanuts, and almonds
• Seeds, like pumpkin, sesame, and sunflower seeds
• Legumes, like beans and peas
• Whole grains, like brown rice, quinoa, and bulgur
• Green, leafy vegetables, like spinach, kale, broccoli, and bok choy
• Milk
• Yogurt
• Magnesium-fortified cereals
• Magnesium-fortified plant milks

6. Vitamin E

Vitamin E may top this list of perimenopause vitamins for being able to manage the most perimenopause symptoms, including:

• Hot flashes
• Insomnia
• Sleep disturbances
• Poor sleep quality
• Joint pain and inflammation
• Vaginal dryness and discomfort

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin that encompasses eight different fat-soluble compounds. Vitamin E is also an antioxidant, meaning it helps protect your cells from free radicals, or unstable atoms that can damage cells and DNA.

Vitamin E may help reduce the frequency and severity of hot flashes. When hot flashes occur at night (night sweats), they can also lead to insomnia, sleep disturbances, and poor sleep quality. By helping to address hot flashes, vitamin E may help with these secondary symptoms, as well.

Additionally, vitamin E has anti-inflammatory effects and may help reduce inflammation and joint pain.

Vitamin E suppositories, administered vaginally, have also been shown to help improve vaginal atrophy, which can cause vaginal dryness and discomfort. 

Good sources of vitamin E include:

• Vitamin E multivitamins and dietary supplements
• Plant oils, like sunflower and safflower oil
• Nuts, like almonds, peanuts, and hazelnuts
• Sunflower seeds
• Green vegetables, like spinach and broccoli
• Mango
• Asparagus
• Avocado
• Vitamin E-fortified cereals
• Vitamin E-fortified fruit juices

7. Omega-3

Last on the list of perimenopause vitamins is omega-3, which can help combat perimenopause symptoms like:

• Mood swings, depression, and depressive symptoms
• Brain fog
• Skin changes
• Joint pain and inflammation

Omega-3 fatty acids are a group of essential, polyunsaturated fats. Polyunsaturated fats are considered healthy fats (as opposed to polysaturated fats).

Omega-3 fatty acids may help improve depressive symptoms and lower anxiety. 

These fatty acids may also help clear brain fog and boost cognitive function, including elements like short-term memory, working memory, verbal memory, executive function, attention, and processing speed. 

Omega-3 fatty acids may improve skin health, as well, reducing skin inflammation and acne.

Additionally, omega-3 fatty acids—specifically fish oil—may help reduce inflammation, joint swelling, and joint pain.

Good sources of omega-3 fatty acids include:

• Omega-3 dietary supplements, like fish oil, krill oil, cod liver oil, and the vegetarian alternative algal oil
• Fish, like salmon, mackerel, tuna, herring, and sardines
• Shellfish, like oyster, lobster, and shrimp
• Seeds, like flaxseeds and chia seeds
• Plant oils, like flaxseed, soybean, and canola oil
• Walnuts
• Edamame
• Legumes, like kidney beans and refried beans (including vegetarian refried beans)
• Omega-3 fatty acid-fortified dairy products, like milk and yogurt

The takeaway: Using perimenopause vitamins to manage symptoms

Lots of different vitamins may be able to help relieve perimenopause symptoms like brain fog, sleep disturbances, vaginal discomfort, and more. 

Vitamins can be added to your perimenopause treatment regimen through your diet, or by taking multivitamins or supplements.

If you’re interested in increasing your vitamin intake, consider talking with your doctor first. This way, you can be sure that your body—and any medications you may be taking—can support the change in vitamins.