Hi Woolly,
I too am in perimenopause and feel exhausted much of the time too. I also have quite low iron levels and am taking iron due to heavy periods which I suspect is contributing to the tiredness. I have read online in several places that low energy is a symptom of perimenopause and according to my Mum, all of her friends have had HRT and they said things like 'it gave them their life back', so it sounds like HRT really is powerful. Also as I understand it, if you don't have HRT, your body does adjust to the decline in oestrogen after a few years and so the menopause symptoms do improve or go away on their own. I know everyone is different but this is the overall message I have got from extensive reading online. Personally I have really had enough of the exhaustion, it's affecting my whole life and so I have recently started HRT to see how it makes me feel, I started it a week ago and have noticed already my sleep quality has improved which I suspect is due to the Utrogestan I take at bedtime, apparently it can do that. I hope this is useful, I just wanted to give you some hope because it seems there is a lot of it !