Stephanie Pastor and her family were trudging up a hill at Rockefeller State Park last fall when her young son let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m having a hot flash,” PJ, then six, announced, sending his parents into a fit of laughter. But as their amusement faded, Pastor, now 48, was struck with a realization: Her daily struggles with perimenopause had become so pervasive that even her son had picked up on them. Relief would finally came with hormone replacement therapy (HRT), but only after