Collage of Gayle King, Michelle Obama, Salma Hayek, Gwyneth Paltrow and Drew Barrymore on a glittery background

Celebrities in perimenopause: Salma Hayek, Gwyneth Paltrow and Michelle Obama share their symptoms

Oprah, Drew Barrymore and Gwyneth Paltrow open up about their struggles

Contributing Editor US

2 minutes agoNov 19, 2024, 10:39 AM GMT

From hot flashes to brain fog, perimenopause often comes with unexpected changes - but we're far from alone.

Increasingly, celebrities are speaking out and opening up about their perimenopause experiences, reassuring us we're not navigating this confusing and overwhelming time on our own. Every woman will go through this era during midlife, and the more people in the public eye that speak up, the less of a taboo it is.

Here, HELLO! revisits the celebrities sharing their perimenopause experiences...

Celebrities in perimenopause

Naomi Watts: Mood swings, night sweats and migraines

Naomi, now 56, started perimenopause at 36 with signs of mood swings and migraines — Naomi, now 56, started perimenopause at 36

Naomi Watts, 56, began experiencing menopausal symptoms two decades ago at 36 years old. "Mood swings, night sweats, and migraines… I was feeling like I was spiraling out of control," she told HELLO! last year. "I truly believe that if menopause hadn't been such an off-limits topic when I first started experiencing symptoms, I would've had an easier transition."

Michelle Obama: Night sweats and hot flashes

Michelle Obama spoke candidly with Melinda about life after leaving the White House — Michelle Obama spoke candidly about her perimenopause experience

In August 2020, Michelle Obama, 60, opened up about menopause on her Spotify podcast with gynecologist Dr. Sharon Malone. The former First Lady shared that before she started taking hormones, she experienced unpleasant symptoms, explaining: "I experienced the night sweats, even in my 30s, and hot flashes - I had a few before I started taking hormones.”

Michelle also discussed an experience of having hot flashes during her husband’s presidency. "I remember having one on Marine One. I’m dressed, I need to get out, walk into an event, and literally, it was like somebody put a furnace in my core and turned it on high, and then everything started melting. And I thought, 'Well, this is crazy—I can't, I can't, I can't do this'"

Gayle King: Hot flashes

CBS Mornings Co-Hosts Gayle King — Gayle King shared her perimenopause symptoms

"It feels like you're burning inside," Gayle, 69 explained in an interview for CBS Mornings. "For me, it was just a physical heat and then sometimes you have dripping, drenching sweats that can just happen at the most inopportune times."

LOOK: Gayle King's mind-blowing $7.1m Manhattan penthouse needs to be seen to be believed

Beverly Johnson: Tiredness and physical changes

Beverly Johnson complained of — Beverly Johnson's perimenopause surprised her

"My body changed. You start gaining weight in the middle. And I was still modeling,” explained former Vogue model Beverly, 72, who was discussing her fibroid-induced hysterectomy with PEOPLE.

"I felt tired. I remember talking to older women and when they'' break out in a sweat, I'd say, 'What's wrong? Are you okay?' And the response was always 'You'll know about it soon enough.' I never connected the two. Well, I was that woman now. You're in the middle of a conversation with an attractive guy — I was single — and all of a sudden, there's a mustache of sweat, and he's saying, 'Are you okay?'

"You don't have the hormones that keep you nice and moist in the areas you want to be nice and moist in. Mentally, you still have a sex drive but physically, there were changes. You're moist in all the wrong places and that was a big shocker for me. There are all these unexpected consequences."

ADVICE: Intimate dryness: 6 easy ways to soothe the 'debilitating' discomfort

Oprah Winfrey: Restless sleep and heart palpitations

Oprah, 70, suffered with restless sleep during perimenopause

"For two years I didn’t sleep well. Never a full night. No peace. Restlessness and heart palpitations were my steady companions at nightfall," Oprah, who is now 70, explained on Oprah Daily. "This was back when I was 48 to 50.

DISCOVER: Why can't I sleep during menopause? The real reason

Drew Barrymore: Irregular periods

Drew, 49, said her first sign of perimenopause was when her periods came every 2 weeks

"I realized that I was in perimenopause when I started having my period every two weeks," Drew, 49 explained during the Facing Fertility series on CBS Mornings. "One doctor also just told me this could last, in the worst-case scenario, 10 years. And I was like, 'I will never make it 10 years like this!'"

READ: Does PCOS make menopause worse? An expert explains

Salma Hayek: Breast changes

Salma said her boobs got bigger during perimenopause — Salma said her breasts got bigger during perimenopause

"The boobs grow a lot," Salma Hayek, 58 revealed during an appearance on Red Table Talk. "For some women, they get smaller. But there are some women that when you gain weight, your boobs grow, and other women that when you have children and you breastfeed, your boobs grow and they don't go back down. And then in some of the cases, when you are in menopause they grow again. And I just happen to be one of those women where it happened in every single step!

"A lot of people said that I had breast augmentation, but they have just kept growing. Many, many sizes. And my back has been really suffering from it. And not a lot of people talk about this."

Gwyneth Paltrow: Mood changes and sweating

Gwyneth Paltrow poses in grey suit — Gwyneth Paltrow is open about everything in her life

"I think when you get into perimenopause, you notice a lot of changes," Gwyneth, 52 explained in a Goop article back in 2018. "I can feel the hormonal shifts happening, the sweating, the moods — you're all of a sudden furious for no reason."

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