The word 'menopause' has long been seen as a dirty word in Hollywood. Fear of looking old and 'past it' made stars reluctant to embrace or talk about the new life stage. With Hollywood considering menopause a taboo, it meant us mere mortals shied away from the subject too.
Thankfully, there have been a handful of celebrities openly sharing their stories about experiencing perimenopause symptoms as early as their 30s. And according to recent findings by Oova, the home hormone testing company, breaking the stigma around this topic is as relevant as ever.
Oova’s study tracked the hormones of 700 women across all 50 American states and found that 25% of them reported experiencing perimenopause symptoms before the age of 35 - a reality many feel unprepared for.
© GettyNaomi Watts, who was just 36 when she first started experiencing perimenopausal symptoms, recently announced that she has written a book on the topic, entitled Dare I Say It, Everything I Wish I'd Known About Menopause, that shares her early perimenopausal journey.
"Going through menopause at such a young age was not easy, especially during a time when there was so little information available about it," Naomi, who is now 56, explained to HELLO! "Mood swings, night sweats, and migraines…I was feeling like I was spiraling out of control."
Naomi's feelings of chaos and confusion that early menopause can bring aren’t surprising, especially when so many of those perimenopausal symptoms can be attributed to other things.
"The frustrating thing is that perimenopause masks itself and women don't always realise it's perimenopause until they’re well into it," comments Dr. Amy Divaraniya, founder of Oova. "Our report found that over 60% of women aren’t sure if they are in perimenopause when symptoms begin, which makes it even more important that we start talking about it."
© John Salangsang/Golden Globes 20Actress Gillian Anderson, 56, unexpectedly experienced perimenopause early on too, and it was only once she shared her frustration about her sudden mood swings with friends, that she realized her hormones were to blame.
"It was at the point that I felt like my life was falling apart around me that I started to ask what could be going on internally, and friends suggested it might be hormonal," The Fall actress explained in an interview with her best friend, journalist Jennifer Nadel. "I was used to being able to balance many things, and all of a sudden I felt like I could handle nothing. I felt completely overwhelmed."
Despite the lack of preparation and social stigma attached to menopause, Gillian has since embraced the transition and has found strength in sharing her journey. "How wonderful would it be if we could get to a place where we are able to have these conversations openly and without shame," Gillian notes. "Admit, freely, that this is what’s going on. So we don’t feel like we're going mad or insane or alone in any of the symptoms we are having."
READ: Just like Gillian Anderson, I've accidentally become a sexpert – here's what I know
"Perimenopause and menopause should be treated as the rites of passage they are and, if not celebrated, then at least accepted and acknowledged and honoured."
© Mike CoppolaAnother A-list actress who experienced early menopause is Angelina Jolie, who Gillian credits inspiring her to change the stigma.
"When Angelina Jolie made the very, very courageous decision to have both her breasts and her ovaries removed because of genetically being at risk for breast and ovarian cancer, many of the comments (aside from admiration for her decision to go public with a very private matter) were around the concern that it might throw her into early menopause," Gillian recalled.
"Then she became vocal about being in menopause and pushed back against the narrative that aging is bad. It's a step that more of us in the public eye need to take in order to shake the shame around it."
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