Drew Barrymore has got candid about the perimenopause, saying alarm bells started to ring when “I started having my period every two weeks,” and she experienced a heavy flow “like a teenager”.
Menopause marks the end of fertility for women, while perimenopause is when the body starts transitioning toward menopause.
Speaking to Gayle King, 68, and jounalist Nikki Battiste, 33, on CBS Mornings, Barrymore, 48, explained how she sought medical advice after starting to endure heavy, frequent periods: “One doctor just told me this could last, on the worst case scenario, ten years and I was like, I will never make it ten years like this.”
The actress-turned-talk show host said she had never experienced hot flushes, which is one of the more well-known symptoms, but there had been other telltale signs, noting: “most of it seems very unfamiliar not just to men, but women”.
Barrymore also revealed she was offered hormone replacement therapy (HRT) but decided it wasn’t for her, although said she wouldn’t rule it out if she felt she needed it in future.
She explained: “I said no because I really didn’t feel like the doctor who suggested it really understood where I was at, and it seemed pre-emptive,” she said. “I don’t want to take something pre-emptively. At some point there might be a treatment that’s right for you, so don’t do it so fast, but don’t be a hero unnecessarily if you don’t have to be.”
Towards the end of the interview, Barrymore was asked to choose one word to describe menopause, to which she replied, “natural.”
