Oprah Winfrey has opened up about how perimenopause had a huge impact on her sleep for years, along with symptoms like heart palpitations.
Menopause and perimenopause are important topics finally gaining traction in mainstream conversation. Long hidden and often not known enough about by medical professionals, menopause and the preceding transition can last for years, in which hormonal changes can cause a host of physical and psychological symptoms. From hot flushes and brain fog to mood and sleep disturbances, these symptoms can be debilitating to the wellbeing of women.
The growing movement among celebrities to be candid about their menopause symptoms is certainly helping women understand what is happening to their bodies, and seek out help. Oprah has recently spoken out about her perimenopause experience with poor sleep, and how it affected her between the ages of 48 - 50.
Sharing her experience on Oprah Daily, the TV star wrote "For two years I didn’t sleep well. Never a full night. No peace." Her symptoms were accompanied by heart palpitations, and despite her status and ability to see the best doctors, it took a while to link sleep issues and heart palpitations with perimenopause - it was a link Oprah eventually made herself.
Doctors made the leap straight to heart disease, with Oprah explaining, "I went to see a cardiologist. Took medication. Wore a heart monitor for weeks. And then one day, walking through the offices of The Oprah Winfrey Show, I picked up a copy of The Wisdom of Menopause, Dr. Christiane Northrup’s book, and the pages fell open to the heading 'Palpitations: Your Heart’s Wake-Up Call.' I took it as a sign."
Oprah believes it should've been considered that perimenopause was "the most likely" reason for her experiences, and later made a point of covering symptoms in her shows. Now aged 70, the icon recalls that at the time of her perimenopause diagnosis, nobody was talking about the experience in mainstream media. It wasn't even something she found was discussed openly among her friends, either - the only symptom she was aware of was hot flushes.
Even when her periods stopped altogether at 53, Oprah felt unprepared for concentration difficulties that affected many aspects of her life. "Reading, my favourite pastime, became a chore," she recalls, adding, "suddenly my attitude toward most things was 'whatever.' I wasn’t vibrant. My whole world dulled down a couple of notches."
It wasn't until a friend said she'd been prescribed oestrogen, that Oprah asked her own doctor for help and was offered the same - the result was an almost instantaneous return of her world to being "technicolour" once again. Everything she says about her menopause experience proves how far conversations about menopause have come, but there's still a long way to go.
A report from University College London found in the UK, only 59% of medical schools taught mandatory menopause education - medical students were expected to gain menopause education while undertaking GP training placements. Globally, 58% of analysed medical textbooks had no reference to menopause and those that did often referred to it as a "failure" or the end of "normal" ovulatory function.
Continuing to change the language and narratives used around menopause and perimenopause, along with celebrity endorsements that it's fine to ask and push for the right care and help, will continue to propel conversations about this significant time of life in the right direction.
