Naomi Watts "wasn't prepared" for going through menopause.
Naomi Watts wasn't prepared for menopause
The 53-year-old actress admitted she went through the hormonal change "far too early" and felt "very isolated" while struggling with various painful symptoms.
She told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: “It happened far too early for me and I wasn’t prepared. It was a shock and no one gives you any preparation.
“I did have in the back of my mind that my mother went early but I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t know that you could have eight years of peri-menopause.”
“I felt very isolated.
"One of my greatest symptoms was really itchy skin and my skin is obviously very important to me because of work on camera. I had multiple other symptoms but that was the one that I need immediate attention.”
The 'Ring' actress insisted women shouldn't feel "ashamed" about going through the menopause and called on them to speak out.
She said: “It’s gone on for far too long.
“Women have been forced to silence themselves and feel ashamed. But it’s been the plan for the body all along. It’s not a failure, it’s not a disease.”
Naomi - who is dating Billy Crudup and has sons Sasha, 14, and Kai, 13, with former partner Liev Schreiber - has now developed a brand with the “intention to support women through this phase of life.”
She explained: “I wanted to create a space where people can laugh and cry and bitch and moan and also feel really great about this point in our lives. We’ve gone through lots of things and we’re still here.”
And the Oscar-nominated star insisted post-menopause is a "liberating time".
She added: "You can make choices that are authentic and connected to you.”
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