Beth Behrs On The Taboo Of Being "Too Young" At 39 And Experiencing Perimenopause

Menopause and perimenopause are two topics that often do not get the attention they deserve. We hear about menopause as something that happens to older women, but perimenopause, the phase leading up to it can actually start much earlier, sometimes in your late 30s. Actress Beth Behrs, known for her role in 2 Broke Girls, recently opened up about her own experience with perimenopause. She shared her struggles and the journey of trying to understand what was happening with her body, especially when she was often told that she was “too young” for it. 

Also Read: Varun Dhawan On His Fatherly Responsibilities For His Daughter Lara Dhawan: "I'm Learning How To Burp Her"

In a conversation with Glamour magazine, Beth Behrs said, “Growing up, I remember hearing about menopause, but to me, it seemed so old-lady-ish; so far down the line. I thought of a white-haired, beautiful older woman going through the changes with her body. And the other sad thing? I don't really remember ever hearing the word perimenopause. I'm about to be 39 on December 26, and I'm in perimenopause. It's been a three-year journey trying to figure out what was going on with me and not getting answers. But nobody's first thought is perimenopause when you're this young. I would go see doctors, get ultrasounds, and was always told, ‘You're fine.' Or, specifically from male doctors, ‘You're too young for perimenopause.' But I knew something wasn't right. And now I know that, no, your late 30s is not ‘too young.'”

The actress also recalled how her periods had been “incredibly heavy” when she was young. Beth Behrs said, “But let me rewind for a minute. I'd been on the pill since I was 16 or 17; my periods had been so incredibly heavy as a young girl that I was missing my AP tests because I was keeled over in pain. I always had really intense cycles.”

Talking about her irregular menstrual cycle and how disordered eating worsened her perimenopause symptoms, Beth Behrs shared, “I did not get a regular period through the entire six-year run of 2 Broke Girls. I did so much physical stuff on that show that it consumed me and my body; it was like gymnastics. It also didn't help that I was in a constant fight with my body, which we now know is disordered eating. My sister is an eating-disorder therapist, and ironically, I was always too scared to go to a nutritionist. A very famous producer told me earlier in my career, ‘Your body better always be bikini ready. You're on TV now.' And sadly, that's stuck with me. I genuinely think disordered eating might have made my undiagnosed perimenopause symptoms worse, but I didn't know.”

Beth Behrs shared that at the age of 35, she decided to freeze her eggs after discovering that she had an extremely low ovarian reserve. She also opened up about the fertility treatments she underwent to have her daughter, who is now almost three years old. “And there's not enough research on this, but I learned that sometimes fertility treatments can exacerbate [perimenopause],” Beth Behrs said.

Beth Behrs also discussed the significant changes she experienced in her body after giving birth to her daughter. She mentioned, “All of that brings me to what happened a year after welcoming my daughter. I started waking up in the middle of the night with what I thought were fevers, but it felt different from a typical fever. It almost felt like I had a sunburn going up my whole body. And it wasn't sweaty. No sheet sweat, nothing like that. But it was affecting my sleep, and I was getting really bad insomnia, along with really heavy periods and heavy fatigue. I was gaining weight even though I was still exercising the same and eating healthy. My stomach was so inflamed that I couldn't even latch my jeans at work. And fine, your metabolism changes in your late 30s. Girl loves a pie, girl loves a cake, but something was just not right. On top of that, I never had trouble learning my lines because at 70 pages an episode, 2 Broke Girls trained me well. So it was the weirdest feeling when I'd be in the middle of a scene on The Neighborhood and my whole mind goes blank. It's a different kind of brain fog than ‘I don't know my lines.' It's scary.”

Opening up about how her ob-gyn helped her navigate her health challenges, Beth Behrs said, “I eventually was introduced to Dr. Gilberg-Lenz, an ob-gyn who specializes in perimenopause and menopause. She has been a game changer for me and helped me figure out what was changing in my body. It wasn't a great feeling of joy to find out my symptoms were related to perimenopause, but it was a relief that it wasn't something more serious. And comforting to finally have answers.”

The actress concluded by saying, “It's so important to build a community of people who hear you and listen to you and don't invalidate your experiences.”

Also Read: On Tying The Knot At 53-Years-Old, Actress Yvette Nicole Brown Said, "It's Never Too Late To Find Love"