Gwyneth Paltrow noticed a serious spike in her menopause symptoms when she increased her alcohol intake amid the stressful Los Angeles wildfires.
“In January when the fires were happening in L.A., I, like, used alcohol for its purpose, of, like, medicating,” Paltrow, 52, shared on the latest episode of her “Goop” podcast. “And normally I don’t drink a lot at all but those two weeks I think I drank every night. And my symptoms were completely out of control.”
The Oscar-winning actress noted that although she is “in the thick” of menopause and “all over the place,” her symptoms are typically “well under control” when she isn’t drinking often. “It’s the first time I really noticed causation in that way,” she added.
Paltrow also shared that she began to feel anxious at night, an issue she never struggled with before perimenopause and menopause. “There were nights where my anxiety … I would just wake up, I would get crushed with anxiety which I’ve never had in my life,” she told Dr. Mary Claire Haver.
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Sharing that she’s always been a “real sleeper,” Paltrow said she was surprised by the new symptom as she thought sleep issues during menopause would only come because “you don’t have enough progesterone.”
“I’ve had a particularly bad time with it and hopefully I’m coming out the other side,” she continued. “[But] I would lie in bed and think about every mistake I’ve ever made, every person’s feelings I ever hurt. I would be up for, like, six hours. It was crazy.”
Anxiety has spiked for many Los Angeles residents these past few months as wildfires swept the city and destroyed homes and businesses, forcing thousands to evacuate. Although Paltrow’s home – which she shared with husband Brad Falchuck and was sold for $22 million weeks later — remained “safe,” the actress took to social media in January to express her condolences over watching loved ones lose everything.
“Our beloved Los Angeles… We are in deep grief for so many of our close friends who have lost everything,” Paltrow wrote via Instagram at the time. “Thank you to those inquiring, we are currently safe.”
She continued, “When the fires are out there will be more to say and everything to do. The city of angels will need angels of all kinds. Please everyone, stay safe and vigilant.”
Paltrow and Falchuck, 53, tied the knot in September 2018. Paltrow was previously married to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, with whom she shares 20-year-old daughter Apple, and 18-year-old son Moses. Falchuck, for his part, has two children, Brody and Isabella, from his first marriage.
As Paltrow continues to navigate her way through menopause, she’s been candid about speaking on her experience in hopes to normalizing the conversation.
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“Admittedly, I’ve been spending an inordinately large amount of time on this subject just because there’s so much on postpartum, there’s so much on marriage,” she shared on the podcast. “There’s so much that we go through … but for some reason, even me, with all the access that I have, I’ve found that it’s a very difficult subject to crack.”
Paltrow added that she thinks it’s “amazing” progress around the subject is being made, noting that there are more women who are “happy to be the face of menopause” after she rarely heard about it growing up.
“There was just no mention of it,” she explained. “When I started to go into perimenopause, I just felt so isolated, and alone.”
