Niecy Nash.Photo:Michael Simon/startraksphoto.com
Michael Simon/startraksphoto.com
Niecy Nashthought she was living her ownAmerican Horror Storya couple years ago.
The Emmy-winning star — who recently partnered with newdigital platform Versalieto help get the word out aboutmenopauseand how to be better prepared and informed — tells PEOPLE she once got the fright of her life when her body began to change.
“I got hot and then I kept getting hot and I was like, ‘Sound the alarm. This is it’,” says Nash, 54, of experiencing hot flashes for the first time, which led her to realize she’d entered menopause. “It’s that heat you can’t control, no matter how cold it is in the room.”
Indeed, one night “I fell asleep with a wig on,” she says. “I guess I got hot in the middle of the night and took it off. I woke up the next morning and screamed to the top of my throat because I thought it was a dead body in the bed!”
Niecy Nash.Michael Simon/startraksphoto.com
That said, hot flashes haven’t been the only symptoms theGrotesqueriestar has been experiencing. After doing research on Versalie, she now feels more equipped with information.
“When you don’t know what you don’t know, then you don’t know what it’s related to," she says. “I thought, ‘Oh, I’m having menopausal hot flashes’ and that was the extent of it. I did not relate the fatigue, because every woman I know is tired. Your scalp being dry, hair thinning, you don’t relate it to menopause. Those were some of the things I just didn’t catch.”
When it comes to getting medical advice on menopause, “so many doctors are not trained in it,” she says. “It wasn’t even a conversation I had with my medical professional until I got to this point right now. Utilizing the resources on this digital platform, now I’m like, ‘I can talk to somebody, I can find products, resources and a sense of community.’”
Vivica Fox and Niecy Nash.Natasha Campos/Getty
Natasha Campos/Getty
More and more stars are speaking out about menopause, includingHalle Berry, who recently opened up abouther own shocking symptomsof perimenopause.
For Nash, who’s currently using “holistic remedies” to address her symptoms, it’s important for all women — but specifically Black women — to understand what their bodies are going through during menopause.
According to Versalie, “Studies show that menopause symptoms can be more severe and last longer for Black women. And for some Black women, they can even experience menopause earlier than other races. This means that women of color can often go without adequate care during menopause."
“There are some things in my social groups that had not been talked about, menopause being one of them,” says Nash. “So to be able to open the door to have more transparent conversations about it, I think just moves us a little further forward together and knowing what is happening with our bodies. And I feel like in our community, sisterhood is so important.”
Niecy Nash-Betts and Jessica Betts.Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty
Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty
As for Nash, her biggest support system has been her wife of three years,Jessica Betts, who happens to be experiencing menopause as well.
“I feel like we had a moment where we were both having a hot flash at the same time. I’m like, ‘You can’t be hot when I’m hot. Maybe not the hotness, but the hot flashiness.’ You know what I mean,” she says with a laugh. “We just made a joke out of it. We laugh our way through a lot of things because what could you do? We laughed to keep from crying.”
For more information and resources on menopause visitVersalie.com.
source: people.com
