Gwyneth Paltrow Says Menopause Left Her "Crushed With Anxiety"

Gwyneth Paltrow is opening up about the toll that menopause is taking on her mental and physical health—especially when it comes to insomnia and anxiety. In a new episode of the Goop founder's podcast, the empty nester shared that her anxiety skyrocketed during bouts of unprecedented insomnia.

"I've always been a real sleeper," Paltrow explained, but after menopause, "I went through a particularly bad time with it. There were nights where my anxiety—like, I just thought it meant, 'Oh, you're not gonna be able to sleep because you don't have enough progesterone or whatever.' I would just wake up [and] I would get crushed with anxiety, which I've never had in my life."

"And I would lie in bed thinking about every mistake I've ever made, every person's feelings I ever hurt, like, every bad...you know," she continued, "And I would be up, like, for six hours. It was crazy. I feel like hopefully I'm coming out the other side."

Luckily, Paltrow brought on an expert source to help explain her symptoms: Dr. Mary Clare Hover, author of the book The New Menopause: Navigating Your Path Through Hormonal Change with Purpose, Power, and Facts. "In perimenopause, we call it the zone of hormonal chaos," Hover said. "It's all over the place. It is completely unpredictable, and our brains hate chaos."

"It's years for some women," Haver added, to which Paltrow quipped, "I feel like I've been in it for years."

Menopause is not a new topic for the actress, of course; last spring, she spoke with Elle about the importance of fostering dialogue around women's health. "I started asking my friends around the dinner table a few years ago: 'This is happening for me. Is it happening for you guys? These are my symptoms.' Really cultivating the conversation," she explained.

"'I'm not sure why it was made to be embarrassing or shameful to talk about," she continued. "It's perfectly natural that we all traverse through it."

Read the original article on InStyle