Niecy Nash-Betts, 54, Didn't Know Hair Thinning Was A Symptom Of Menopause
At first, Niecy Nash-Betts thought the fatigue she was experiencing was just, well, fatigue. After all, the life of an in-demand Hollywood actor can do that to you—and Nash-Betts's career has reached new heights lately.
In 2022, the now 54-year-old won an Emmy for her portrayal of Glenda Cleveland in Netflix's limited series about notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Last year, she played a straight-shooting therapist in the comedy-drama series Never Have I Ever, and, most recently, she teamed up with Ryan Murphy to star as Detective Lois Tyron in the writer's new FX horror series, Grotesquerie.
With a professional schedule like that, it's easy to assume your fatigue is just a symptom of hard work and burnout. “Every Black woman I know is tired, so I just thought that’s what I was dealing with,” she tells Women's Health.
But when the fatigue progressed to hot flashes, mood swings, and nights sweats, Nash-Betts knew something else was afoot. The combination of symptoms led her to suspect she was going through menopause—and like plenty of other women, she never thought to have a conversation with her doctor about it.
It's a common story: Despite the fact that many physicians feel this life stage is due for a major rebrand and that women should be happy about menopause, the reality for most is more complicated. Research shows that 37 percent of menopausal women feel shame related to their menopausal experience and a full 83 percent associate a stigma with their symptoms.
One of those symptoms, in particular, caught Nash-Betts completely off-guard: "My hair got thinner and drier," she says. Yet despite her surprise, hair struggles are a common symptom of menopause. In fact, nearly 50 percent of menopausal women will experience moderate to excessive hair loss, according to one study. (Follicles are stimulated by estrogen, and when that hormone begins to decline during perimenopause, shedding and thinning—especially around your temples—can occur.)
A lack of understanding of the ins and outs of her transition is partly what inspired Nash-Betts to partner with Versalie, an online platform that serves as an educational resource for expert-backed content about this life stage (think symptom guides and articles on what happens to your skin during menopause). The site doubles as a marketplace for menopause-related goods like vitamins and supplements, hair loss treatments, and moisturizers for mature skin, but you can also use it to connect with trained clinicians to receive personalized care plans and prescriptions if necessary.
Nash-Betts admits it would've been an invaluable resource to have when she was going through her own journey. “In the beginning, I was suffering alone because I thought that's just what you did,” she says. “But my advice now is to maximize the resources that are available to you. Don’t suffer in silence.”
For Nash-Betts's hair thinning, there was no easy solution, but she found that hair growth supplements helped—and a product similar to the one Nash-Betts used featuring biotin, folic acid, B12, and zinc is available for purchase in the Versalie shop.“While hardly a magic bullet, these vitamins and supplements may be useful for patients who are experiencing hair thinning,” dermatologist Noelani González, MD, tells Women's Health. “Think of supplementation as providing your hair with the necessary ingredients for it to develop in a healthy way.”
Hair Strong Supplement
versalie.com
$26.00
But the most significant and impactful change was that Nash-Betts now has a network of support—and wants other women to cultivate their own. "I've recommended Versalie to so many people," she says. "Many are my good girlfriends. We're all around the same age, and a lot of us are experiencing all or some of these symptoms at the same time. It's nice to have a community offline and online."
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