Menopause can often seem like a mystery, with many women knowing only that this new stage of their life is supposed to begin somewhere around age 50 and that the women in their family went through it before them.
But in recent years, Gen Xers and Millennials have opened up about the symptoms of menopause and how to abide those symptoms, and they've also increased awareness about what comes before it: the transitional time called perimenopause.
Perimenopause occurs, on average, in most women's late thirties and early forties, teasing the hormonal shift of their next season of life. During perimenopause, women will likely experience many unusual symptoms they've never experienced before, and if they talk to a doctor about it, it'll likely be brushed off as "normal" and "just another sign of perimenopause."
The Hunger Games' Jennifer Lawrence got schooled in this while visiting Amy Poehler's Good Hang podcast.
While the two women were talking about Lawrence's film production company, Excellent Cadaver, Poehler complimented one of the production company's films, Causeway, and Lawrence's performance in it, which Poehler claimed was one of her "most favorite things [she'd] ever seen [Lawrence] do."
Meanwhile, Lawrence repeatedly reached up to itch her right ear. While responding to Poehler's compliment, she called herself out:
"Sorry, my ear keeps itching. Is this gross?"
Quick as a whip, Poehler responded:
"No, but you know, itchy ears are a sign of perimenopause, so congrats."
Laughter could be heard on set while Lawrence's mouth dropped open in shock and she subjected Poehler to a millennial pause instead of one of her witty comebacks.
You can watch the segment here:
Viewers were thoroughly amused by Lawrence's reaction to the possibility.
The segment was also shared on the "Pop Culture Chat" subReddit, where Redditors agreed that, yes, itchy ears were very common during perimenopause, among other strange and unexpected symptoms.
"At 45, I blame everything on perimenopause. Itchy ear, perimenopause. Legs a little more hairy than I'd like, perimenopause. Haven't eaten a vegetable in a week, perimenopause." - BubblyFlow6143
"Honest to god, tho, itchy ears are one of my worst symptoms." - R00ts_Dreamland
"Itchy armpits for me. It's hard to address subtly without feeling like I'm doing a stereotypical chimpanzee impression." - ComfortableCaptain61
"Mine is the phantosmia. I smell someone smoking cigarettes ALL THE F**KING TIME. No one is smoking cigarettes anywhere near me. I swear. Then the just general feeling like I'm crazy and sweating." - Jahidinginvt
"Omg, I’m in premature menopause, and after I got diagnosed, my eyes had such extreme dryness, I had to stop using contact lenses. Told my optician I was in menopause, and he was like, ‘lol yeah, dry eyes are a side effect of lack of estrogen.’"
"LIKE … THAT TOO???? FOR REAL???" - prettybunbun
"C'MERE DOLL I'LL TELL YOU ALL ABOUT WHAT'S TO COME."
"So, firstly, any concept of a cycle goes out the window. I am 10 days early. Again."
"Then your ears itch. Like right inside, like there's wax build up that you just need to, get in there and get it out, but there's not."
"Then your armpits itch. And you think, oh, I'm a smelly monster who forgot to put on antiperspirant, so you're sweating. And then you remember it's actually minus-two outside and you're shivering, and you're not smelly."
"But don't worry, because in a minute, you'll put on a jumper, but start sweating like a murder suspect, so you take off the jumper, but then you're cold as f**k again."
"Then you lose your appetite and don't want to eat anything."
"Then your appetite comes raging back, and you want to eat everything."
"Then you start crying at IG reels about fictional gay hockey players."
"Then you start crying because the seatbelt jerked you back into your seat and hurt your boobs."
"Then your hair starts to fall out, and you start googling Minoxidil + Your Country."
"Then you discover 'sleep hygiene,' because you can't doze off until like 2:00 AM, and all of a sudden you've spent gajillions of euros on pillow sprays and magnesium-something and lions mane something and weighted blankets and the Calm app and Enya's on Spotify, and you're crying again, because your skins gone to s**t no matter how much hydrating crap you apply."
"So there's that." - dashboardhulalala
Meanwhile, some Redditors were just as shocked as Lawrence was.
"I was literally itching my ear at the same time and looked at Jennifer with the same face. Remembered we are the same age. Thanks, Amy, looking into hormone tests now." - RonnieDeVille
u/alison_bee/Reddit
"Wait… what? I turn 40 this year and … f**k." - LordOscarthePurr
"Omg, I'm not the only one! Why the heck are my armpits itchy all of a sudden!??? I don't think I've ever had an itchy armpit in my entire life, and suddenly at 46, it's a daily annoyance."
"Why did no one warn us." - activelyresting
u/Trowj/Reddit
You can watch the full conversation here:
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
This is a classic example of "the more you know," but it's especially true for women right now who are doing their best to educate themselves about this stage of life and also better prepare the women who will go through it after them.
Though this was a funny moment on the podcast, and Lawrence is famous for being able to laugh at herself, it's still so important that it happened so more women are in the know.
u/Duskymoonlight/Reddit
u/Duskymoonlight/Reddit