Getting Candid About Menopause
- Lisa Rinna, at age 60, wants to ‘age disgracefully,’ as she admits to finding her sexual self later in life. In a digital cover interview with Cosmopolitan for the outlet’s Sex After 60 issue, the soap actress and former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star talks sex, menopause, hormone therapy and her family’s history of breast cancer.
- The former model shared that she lost her “mojo” after having children, experiencing postpartum depression, which means depression following childbirth, after her first daughter was born.
- Private pole-dancing classes and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) helped Rinna reclaim her sexuality, but doctors are mixed about HRT as it is also linked to certain cancers like breast, ovarian and endometrial cancer. However, it’s important to note that HRT is sometimes part of ovarian cancer treatment after a woman has removed her ovaries.
- As always, it is important to do your own research and weigh the benefits and risks with your medical team for HRT or any other form of treatment you are considering.
“I have not always been this in touch with my sexuality at all,” Rinna said, immediately diving in with writer Valerie Monroe. “I grew up very repressed, like everybody did in the ’60s. It just wasn’t something that nice girls did or talked about or flaunted, especially not in Medford, Oregon, where I was raised.”
Read MoreLosing Her ‘Mojo’
The former model, who has been married to actor Harry Hamlin for 26 years, admitted that having children and experiencing postpartum depression (depression following childbirth) didn’t help, and frankly, she shared, “I completely lost my mojo.”Rinna, who shares two daughters, Amelia Gray, 22, and Delilah Belle, 25, with Hamlin, expressed she wasn’t aware of why she was struggling after having her first child.
“I didn’t know I had it for the first 15 months of Delilah’s life, and then once we figured it out, I was treated for it, and I was ready for it when I had Amelia,” Rinna said, adding that she went on an antidepressant, “which helped tremendously.”
Reclaiming Her Sexuality
Once she started feeling better, it was time to tackle getting her sexuality back. She decided to take a pole-dancing class with some friends, which was the catalyst she needed.
“And that changed everything, because it felt safe,” Rinna said. “It changed my whole perception and fear about sexuality and expressing yourself. I did it for a good two years, and I don’t think I ever looked back.”
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“Then I was just able to really be open, really share it. Harry was thrilled, obviously. I mean, I learned a lot of really good tricks.”
The Decision to Take Hormones for Menopause Symptoms
Addressing menopause directly, Rinna discussed how a woman’s body just naturally stops feeling as sexual when you’re no longer ovulating.
“So I think it’s really interesting when you go through menopause. I know it’s a drag for people to talk about menopause, and it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s a dirty secret and we don’t want to talk about it.’ But the truth is, you change,” the Rinna Beauty founder said. “You’re not about making a baby. So you’re not as crazy sexually driven — you just aren’t. I’m a big proponent of hormones, because I think without them, life is just f*cking miserable.”
“They have been really helpful in my being able to stay feeling good about myself,” she added.
Rinna said both her mother and sister had breast cancer, and they think that her mom’s breast cancer had something do with taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT), so she said she was always scared to try it, but her doctor talked her into it, saying that it was safe.
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“I didn’t take hormones in the beginning of menopause, and I was really suffering. Everything you can go through, I was going through it,” she said. “I couldn’t sleep, the hot flashes, everything, and I was anxious and angry and just a mess.”
Rinna said she went on bioidentical hormones, which are artificial hormones that are used to treat people with hormone imbalances, per Cleveland Clinic. Bioidentical hormone therapy (BHRT) uses processed hormones that come from plants.
“That was eight years ago, and I haven’t looked back. And listen, if I’m going to have a better life by taking them, I’m going to do it. If you took my hormones away, I would kill you, probably. I really think they’re helpful in so many ways.”
Understanding Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is prescribed to help women manage menopausal symptoms. However, HRT with estrogen is known to increase your risk of certain cancers.
Medical experts argue that hormones marketed as “bioidentical” and “natural,” like Rinna is using aren’t safer than hormones used in traditional hormone therapy. It is important to do your own research and speak to your doctor, multiple if possible, to assess the pros and cons of taking any type of hormone replacement.
Learning More About Menopause
Women are diagnosed with menopause after they’ve gone at least one year, or 12 months, without a period.
“Menopause means different things to different people. The average experience begins with sleep disturbances, hot flashes, night sweats, and cessation of periods,” Cedars-Sinai Medical Center OB/GYN and oncologist Dr. Bobbie J. Rimel explained in a previous interview with SurvivorNet.
Menopause is diagnosed when a woman is in her 40s or 50s. However, the average age of menopause in the United States is 51 years old. Women who have gone through cancer are sometimes thrown into early menopause as a side effect from their treatment.
Some women experience intense symptoms during menopause:
- Hot flashes
- Problems with sleeping
- Bone thinning
- Pain during sex
As a result, doctors may prescribe hormone replacement therapy, which controls the levels of estrogen and progesterone in a woman’s body.
HRT-Related Cancer Risks
A 2019 analysis of 26 studies that include more than 4 million women found a correlation between HRT and ovarian cancer incidence for women in the United States and Europe.
The correlation was highest in two subtypes (epithelial-stromal and endometrioid ovarian tumors). However, the association couldn’t be reproduced in women in other parts of the world.
It’s important to note that HRT is sometimes part of ovarian cancer treatment after a woman has removed her ovaries.
“There is actually some data that suggests improved survival with HRT given to ovarian cancer patients after diagnosis,” Dr. Rimel shared.
The Importance of Listening to Your Body
“Hormone replacement therapy for women in menopause whose ovaries have stopped functioning is designed to help them deal with the symptoms of menopause. Hot flashes, night sweats, cognitive changes, bone health, vaginal dryness, libido all those things that you want to prevent that drama,” Dr. Rimel continued, adding that additional risks are involved when women go beyond the recommended limits for hormone replacement therapy.
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