Kim Cattrall as Samantha Jones in Sex and the City was one of the first women to talk candidly on TV about previously taboo female experiences, including her healthy and vibrant sex life to her journey through menopause and breast cancer. Like her character, Cattrall is just as passionate about honesty and openness. “Anything that empowers women to look after themselves I’m for,” Cattrall told us at the launch event for Natural Cycle’s Perimenopause program that offers an app that helps track and recognize symptoms and patterns of the often mystifying life stage. We asked Cattrall about all things aging and menopause, and she brought plenty of her candid takes in the name of helping prepare others.
What was the most challenging symptom of perimenopause you experienced?
“Hands down, my insomnia because it was so debilitating for not just my professional life but my personal life as well. And also the confusion of not knowing what it was. I thought, ‘Is it stress-related? Is it dietary? Am I just moving around too much?’ I didn’t know what it was, but then slowly and surely the cause became clear, and I was going to have to learn how to sleep again.
It’s so frustrating as a woman when you don’t know what’s going on, especially when it’s going on inside of you. You know, my mom and her generation just got on with it. They didn’t have a name for it; it was called ‘the change.’ What does that mean? You’re going to change into something? A better you? A worse you? Also realizing that your menopause, even though it’s within your same family, is very different, it’s very individual.”
How did you train yourself to sleep again?
“I went to a cognitive behavior therapist. It took about eight months for me to feel that I was confident enough to go out on my own and continue with what I had learned.”
Crazy question, but were there any silver linings to perimenopause?
“It’s a b***h. It really is a b***h. I can’t say it’s gotten good reviews from very many. You’re just finished with your monthlies, and it’s like, ‘What the hell is this?’ I think the best defense is educating yourself, talking to people who have been through it and picking up any advice that you can, particularly from your own GP.”
You’ll be 70 next year. What is the biggest lesson you learned in your 60s so far?
“Patience and looking back on what I feel I’ve accomplished, and enjoying that success and surrounding myself with people that want the best for me personally and professionally. That sounds like, ‘well, why wouldn’t you, of course,’ but sometimes that’s taken for granted, and I don’t think we should take our girlfriends or our mentors for granted because they’ve been there, and that knowledge, you can’t find in a doctor’s office.”
How did your wellness and beauty routines shift in your 60s?
“It became more about protecting myself—sun protection in particular, since my mom was diagnosed with skin cancer. It was more about taking care and being more aware and doing personal things that when I was younger, I just didn’t take time for. I think that’s where patience comes in.”
What is one thing you’d love to tell readers who have yet to experience menopause?
“I would encourage them to educate themselves and keep a diary. When you read it back, things will be clearer to you. Your body is telling you something very clearly and succinctly, and if you’re not listening, it’s going to get worse. You could really enter perimenopause at any time; there are no set rules, and anyone who says there are is lying. Your priority is you.”
