Selma Blair and Constance Zimmer talk about aging, menopause and women’s health

Selma Blair felt like she was being gaslit from the time she was a teenager. Constance Zimmer was shocked by the extent to which she didn’t know what to expect about her health after turning 50. The common thread for both actors after facing physical challenges was the realization that women need to demand more from the medical establishment.

Blair and Zimmer spoke about their experiences as part of the Flow Space Women’s Health Summit, held in Los Angeles on October 9. Blair discussed her lifelong battle with pain, fatigue and neurological problems that were not diagnosed as multiple sclerosis until she was 40 in 2018. Zimmer appeared with writer and podcaster Heidi Clements in a session about the couple’s initiative to educate women about the physical and emotional changes that come with it. perimenopause and menopause. Both sessions were moderated by Samantha Skey, CEO of SHE Media. (SHE Media en Variety are owned by Penske Media Corp.)

“There’s a movement happening and happening because for the first time in history, women have been empowered to share the shit, instead of constantly trying to pretend everything is great and fantastic and awesome when it’s not,” Zimmer said. “And I think I entered this midlife arena last year where I was kind of catapulted and didn’t even know that I was in menopause or perimenopause. I didn’t even know what the word was.”

Zimmer gradually became outraged by the lack of basic information about what is a universal process for women at an important stage of life. The mystery that still surrounds menopause only adds to the emotional struggles many women face with menopause and the end of their childbearing years.

“Menopause is basically the 366th day that you don’t have a period. And I was like, I’m sorry, what? So what’s after and what’s before,” Zimmer said. “Right now it’s important to use our platforms to share information, not just for ourselves, but for the next generation, because we just have to show that when you come here, you have to be prepared for this time, whereas I think a lot of us haven’t been, and that’s why there’s such an uprising of, why was this kept secret?”

Blair spoke during a separate session that was highly emotional as she described her teenage and young adult years, during which she faced symptoms of multiple sclerosis that were not diagnosed until she was 40. Blair wants to inspire women to push harder for answers to medical issues, given traditional institutional biases.

“In 2018, I was diagnosed with relapsing limiting MS. It turns out I probably had juvenile MS, as my first optic neuritis happened when I was about seven, which left me with lazy eye due to nerve damage. But there are a lot of things I’ve missed my whole life,” Blair said.

The diagnosis was relief after a lifetime of unexplained pain and fatigue that doctors often dismissed as “growing pains” or related to menstrual problems.

“As a kid, I had CAT scans, doctor visits, and hospital stays for weeks at a time,” Blair recalls. “I had a fever, I had pain, endless, bone-crushing fatigue that I still have. And my mom would say, why can’t you give her an MRI? And they’re like, ‘Oh, she doesn’t need it. She’s probably getting her period.’ But then a boy in my class came in with a headache and the first thing they did was give him an MRI. Now, it’s not wrong that they do that for him, but it’s like, what? Because I looked good even though I had a headache all the time.

Blair has spoken out about her medical situation in recent years. She had no idea of ​​the power of the response her candor would evoke.

“I just put it on my Instagram to thank people on set who helped me stay on task because I couldn’t use my hands properly or take off my clothes. I still suffer from dystonia and speech and movement sometimes, even though I’m relapse free now,” Blair said. “But when I posted, I saw that there was a whole world out there that felt seen or was part of being seen, or could relate to someone with chronic health conditions. I realized that was a comfort to a lot of people. And there weren’t many resources about MS at the time. There was so much I had to learn. I’m still learning as I live with it, but I could see that it was much bigger than me. And then I felt like sharing it. It felt good. It felt good knowing that people felt some comfort.

Zimmer and Clements, a well-known voice on women and aging, recently launched a podcast called “Talk Fifty to Me.” Zimmer said her experience transitioning into her 50s contradicts the stereotype that women of a certain age tend to become invisible in a world that revolves around men and young people.

“I would say I haven’t felt invisible. I have actually felt stronger than ever before, and those are the stories that people don’t talk about because we can all choose to become invisible because we don’t have the information or the tools to use to our advantage,” Zimmer said. “But when you get those tools, everyone’s talking about menopause, HRT, or whatever you have to do to get yourself to a place where you feel full, whether it’s hormones or not, then you’re putting your best foot forward, right? But women, even five years ago, weren’t given that permission to talk about this. That’s why the 1950s became invisible, because no one knew what the fuck was going on, and everyone thought they were crazy, and no one wanted to see them listen. But now people are listening.”

(Photo above: Selma Blair and Samantha Skey)