How Heart Palpitations Led Oprah to Discover She Was Approaching Menopause

For two years I didn't sleep well. Never a full night. No peace. Restlessness and heart palpitations were my steady companions at nightfall. This was back when I was 48 to 50. I went to see a cardiologist. Took medication. Wore a heart monitor for weeks. And then one day, walking through the offices of The Oprah Winfrey Show, I picked up a copy of The Wisdom of Menopause, Dr. Christiane Northrup's book, and the pages fell open to the heading "Palpitations: Your Heart's Wake-Up Call." I took it as a sign.

Contained in that book was the answer I'd been going doctor to doctor trying to figure out. Heart palpitations and sleeplessness were indications that The Change was coming. But no one, including my trusted doctors, had warned me, and when my symptoms showed up, we looked for the most dire explanation—heart disease—instead of the most likely.

I did multiple shows about my discovery, because at the time, almost no one was talking about menopause. Until that point in my adult life, I don't recall one serious conversation with another woman about what to expect. Sure, I'd heard about hot flashes. But I wasn't prepared for palpitations. And, after my menstrual cycle stopped for good, at 53, I wasn't prepared to have such difficulty concentrating. Reading, my favorite pastime, became a chore. Suddenly my attitude toward most things was "whatever." I wasn't vibrant. My whole world dulled down a couple of notches.

Read the full story here: Oprah Reveals How Heart Palpitations Led Her to Discover She Was Approaching Menopause