Drew Barrymore Reveals One Thing That's Off-Limits On Dates So She Doesn't Come Off As A 'Dusty, Old, Dry Thing'

Drew Barrymore shared the one topic that's off limits on her dates.

Discussing her dating life during an Oprah Dailey panel published Wednesday, April 5, the actress admitted she didn't feel comfortable discussing her perimenopause journey with potential suitors.

"There’s something in that stigma that I don’t want you to think I’m some dusty, old, dry thing. That’s not the image I want," the 48-year-old candidly said, noting that while she's "very confident" and wants to accept this stage of her life, she doesn't want the men she dates to unfairly judge her for her hormonal changes.

“I want to be who I am and present myself. But in that moment, I thought, ‘I have to tell this story’ because it was a real life experience of, I’m so proud to be here. I’m an open book," Barrymore told Oprah Winfrey, Maria Shriver and others. "But in that one moment, I was like, ‘I don’t want to say what it is, because I’m engaging in someone who I want to see me a certain way.'”

Barrymore then called for a change in the stigma surrounding menopause. "You’re just that dry, old bag when you talk about menopause," she pointed out. "And that is the conversation. The stigma that has to change. We have to make it funnier, more sexy and more safe. Because the ‘aha’ moment is the safe.”

Though Barrymore wants to keep her perimenopause — a biological process that marks the end of a woman’s menstrual cycle with side effects including hot flashes, mood shifts, decreased fertility and loss of sexual appetite — out of conversations on dates, it seems she has no problem talking about it with the public.

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Just last week, Barrymore addressed one of the side effects she was experiencing while interviewing Murder Mystery 2 costars Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler on The Drew Barrymore Show.

“I’m so hot,” the 50 First Dates star said while taking off her blazer and fanning herself. “I think I’m having one of my first perimenopause hot flashes.”

Proving to be a true friend, the Friends alum, 54, helped Barrymore adjust her mic and get situated as she tried to cool down.

"For the first time, I think I'm having my first hot flash," the Charlie's Angels actress revealed, to which Aniston replied, "Aw, I feel so honored."