PHOTOS'The Real' Star Tamera Mowry Reveals She Feared She Was Going Through Early Menopause
Tamera Mowry is opening up about a health scare. On Friday, October 4, The Real cohost and mom of two recalled the time she believed she was experiencing early menopause.
During the "Girl Talk" segment, Tamera, 41, and her cohosts were discussing whether or not menopausal women should be allowed time off from work, the Sister, Sister star opened up about her brush with the condition.
“I will tell you, hot flashes, they are not fun though,” she said. “I've had a real one. My hormones were kind of balancing out after I stopped nursing daughter Ariah. I thought I was having early menopause.”
“And it’s not like you’re just ‘hot,’” she continued. “No it comes on you and it literally feels like flames from the inside, and you’re in a furnace. You don't know when it's going to come on. And sometimes it can linger on for a really long time. And you’re like ‘what the hell is happening?’”
According to WomensHealth.gov, early menopause begins before the age of 40 — the average age of menopause is 52. Symptoms of the condition include: hot flashes, trouble sleeping, vaginal dryness, and irregular periods.
Though there is no clear reason for the condition to begin prematurely, research shows it can be caused by family history, chemo and/or radiation treatment for cancer, surgical removal of the ovaries or uterus, and health conditions including autoimmune diseases, chronic fatigue syndrome and HIV/AIDs.
Tamera is mom to daughter Ariah, 4, and 6-year-old son Aden. She shares both kids with husband Adam Housley. Though the Seventeen Again star hasn't actually reached menopause, she has previously shared on the show that she has no plans for any more children.
“It took me a while to get to this place, but I had once said that I wasn’t done having kids," she said at the time. "And that I might be open to adopt or anything like that. But I have to say, now, I’m done. I think I’m done."
“There’s always a part of you, as a mom…you’re like thinking, ‘Wonder what the third one is going to look like,’ or whatever,” she continued. “But now that my kids are older, I’m in the nitty-gritty. It’s called parenting. So I have two souls looking at me and I want to make sure I give them all my attention. I know that I can only be the best wife and the best parent with two."
