Lisa Ray opens up on chemotherapy’s impact; reveals she entered menopause at 37
Actress Lisa Ray has shared a deeply personal account of how chemotherapy altered her body, revealing that she entered menopause at the age of 37.In a recent Instagram post, the Four More Shots Please star reflected on the physical and emotional consequences of her cancer treatment, the years she spent adapting without full understanding, and her decision to co-found a platform dedicated to women’s midlife health.
Early menopause after cancer treatment
Lisa Ray was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare and incurable form of blood cancer that affects plasma cells, in 2009. The intensive chemotherapy she underwent as part of her treatment pushed her body into menopause far earlier than expected. In her post, she wrote, “I went into menopause at 37. Chemotherapy pushed my body across that threshold, and I found with very little understanding of what was happening For years, I did what so many women do: I adapted. I was. But survival and wellbeing are not the same thing. The deeper I go into women’s midlife health, the more astonished I am by how much we still don’t know. It feels like opening Pandora’s box except this is one box I’m very glad we’ve finally opened.”The actress explained that like many women, she spent years managing the changes rather than fully understanding their impact on her overall wellbeing. Survival, she emphasised, is not the same as wellbeing. Her experience of early menopause, triggered by cancer treatment, left her navigating symptoms and shifts in her body with limited information or support at the time.
The silence around menopause
Lisa Ray highlighted that the silence surrounding menopause can be almost as difficult to deal with as the physical symptoms themselves. She pointed to a 2025 Indian study that surveyed more than 32,000 women from under-resourced communities. The findings revealed a widespread lack of awareness: half of the women surveyed were unaware of the effects of menopause, while 62 per cent did not know that treatment options were available. “My own experience taught me something else: the silence can be almost as difficult to navigate as the symptoms. And we are finally waking up to the scale of it. A 2025 Indian study surveyed more than 32,000 women from under-resourced communities. Half were unaware of the effects of menopause. 62% were unaware that treatment was available. This is an epidemic of silence and inadequate care that we are only now waking up to,” she wrote.She described the current moment as one where conversations are finally growing louder. Research is expanding, and women are beginning to ask better questions instead of accepting midlife changes as something to be endured quietly. The actress noted that the gap in knowledge and care around menopause remains significant, particularly in communities with limited access to specialised healthcare. The personal impact of that silence eventually led Lisa Ray to take action. She co-founded a platform focused on women’s midlife and hormonal health. “That silence stayed with me. And eventually, it became part of the reason I co-founded @nuher.me I wanted to help build what I couldn’t find at 37: a place dedicated to women’s midlife and hormonal health. Through NuHer, and through the growing community of menopause-informed specialists doing this work, I believe we can change what midlife healthcare looks like for women,” she shared.She outlined a shift she hopes to see in how women’s health is approached: from “It’s your age” to “Let’s understand what’s happening”; from “Learn to live with it” to “Let’s look at the evidence and your individual health story”; and from suffering quietly to knowing that options and support exist. “Because women deserve more than endurance as a healthcare strategy. Research is growing. Conversations are getting louder. Women are asking better questions and refusing to disappear quietly into midlife,” she concluded.
