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  1. People.com
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  3. 16 Stars Who Got Real AF About Their Periods, PMS & Everything In Between

16 Stars Who Got Real AF About Their Periods, PMS & Everything In Between

These ladies are telling it like it is
By Lydia Price
February 21, 2019 11:31 AM
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Dakota Johnson

Credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Splash News Online

The Suspiria star recently opened up about her always-brutal experience with periods. "If I'm honest, my hormonal changes during my menstrual cycle are ruining my life," she told InStyle. "Every month. It's unbelievable. It's really f---ing amazing. I can't get a grip on it. I'm like, what? Every time, I'm totally scandalized about what happens to my body and my brain. My boobs are like eight times the size they normally are. It's really a traumatic thing, and it happens every month."

Johnson went on to reveal that her years-long struggle with her cycle and finding the right birth control inspired her to work with Global Citizen to advocate for reproductive education. "I really would like to understand and be able to manage things a little better, know what's happening in my body, and know what I'm putting into it," she said.

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Sophie Turner

Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO

In August 2018, the Game of Thrones star was photographed crying while out in N.Y.C. with fiancé Joe Jonas. She later revealed the reason why she was so upset on Twitter, and pretty much every girl could relate.

"Lol. Thank god I have a loving fiancé. Periods are a bitch," she wrote.

In response, a user tweeted, "Are you telling [us] that you start crying till your face is burnin’ red bc you have ur period? Even when you know paparazzis are behind you? Next joke, please."

"Girl … You've never had cramps?" the actress shot back.

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Dove Cameron

Credit: Noam Galai/Getty Images for Beautycon

"I used to be really shy [about my period]," Cameron shared in a video for Seventeen. "I think I didn't even tell my mom when I started my first period, because I was shy. Like, that's how shy I used to be. I didn't tell anybody."

"I used to spend my allowance on tampons," she added. "I just didn't want to talk to anybody about my body … If I could go back and tell myself that it was okay [to talk about my period], I would go back and tell myself that was okay."

These days, the Descendants actress is completely comfortable being candid about her menstrual cycle. "I'm totally open about it now," she said. "It's actually super cool to get your period. I always get so stoked. My boyfriend's like, 'You're a woman, that's awesome.' I'm like, 'I know, it's pretty great.'"

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Madison Beer

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Beer dealt with an unfortunate leakage situation when she arrived at her first Justin Bieber concert.

"We pulled up to general admission. In front of like 30 girls, this one girl was like, 'You're bleeding, are you okay?'" she recalled in a video for Seventeen. "So I look down, and I was in these little black shorts, and I looked at my mom and I literally started crying and I ran to the bathroom."

"But I was in the general admission area, which means you can't just walk in, you have to wait in line. So the bathroom I went to was literally an entrance to the artist area backstage," the singer continued. "I'm knocking and this woman came to the door and I was like, 'Ma'am I just got my period ... can you please let me in. I don't know what to do. My mom doesn't have any tampons, please help me!' She was the sweetest old woman… she let me in and gave me a pad."

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Amy Schumer

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Schumer's brother, Jason Stein, took it upon himself to share her first period story on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

"I was in the Jewish Junior Olympics playing basketball," he recalled. “We were warming up before the game, shooting layups, and I see my sister on the side of the court running out with her arms open at me. I was like, 'Amy! What's going on?' She ran up to me, gave me a big hug, and whispered in my ear, 'Jas, I just got my period!'"

"Just so you guys know, that was the first time I got it. I wasn't just going up to tell him about any old period," Schumer clarified. (Not that she's shy - at the Emmys in 2016, she declared that she was wearing "Vivienne Westwood and an O.B. tampon.")

While on the subject, the star recounted being startled after asking a group of women for a tampon at a recent photo shoot. "The girl goes, in front of the whole room, 'What size?' I'm like, I know there's different sizes of tampons, obviously, but nobody's ever confronted me," Schumer shared. "Like, 'What's the circumference of your — you're a big hole, a little hole? How big is the hole in your body?’"

While talking to InStyle, the comedian also revealed that she contends with serious PMS. “I need a lot of alone time. Right now I'm getting my period, and I just don't like [my boyfriend], you know? My PMS is no joke … And it’s directed only toward him, but instead of being in denial about that, we try to work with it. Tonight's vibe is 'I don't want you to even look at me or talk to me,' and ... he's understanding. He's too good about it. It actually annoys me."

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Lena Dunham

Credit: FilmMagic/FilmMagic for HBO

Dunham, who has long been open about her struggle with endometriosis, told her Instagram followers that she experienced a 13-day-long period in January 2018. "When paparazzi follows you but you're not even mad cuz you love your look and the chance to show off the leather skirt Jemima lent you and anyway, you've had your period for 13 days and the inauguration is in 10 so this is the least of your f---ing problems #bleedforthis," she captioned a photo.

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Demi Lovato

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Lovato's family was a little too excited about menstruation for her liking. "I told my mom and my sister [when I got my first period]… and they actually embarrassed me so bad," she told PEOPLE in 2015. "My sister folded a poster board in half and made a card out of it and drew pictures, and it said, 'Happy Period Day!' And she drew stick figures and kisses, and she used red markers … I have a pretty good sense of humor, so on one hand, I was totally embarrassed, and on the other, I thought it was awesome."

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Kate Winslet

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In her 1998 Rolling Stone interview, Winslet opened up about being on her period while filming Titanic. "There were days when you'd just think, 'Oh, my God, I've got my period and I can't get in that freezing-cold water today," she said. "I remember standing up and saying to everyone, 'Listen, if it suddenly looks like Jaws, the movie, it's my fault."

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Miley Cyrus

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Cyrus shared her first period story with Marie Claire, revealing that the crimson tide rolled in at the Hannah Montana studio while she was wearing white pants. "It was so embarrassing, but I couldn't leave. And I was crying, begging my mom, 'You're going to have to put the tampon in. I have to be on set,'" she said.

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Chrissy Teigen 

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Teigen lamented her "period skin" on Twitter in July 2017. "This is my skin on my period. Look at it — so angry," she said in a video. It wasn't the first time she mentioned her cycle on social media. "How long before your period do you get to start blaming your period for things? I say 6 days is reasonable, 10 is a ballsy stretch," she pondered in a 2014 tweet.

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Mirai Nagasu

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The Olympic figure skater told Cosmopolitan that her menstrual cycle doesn't tend to affect her performance

"I had my period on the way to the Games," she said of the 2018 competition in Pyeongchang.

"It's really not that big of a deal [to skate on your period]. You just stick a tampon up there," the athlete added. "Periods can induce cramps for me, which I find exercise helps [alleviate]."

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Sarah Silverman

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The comedian shared a poignant "menstrual cycle haiku" on Twitter: "Crime scene in ur pants./ Ain't no man could handle that./ Maybe a marine."

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Aly Raisman

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The Olympic gold medalist told Cosmopolitan about what it's like to get your period while competing as a champion gymnast. "When you're really nervous, you have butterflies in your stomach, and you have your period — it's just not a good combination. You just kind of have to just keep going … You can’t tell the judges you want to compete tomorrow or wait a few days," she said. Raisman also opened up about her intense period pain, saying, "Some months, I literally feel like I can't get out of bed."

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Jennifer Lawrence

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Lawrence shed light on how menstruation can affect red carpet plans while chatting about her gown for the 2016 Golden Globes. "That was my plan-B dress," she told Harper's Bazaar. "Plan A was a dress that I couldn't wear because awards season is synced with my menstrual cycle, and it has been for years. [The dress I wore] was loose at the front. And I didn't have to worry about sucking anything in. The other dress was really tight, and I'm not going to suck in my uterus. I don't have to do that." Preach it.

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Bella Thorne

Credit: Anna Maria Tinghino/Soevermedia/Shutterstock

Thorne recounted the traumatic time a first date was ruined by her unexpected flow during an interview with Hollywood Life.“It was when I first got my period, and I was on a date with my soon-to-be boyfriend. I was wearing a white-colored dress, all white," she shared. "So my mom was like, 'Let's not say anything, I'm just going to take you to Target.' She was like, ‘Oh I just have to get groceries before we go to the movies!'"

Despite their best efforts, Thorne's date eventually figured out what was going down. “I end up getting really upset because he does notice and he's like, 'Oh, it's fine, who cares!' and I was like 'I CARE!' and I started bawling in Target," she said. "Then I changed, and the outfit was ugly, and I was mad because I didn't look good on our date!"

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Mindy Kaling

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In an open letter published in Rookie: Yearbook Two, The Mindy Project star remembered being insecure while waiting for the blood to start flowing as a teen.

"I started menstruating in ninth grade. I spent all of eighth grade faking that I had my period, down to sticking Kotex in my underwear in case anyone needed proof,” she wrote.

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1 of 16 Dakota Johnson
2 of 16 Sophie Turner
3 of 16 Dove Cameron
4 of 16 Madison Beer
5 of 16 Amy Schumer
6 of 16 Lena Dunham
7 of 16 Demi Lovato
8 of 16 Kate Winslet
9 of 16 Miley Cyrus
10 of 16 Chrissy Teigen 
11 of 16 Mirai Nagasu
12 of 16 Sarah Silverman
13 of 16 Aly Raisman
14 of 16 Jennifer Lawrence
15 of 16 Bella Thorne
16 of 16 Mindy Kaling

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16 Stars Who Got Real AF About Their Periods, PMS & Everything In Between
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