Davina McCall didn't know was happening when she started to experience symptoms of the menopause.
Davina McCall
The 52-year-old TV presenter started going through perimenopause eight years ago, at 44, but Davina has admitted she was caught off guard by the symptoms.
She shared: "Nobody told me about it. I hadn’t learned about it at school, from my mum or my big sister. It was the thing nobody talked about it. There was so much shame about it.
"It was a sign you’d dried up, you were past your sell by date, you were at the end of your life, which in Victorian days, I suppose you were … But now we live until we’re 80, we’re right in the middle of our lives.
"This is where the good bit happens where we know we’re not going to have kids anymore and we can go off and be a bit selfish after being selfless for so long."
Davina had no idea what was going on when she started experiencing symptoms, such as night sweats and mood swings.
The presenter - who battled a drug problem in her twenties - told 'Loose Women': "Obviously I’m a reformed addict and I was waking up soaked in sweat, having to put towels on the bed, thinking, ‘There’s something wrong with me, I’ve got the flu or a virus or something'.
"It really reminded me of when I was using and I really hated it … and mood swings, shouting at the kids. I’m not a shouty mother at all and then I’d end up crying in the car, apologising to the children, going, ‘I’m really sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.’
"My keys were in the fridge, my phone was in the bin, my libido was through the floor. It was just a nightmare."
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