‘I thought it was some kind of dementia’: Davina McCall, 53, details the ‘brain fog’ she suffered with the menopause and admits she feared she would lose her job as a result
Davina McCall has compared her menopausal brain fog to ‘some kind of dementia’ and admitted that she feared she would lose her job as a result.
The presenter, 53, told The Sun how she struggled mentally in lockdown, however added that she’s now feeling the most positive she has for a long time
Speaking about her experience with the menopause, Davina recalled how she’s suffered with not getting enough sleep, night sweats and hot flushes.
‘I thought it was some kind of dementia’: Davina McCall revealed to The Sun the horrendous brain fog she suffered with the menopause – and feared she would lose her job as a result (pictured above in 2019)
Davina admitted that she was unaware of how much the body requires hormones and detailed her sleepless nights.
‘And the brain fog… I remember sitting on the drive and looking at some grass, thinking: “What’s the word for that?” I thought it was some kind of dementia,’ the former Big Brother host recalled.
Explaining how she turned things around, Davina explained that it was hormone replacement therapy (HRT) that ‘brought her back’, after the menopause began to impact her work to the extent she feared she would lose her job.
Tough time: It was hormone replacement therapy (HRT) that ‘brought Davina back’ after the menopause began to impact her work to the extent she feared she would lose her job
Elsewhere in the interview, Davina revealed that she’s feeling positive about the future and is excited about being able to take jobs she hasn’t been able to accept while her children were younger. Davina is mum to Holly, 19, Tilly, 17, and Chester, 14.
The mother-of-three also added that she’s feeling more confident as she gets older after doing ‘lots of work’ during her 30s following her 20s where she ‘hated’ herself.
She said: ‘I did a lot of work on myself emotionally and physically… but it was still an ongoing battle.
‘Then being a mum and feeling like a cow with two enormous great big udders… Now I feel… better than I have done in years, because I was perimenopausal for a long time before that.’
Saving grace: Davina branded social media her ‘saviour’ during the past 18 months but admitted she attempts to avoid anything ‘contentious’ (pictured above in 2018)
The fitness advocate, who regularly does home workouts and spin classes, managed to keep busy during lockdown.
She regularly checked in with her hairdresser pal Michael Douglas, 47, via Zoom to record their podcast Making The Cut.
Davina was also able to work on her other projects – The Masked Singer and Long Lost Family – during the lockdown.
While back in May, Davina’s Channel 4 documentary was released, with the TV host being lauded by viewers after admitting she felt ‘all washed up’ going through the menopause.
Raising awareness: The presenter appeared in a one-off special Davina McCall, Sex, Myths and Menopause exploring the hidden struggles millions of women go through back in May
WHAT IS THE MENOPAUSE AND HOW CAN YOU DELAY IT?
Menopause is defined as the changes a woman goes through just before and after she stops her periods and is no longer able to get pregnant naturally.
Some women go through this time with few, if any, symptoms, around 60 percent experience symptoms resulting in behavioural changes and one in four will suffer severely.
Common symptoms include hot flushes, night sweats, vaginal dryness leading to discomfort during sex, disrupted sleep, decreased sex drive, problems with memory and concentration and mood swings.
Last year, a fertility doctor revealed women can delay the menopause by up to 20 years with a 30-minute operation that tricks their biological clocks into thinking they are much younger than they are.
The surgical procedure, devised by the fertility expert who pioneered IVF, sees tissue from the ovaries, thawed, and then transplanted back into the armpit.
It also has the potential to extend fertility – though doctors say the aim is to postpone the menopause rather than give women the chance to have babies into their 60s.
Ovarian grafting, or ovarian tissue cyropreservation, involves taking healthy tissue from a woman’s ovaries to delay the onset of menopause.
The 30-minute operation, available privately in the UK, sees a surgeon take healthy cells from the woman’s ovary and freeze them in conditions of -150C.
Whenever the patient wants, they can be thawed and reinserted through the armpit.
When the ovarian tissue starts to function it produces hormones that prevent menopause from happening.
The presenter appeared in a one-off special Davina McCall, Sex, Myths and Menopause exploring the hidden struggles millions of women go through, earning praise from fans for shining a light on the taboo issue.
During the documentary Davina, who now takes HRT to help manage her symptoms, explained she was ‘angry’ to learn she was perimenopausal at the age of just 44, as the documentary also saw her explore the controversial treatment.
Davina detailed her own experience with the menopause in the opening scenes of the documentary.
She said: ‘It was January 2021. I was on a photoshoot in Prague and one night struggled to get to sleep. The day after, I felt like I’d aged 10 years overnight.’
‘I got such a bad hot flush in a makeup chair one day I actually asked the makeup lady if the chair was heated and they looked at me like I was really weird.’
‘And then I got in touch with some real shame around it and I felt embarrassed. I felt quite washed up I think and unable to talk to anyone about it,’ she said.
‘First I was frustrated, then I was tearful and then I was angry.’
Judge: The fitness advocate, who regularly does home workouts and spin classes, managed to keep busy during lockdown, including appearing on The Masked Singer
Davina later added that she attempted to manage her symptoms with herbal treatments and exercise, but soon found it wouldn’t be enough.
The star then revealed that she decided to begin taking Hormone Replacement Therapy through a translucent patch, but originally kept it a secret from her friends.
She explained: ‘Two years ago I wouldn’t have told you that for starters and I lied to my friends, I told them I wasn’t on it when I was on it.’
As well as investigating many of the misconceptions around HRT, after a 2002 study sparked fears it could be increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer, Davina spoke to various women who spent months trying to get the right treatment.
The programme sought to address various stereotypes around the menopause, including the idea that it could stop women from having an orgasm during sex.
Following the documentary, viewers flooded social media with praise for Davina and Channel 4 bosses for helping to eliminate the taboos and myths surrounding the menopause with the hard-hitting documentary.
Keeping in touch: The presenter also regularly checked in with her hairdresser pal Michael Douglas, 47, via Zoom during the time the country was locked down
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