Davina Mccall felt 'great shame' around this part of menopause
Davina McCall has spoken candidly about her menopause experience in the past, admitting during a recent Loose Women recording that she started going through the perimenopause eight years ago – but did not know what was happening at first and thought she was ill.
'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...' she told the daytime TV panel.
And the idea of shame around menopause is a topic that the 52-year-old went into depth about when she spoke with Lorraine Kelly, Liz Earle and Doctor Louise Newson as part of a pre-recorded video chat for World Menopause Day (Sunday 18 October).
To help raise awareness and educate as many women (and men) as possible, Davina is hosting a free one-day live event via her Facebook page Own Your Own Goals Davina on Sunday, which will feature talks and advice, along with a series of symptom-specific workouts by personal trainers.
The full discussion, which will be released this Sunday, sees Davina admit to the other women that she felt 'shame' around taking HRT.
'My big stumbling block was the shame around HRT,' she explains. 'Here I was clean — I don't drink or take drugs as I had a drug problem — and I try not to even take too many Nurofen. And I felt this great shame around taking drugs to stop [menopause symptoms].'
She went on to say it 'felt like vanity': '[It felt as though] I was chasing youth, that I was weak because other friends of mine wanted to battle on through but I was falling apart.'
Finally, the TV host sought private healthcare advice in order to find some sort of solace, something she says is 'so frustrating', as many women won't have the financial ability to seek more expensive support routes.
However, for Davina, it gave her the reassurance and the action plan she was so desperately searching for.
'The relief when I did find someone who said "go on HRT" and then explained to me that there was safe HRT and that the benefits outweigh taking it. The feeling of relief I had made me cry.'
TV host Lorraine Kelly echoed Davina's comments around feeling relief when they finally able to find the right support.
'Oh definitely, you're absolutely right, it's like not wanting to do anything and not having any joy in anything. And sometimes you're really having to dig deep to go on and smile, put some makeup on,' Lorainne said.
'It just made me realise that there are so many women out there that are really, really suffering, and we shouldn't have this crazy stigma around youth — and I do feel that I'm carrying that responsibility to keep banging that drum [about menopause] because it is so, so important.
'I don't want anyone to feel the way [we] felt because it's just not fair.'
To watch the talk in full this coming Sunday, sign up for the OYG Menopause Day Event on Facebook and start your 14 day free trial at ownyourgoalsdavina.com
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