Davina McCall - Menopausing: The Positive Roadmap to Your Second Spring

BY DAVINA McCALL

WITH DR NAOMI POTTER

HQ

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2022

Text Copyright Davina McCall 2022

Davina McCall asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Hardback ISBN: 9780008517786

eBook ISBN: 9780008517793

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While the author of this work has made every effort to ensure that the information contained in this book is as accurate and up-to-date as possible at the time of publication, medical knowledge is constantly changing and the application of it to particular circumstances depends on many factors. Therefore, it is recommended that readers always consult a qualified medical specialist for individual advice. This book should not be used as an alternative to seeking specialist medical advice which should be sought before any action is taken. The author and publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors and omissions that may be found in the text, or any actions that may be taken by a reader as a result of any reliance on the information contained in the text which is taken entirely at the readers own risk.

Menopausing is more than just a book, its a movement. An UPRISING.

I dont know about you, but its quite weird because I can literally pinpoint the first moment when I think my perimenopausal symptoms started.

Its a bit like when a huge, famous event happens, like the death of Princess Diana or Barack Obama becoming President of the United States; I just remember where I was, what I was doing, what I was wearing, what my hair was like everything about that moment.

I was forty-four when it started. I remember because it was so WEIRD. The best way I can describe it and Ive heard other women describe it like this, too is that I just lost something of myself. I changed. I couldnt quite pinpoint how Id changed, but Id definitely changed. I didnt feel myself.

It was back in 2012 and I was on a Garnier shoot in Prague, working with this amazing director who was asking me to really release my inner beast and be very free with all my movements. I remember feeling more self-conscious and awkward than I would normally and wondering why that was. And each night, when I went to bed I was there for maybe three nights, in a really nice hotel the sheets were all lovely and crisp and Id wake up in the middle of the night and they would be soaking. In the little dent in my neck thered be a pool of water and Id be shivering from being cold, because Id got so hot, then wet, then cold, and Id have to get up and change the sheets.

I found this particularly horrible because I was a heroin addict a very long time ago, in my early twenties, and the last time Id sweated like that was when I was using, when I was basically going through cold turkey. I felt SO revolting. With losing all of that sweat and everything, I felt my entire body had turned into a prune, too. My legs were suddenly super-dry when I got out of the shower. My skin was so different; it looked a bit crepe-y and I had to pour moisturiser onto it. I felt as if something changed with my hair, too. And it felt like it had all happened overnight.

Part of me was just thinking, God, maybe Im ill, maybe theres something going on, maybe Im out of kilter, maybe Im not eating properly, maybe Ive got some kind of virus? At the time, it didnt cross my mind that the sweats were a symptom of perimenopause.

But what was interesting about my perimenopausal symptoms was that they just came and went, a bit like my monthly cycle. It seemed very random.

I didnt have night sweats every night; it was only at certain times during the month. But the other things the suddenly feeling old, the groaning when I put on my socks, the sensation of my body feeling tired, my mood swings they felt more constant. It didnt feel like PMS (premenstrual syndrome), it felt like something else. But I didnt know what that was.

One of the worst symptoms was vaginal dryness, which is a miserable, horrible symptom so much so that I have a whole chapter devoted to it later in the book. I was sore when wiping myself after a wee, with no natural lube to stop the chafing of the loo roll TMI? Get used to it. This book is going to be full of it.

Then there was the forgetfulness: my phone was in the fridge, my keys ended up in the bin. This reached really really frightening levels, I forgot EVERYTHING. Words, names, events everything!

I think what frightened me most was what happened to my brain, because I work in a job where I wear many different hats for many different TV shows, and I am expected to bring a different kind of energy to each show. And I did a LOT of live television at that time. I remember doing a live TV programme and talking to the contestants, and occasionally looking at them and thinking, I cant remember your name. Then thinking to myself, what was their name? And I dont know if any of you can relate to this, but it wasnt like something where you just follow the normal neural pathways to remember a memory, when I was looking for this name in my brain, there was nothing there. I literally couldnt think of ANYTHING.

The complete brain fog I put down to sleep deprivation. I thought, well, Im just not getting enough sleep, thats why I cant think straight. And the way that I was behaving at home was, when I look back at it, unacceptable. I was just always a bit angry. A bit short-tempered, a bit slow, a bit eurgh. Id lost my love of life.

Anyway

I cant just finish that with anyway. And actually, I cant just anyway away that time either. That was quite a long period of my life and I wish Id known, properly, what symptoms to look out for. I wish that someone that Id worked with had noticed. I wish Id learned about it in school so I knew what was coming. I wish that an elder stateswoman had spoken to me about her experience so I could flag up when I was experiencing those things myself.

Because now we know that modern hormone replacement therapy (HRT), modern transdermal HRT (which means it is absorbed through the skin), is largely safe and, in fact, in many ways and Ill explain this in the book good for us. I didnt know that, and because of that I lost time in my life. I have spoken to many women in the last year, one of whom had lost nine years of her life fighting to get HRT. Nine years! Then when she got on it, four days later: fine. Thats what weve got to stop.