‘It really reminded me of when I was using’: Davina McCall, 52, compares going through the menopause to her past drug addiction
Davina McCall has spoken about how menopause reminded her of when she was abusing drugs.
The presenter, 52, who is a reformed addict, said the symptoms gave vivid flashbacks to the dark period in her life as she experienced menopause aged 44.
Talking to Loose Women on Monday, Davina said: ‘Obviously I’m a reformed addict and I was waking up soaked in sweat, having to put towels on the bed.
Scared: Davina McCall has spoken about how menopause reminded her of when she was abusing drugs
‘I was thinking, “There’s something wrong with me, I’ve got the flu or a virus or something”.’
Davina continued: ‘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.”
Hormones: The presenter, 52, who is a reformed addict, said the symptoms gave vivid flashbacks as she experienced menopause aged 44 (pictured 1994)
Confused: Talking to Loose Women on Monday, Davina said: ‘Obviously I’m a reformed addict and I was waking up soaked in sweat, having to put towels on the bed’
‘My keys were in the fridge, my phone was in the bin, my libido was through the floor. It was just a nightmare.
‘The symptoms were few and far between. My periods were regular, but sometimes they were a bit longer, sometimes a bit shorter.
‘I didn’t think I could have it so early… but actually it’s the perimenopause.’
All over the place: Davina continued: ‘It really reminded me of when I was using and I really hated it… and mood swings, shouting at the kids’
Horrible: ‘My keys were in the fridge, my phone was in the bin, my libido was through the floor. It was just a nightmare’
Davina said taking Hormone Replacement Therapy has helped her get through it.
‘The health benefits for me way outweighed the negatives. I’ve got dementia running in my family, it massively reduces that, reduces diabetes and it reduces the risk of heart disease by 50 per cent,’ she said.
Davina split from from husband Matthew Robertson in 2017 after 17 years together, and is now dating her longtime friend Michael Douglas.
In shape: The former Big Brother host previously said she was still ‘vulnerable and fragile,’ during her 20s, but after reaching her 50s she feels better than ever
She is mother to Holly, 18, Tilly, 16 and Chester, 13, from her former marriage.
Davina, who has been clean for more than 25 years, previously discussed her battle with addiction.
The former Big Brother revealed that after smoking cannabis at a young age she became addicted to heroine.
The star recalled the complicated relationship she had with her alcoholic mother Florence, adding that she started partying as a teenager as she didn’t have any matriarchal figure to turn to.
Davina said that she spiralled into a drug addiction, which at its worst led to her hospitalisation.
Speaking at an International Women’s Day event as reported by The Sun, she said: ‘It was very frightening as it was a very gradual overdose. I’d had a cocktail of drugs, because I didn’t want to feel normal.
‘I was constantly trying to escape myself — I was like a piece of fruit rotting from the inside.
‘So then I thought, ‘Well, I’ll just take a valium’, and the next thing I knew I woke up in hospital. At my lowest point, when I was filled with self hatred, it was literally a case of ”get clean, or die”.’
Davina added it was her best friend, dad and stepmother that helped her see sense, and she enrolled in Narcotics Anonymous.
Within a year of her overdose Davina was clean of drugs, and the star said she still occasionally attends meetings and therapy sessions to keep her on the right track.
Loose Women is on weekdays from 12:30pm on ITV.
Help: Davina said taking Hormone Replacement Therapy has helped her get through it
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