Davina McCall compares menopause symptoms with heroin addiction

Davina McCall has opened up about the menopause, urging women not to underestimate the debilitating symptoms that come with it.

Speaking on daytime show Loose Women, she said she wanted to talk about the menopause because it "was the thing that nobody talked about".

Davina, who recently hosted Boots' Christmas Unwrapped showcase and is a health and beauty inspiration to women all over the world, is very open about her former addition to heroin. The TV presenter had a dependency on both drugs and alcohol in her earlier years, but after coming through the other side, believes that addiction, as well as other previously 'controversial' topics like the menopause should be discussed openly.

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She told panellists on Loose Women earlier this week, "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 any more and we can go off and be a bit selfish after being selfless for so long."

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She also added, "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."

Davina also discussed the benefits of HRT and how, for her, the positives outweigh the negatives.

"The health benefits for me way outweighed the negatives," she told the Loose Women.

"I've got dementia running in my family, it massively reduces that, reduces diabetes and it reduces the risk of heart disease by 50%."