Lorraine Kelly Admits Confusion Over Starting The Menopause, And How It Left Her Feeling 'Flat'

As the chipper, morning TV presenter we've all got used to waking up to, it's unusual to find Lorraine Kelly in anything less than a happy mood. But when she began her menopause just one year ago, she confessed that she was anything but. In fact, the popular TV star has admitted that the only word to describe how she felt was "flat".

Speaking to the Daily Mail, she said, "Some women sail through it, don't they? My mum did. She was fine. My friend Joyce sailed through. Maybe I assumed I would too."

But clearly, it didn't happen that way for Lorraine. Describing how she felt when she realised that the transition was coming on, at the age of 56, she said, "Flat, that's it. It was at Easter 2016 and I was on holiday with my husband Steve.

"We were in Spain, and I couldn't understand why I felt flat. I mean really flat. There was no reason for it.

"I wasn't depressed exactly, but there was a sense of not seeing the joy in anything. I'd lost my mojo. It's like when you're pregnant and you find yourself sobbing at adverts. And I was tired. I mean, bone-tired. I couldn't understand it."

Lorraine has previously confessed how her feelings then lead her to speak to Dr Hillary - her show's resident doctor, and close friend in real life too.

She was advised to start taking HRT patches, and began to feel better. But Lorriane was surprised when, just a few weeks after, she started experiencing the same, despondent moods she'd had before once again.

She explains how she attempted to lift herself out of the low mood, saying, "I had a word with myself. I told myself, ‘Hang on, you're in a great place here. You're with Steve. You have a great family, great job, great friends, you're in a great place in every sense. Everything is fine.' But it wasn't."

It turns out, that she simply need to up her dosage of HRT to get her back on track.

In the interview, Lorraine also revealed how maddening she thinks it is that the menopause is still somewhat of a taboo, and not widely spoken about between older women.

"It's ridiculous isn't it? It's the last taboo. We still don't talk about it, even with our own girlfriends. I mean, it was madness that it didn't even occur to me that the menopause was to blame.

"I think it's changing. I know we had Carol Vorderman on the show a while back. She went through a terrible time, just terrible. I wasn't nearly as bad."

On the show,Carol admitted that she experienced depression whilst going through her menopause. She told Lorraine, "I don't use the word depression lightly. This was a blackness where I would wake up and nothing else in my life was going wrong, and I would think I don't see the point in carrying on... and there was no reason to do that."

And for Lorraine, this candid admission lead her to realise how much women still need to open up about their experiences.

"But I think it did bring home to me how women need to talk about it, and not just sit at home wondering what's wrong with them, getting depressed. It's natural!"

Lorraine has also opened up about her experiences in a candid new segment on her show, called The M Word, which aired during Monday's episode.