Sunday 11 September 2022 01:55 AM Davina McCall, 54, compared severe menopause symptoms to 'coming off heroin' trends now
Davina McCall has compared her severe menopause symptoms to 'coming off heroin' as she felt 'revolting' after waking up with a wet pillow.
The TV presenter, 54, who now takes HRT to help manage her symptoms, recalled that suffering with night sweats gave her flashbacks to her days of drug dependency when she was in her 20s.
Davina, who was perimenopause at 44, told The Sun's Fabulous Magazine: 'One of the greatest things about getting clean off heroin was that I never woke up in wet sheets again. It didn't matter how bad life got, it was never as bad as when I was taking heroin.'
Comparison: Davina McCall has compared her severe menopause symptoms to 'coming off heroin' as she felt 'revolting' after waking up with a wet pillow
She explained: 'It's a soggy, sweaty prison. You're in a constant state of either: 'I've got to try and find it,' or: 'I'm weaning myself off it and I feel terrible.'
'When I stopped, I remember waking up in dry sheets for a week in a row and just thinking: 'This is the best feeling in the world.'
Davina was shocked to discover she had a wet bed again: 'So when I woke up on a Garnier shoot in Prague in 2012 with a wet pillow, and the sheet was so wet underneath me that I had to get a towel, I thought: 'What the f**k is going on?' I felt revolting.
The Big Brother star revealed her skin 'looked terrible' due to the sweat and dehydration but never guessed it would be the menopause.
Symptoms: The TV presenter, 54, who now takes HRT to help manage her symptoms, recalled that suffering with night sweats gave her flashbacks to her days of drug dependency when she was in her 20s
She explained both her work and personal life were negatively impacted by the symptoms as she didn't feel like herself.
Davina explored the menopause in a documentary entitled Sex, Mind and the Menopause - the follow-up to her 2021 programme Sex, Myths and the Menopause.
The show further explored more of the burning issues raised in her first documentary – including menopause myths and the taboo around HRT.
It also took a deeper look at whether women are being sidelined, sacked or forced to go part-time when hit by menopause symptoms at work.
'I was hurt': In March, Davina recalled how she abused drugs to 'fill the hole' left from being abandoned by her late mum Florence Kock
The TV star, who shares Holly, 19, Tilly, 17, and Chester, 14, with
