Penny Lancaster has candidly revealed how menopause symptoms infiltrated every aspect of her life, leaving her feeling constantly "insecure", and destroying her confidence.
During a segment of Loose Women, the panel were discussing the use of HRT to manage symptoms, and Penny shared her experience with how menopause negatively impacted her life.
"When I was going through it, I just lacked confidence in every single area of my life," Penny says, adding, "Not just in love, but with my relationship with my children, cooking in the kitchen, just stepping out on a night out."
"I just lost all of my confidence," she says again. The presenter goes on to reveal which symptoms affected her the most.
"I felt so insecure," she explains, continuing, "Whether it was the weight gain or just my my brain fog and all of that."
She recalls that when her symptoms subsided, it felt like "recovery." She says, "I went back to the Penny that everyone knew and I got my spark back."
Penny adds that when her symptoms lessened, her "confidence came in," and she "felt sexy in her own skin."
Penny has been open about how menopause has affected her, and how she first began showing symptoms during the covid19 lockdown.
She was initially misdiagnosed with depression and given antidepressant medication. During an interview with The Times, she recalls just how bad her hot flushes were at this stage.
"It wasn’t just a little discomfort in the night," she explains, saying, "I was on top of the covers, feeling like this inferno was rising, as if I was standing in a pit of fire."
Penny continues, "The heat started in my feet and rose up my legs. It was as if I could feel it going through my blood vessels, my blood was boiling. I could feel it rising, closer and closer to my heart and into my head."
"You think, ‘How much hotter can I actually get?’ So I’d wake up to the heat, to the fire — bearing in mind we had air conditioning, it wasn’t hot in the house — find myself on top of the bedcovers, finally cooling down," she shares.
Penny adds, "And then, of course, waking up again, freezing cold because my temperature had settled, because my skin was damp and then cold with the air-con. Then back under the covers. And this was a vicious cycle for about four times a night."
She eventually got the help she needed after visiting a menopause specialist. Later on in the Loose Women segment, Penny and Myleene Klass enter into a discussion about the benefits of HRT, and Penny praises her co-star for flying the flag for the drug.
A picture of Myleene is shown to viewers wearing a bikini, with her HRT patch clearly visible on her bottom.
"I'm not going to hide that patch, it's been an absolute life saver," she says, honestly. She adds, "I'm not gatekeeping that information."
Penny likens Myleene openly wearing her patch to the time she received a diagnosis of dyslexia.
"It's like when I was diagnosed with my dyslexia, I was like, 'Finally, I can wave the flag, I know what it is that I'm dealing with and I can move forward more confidently,'" she says, comparing herself to Myleene for openly raising awareness of a condition.
Penny concludes, "And once I was like, 'Okay, you're in your menopause. Here's your HRT.' It was just like it was a brand, a badge of honour" she says.
