Zoe Ball reveals 'horrific' menopause left her with panic attacks and breathlessness

Evening Standard

This week on Dig In, Jo and Zoe share their experiences with HRT and what’s worked for them, reflect on the ups and downs of parenting teenagers, and ask: what makes the perfect Halloween party for kids?

Transcript

00:00So I take the body bio-identical. I use the gel on my arms. I cover myself and the entire family

00:09have to watch out for about half an hour because then they get it on them and they're like,

00:11what's going to happen to me? Nothing is major is going to happen to you. I tried the stick-ons,

00:19but they left big plaster marks and they washed off. So the gel has worked for me. I've got lots

00:24of friends on the spray, so it's brilliant because it dries immediately. So I take that

00:29and I do four pumps. This is quite a lot, but I'm quite a big lass. And I found anything less than

00:35four, I can still be wobbly. And then I take, and again, we have to remember that this is just me

00:42individually. Don't follow what I do, people. You've got to check your own hormone levels.

00:48And my doctor takes my hormone levels every time. Every sort of three, four months, I'll have like

00:54a blood test just to check that we're sort of in the right, because it can change. This is the thing.

00:59And then I take two progesterone at night. And the reason I take two is because I do four pumps

01:06works on my arm and you have to kind of balance that out. And I take those every day. So I don't

01:12get any periods because I was getting some really nasty random big bleeds. And I was,

01:19when I was doing the breakfast show, again, I had horrific anxiety. That was my worst sort of

01:24symptom. And that involved panic attacks, not being able to breathe, sort of a lot of tears,

01:32quite a low mood. And, you know, it was quite, it was quite frightening at times. And sort of once I

01:39sussed out that that was a major cause, because I did go on antidepressants for a while for my anxiety,

01:45but I'm off those now. And I'm really glad to be off those. But they did help for a little period

01:51of time. It's difficult with things like this, because sometimes you're not sure what is what.

01:56You don't know whether some of your symptoms are coming from things that are going on in life.

02:00Um, or if they're mainly menopause, so you kind of have to sort of try these things. But now I'm on

02:08a very steady, I've got really steady moods, which is great. I don't sort of go, whee! I do,

02:15I sometimes get, you know, sad, but that's just life. That's what happens. But definitely hormone

02:21wise, I feel so level. So you do the gel and that's what you have four pumps of gel.

02:26So I have four pumps of gel, which sounds like a lot, but that's what seems to work for me.

02:31Yeah, of course. Because I do, if I do three, I'm a little bit tearful and a bit, you know,

02:37cranky. So four seems to work. And then to balance that out, I take two progesterone at night.

02:44And it's called utrogestin, I think. There are always words that I can never quite pronounce.

02:48Like gardening.

02:49Exactly. Occasionally, I will do a little pump of testosterone,

02:55but I haven't felt that I've needed that as much as everything has sort of balanced out.

03:03And I know some of these products aren't always easy for people to get their hands on. You know,

03:09it's, it can be quite tricky. And, and, and often when you go to your GP, you might only be offered

03:13certain types, but I really think it's worth investigating all the different ways and working

03:18out what works for you.

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