Here the queens of comedy talk menopause, changes and champagne and feeling absolutely fabulous now darlings!
Jennifer Saunders spoke with Kirsty Wark on The Insiders’ Guide to the Menopause, revealing what the change, and the changes it brings, meant to her.
Famous for her part in shows such as French and Saunders and Absolutely Fabulous, the writer and star explained how she became menopausal after having chemotherapy for breast cancer in 2009.
“It changes everything, it changes your metabolism, your energy levels, your skin, your hair, everything!”
“It is fairly brutal and you go through all the accompanying side effects, hot flushes, weight gain, a sense of mourning for lost youth, sexiness and somehow the point in anything. I became depressed, which I ended up getting help with.”
When asked how she dealt with this, she said, tongue in cheek: “I drank. I had a large glass of champagne.”
She added: “I think you just get on with it.”
“The first time I had a hot sweat…it felt like I was sitting on a radiator!”
The comedian summed up being menopausal by saying that it is: “indefinable – something you don’t have any more,” though she added positively “I now feel completely able to do what I want to do.”
Like so many women, Jennifer suffered from many menopause-related symptoms, including depression, which she got help with
It is not uncommon to feel overwhelmed and confused about what is happening to you.
It’s absolutely worth seeing your doctor if your menopausal symptoms are troubling you or if you’re experiencing menopause symptoms before 45 years of age.
Your symptoms will usually be enough for the doctor to know if you are menopausal, but a blood test may be required particularly if you are under the age of 45.
And Jennifer’s Ab Fab co-star?
The inimitable Joanna Lumley, who played the snorting, outrageous, party-going Patsy Stone alongside Jennifer’s Edina in the hit series Absolutely Fabulous, has said that HRT helped improve her short-term memory, which was affected by the menopause.
The menopause can cause ‘difficulty in concentrating, and poor memory and certain lifestyle changes may help.
