My anxiety sometimes feels like there’s a lion in the room
Loose Women’s Andrea McLean talks to GABRIELLE FAGAN about regaining control of her health and managing the menopause
ANDREA MCLEAN is undoubtedly glamorous and successful – she’ll celebrate 12 years as a panellist on the hugely popular daytime show Loose Women in March – but she’s had her share of personal challenges.
It’s only now – after more than a decade battling emotional and physical trauma – that Glasgow-born Andrea, 49, feels confident enough to declare “I’ve kind of broken my own curse”, and is finally “content and not afraid any more”.
She was diagnosed with the blood disease medium-vessel vasculitis following a hysterectomy in 2016, which also triggered a “tough” early menopause. Andrea, who candidly charted the experience in her book, Confessions Of A Menopausal Woman, is now fronting a Holland & Barrett campaign to banish the taboos surrounding menopause.
The mother-of-two – who’s been married to husband Nick Feeney since 2017 – hopes that sharing her experiences will help women navigating this tricky phase of life.
What does Loose Women mean to you?
IT’S been like therapy for me because I’ve been through so many life experiences while I’ve been on it, and it’s saved my life on many occasions during those tough times.
When I first joined, I had a 12-weekold baby – my daughter Amy will be 13 this year! During the time on the show, I’ve gone through post-natal depression, got married, got divorced, was very sad, met a new man and got married again.
We’re all great friends, best friends, and completely open with each other about our lives and what’s happening to us.
How do you feel about turning 50 this year?
I’M thinking – ‘Wow – 50!’
– and looking forward to embracing a whole new decade. In my 20s, I did all the crazy things people put on their bucket lists – I’ve bungee-jumped, sky-dived, survived white water rafting – and in my middle bit leading up to now, I’ve just been dealing with life, dramas, living and surviving.
Now, I feel I’m lifting my head up and trying to figure out what I actually want to do. I’ve just taken part in Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins (set to run on Channel 4 later this year) – it was probably the most insane thing I’ve ever done.
You’ve been open about your experiences with menopause – how are you coping with it now?
THE menopause was, and sometimes still is, a scary time. I wanted to be open about my experience of this stage women go through because when I started mine, I couldn’t identify with anything the media was telling me. Getting involved in Holland & Barrett’s Me.No.Pause campaign to break the taboos around menopause was a no-brainer for me. It encapsulates everything I think about the menopause and also of women of my age – you’re not invisible any more, you’re still a strong and capable woman who’s able to do different things.
How are you coping with the symptoms?
HAVING a surgical menopause – a full hysterectomy and my ovaries removed – isn’t like a normal menopause, because you’re dramatically plunged into a different stage in your life. I go through spells where, for a few months, I literally wake up every night soaked in sweat because of hot flushes, or lie awake in the early hours because of insomnia. For me, the worst symptom is overwhelming anxiety. It feels like there’s a lion in the room and I have an overwhelming feeling of apprehension, awfulness, and a conviction everything’s going wrong. How do you look after your health and wellbeing?
I DO what I can to stay healthy. Going to the gym and doing yoga regularly is good for my head. I’ve started a strict diet to cleanse and rest my gut for two months. I’ve suffered constant dull stomach pain and discomfort for years. I have allergies, can’t tolerate dairy, and I’ve also had a five abdominal operations, including two caesareans and surgery for hernias as well as hysterectomy. The hope is this cleanse will allow the area to heal and I can reintroduce certain foods slowly.
Andrea McLean is supporting Holland & Barrett’s Me.No.Pause campaign. Find out more at hollandand barrett.com or visit one of their 800 UK stores today