Penny Lancaster has revealed her battle with menopause left her with crippling anxiety.
Penny Lancaster says menopause left her with anxiety
The TV personality, 50, - who joined ITV’s ‘Loose Women’ panel in 2014 – was in tears as she broke down last year on the show as she spoke about the detrimental effects menopause has had on her mental health.
Penny who sought help from a doctor following her symptoms said that she was experiencing crippling anxiety and uncontrollable tears.
She told viewers: “I had a few tears with her [the doctor], trying to explain what I’ve been going through in the last few months and she said, ‘You’ve got to get to the point where you say to yourself, ‘I see you’.
“You’d feel guilty for being upset, and then you go for coffee with a friend and they say, 'How are you, everything good?’
“And then you burst into tears and you don’t know why you’re crying."
The doctor had prescribed the former model with anti-depressants. Even though they did help she felt that they did not solve the underlying problem and acted like a “form of plaster that covered it up” instead.
Penny - Who shares two children with husband Rod Stewart, 77 – began taking Hormone Replacement Therapy tablets, after speaking to an expert that appeared on ‘Loose Women’. These tablets allowed Penny to come off anti-depressants completely.
However despite minimizing the other symptoms, she still suffered with anxiety.
She told Hello! Back in October, that those suffering should seek help from their loved ones.
The mum-of-two recalled one incident where she lost control of her emotions and had a meltdown.
Penny said: “I was calling the boys [son Alastair, 15, and Aiden, 10] down for dinner, and getting impatient.
“When they eventually came into the kitchen, rowing, I screamed and threw a plate of dinner across the room and burst into tears.
“Rod was worried for me. We’re honest and talk openly about everything, but I didn’t know how to explain why I was feeling the way I did.”
Penny, who was freaked out at first has learnt to embrace the menopause and accept it being a new stage in her life.
She added: “I’ve got to say goodbye to the old Penny and say hello to the new one.’ I felt it was all shutting down around me.
“But as you get older you embrace each stage of your life with more maturity, and give yourself a bit of a break.”
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