The actress provided a candid insight into how menopause affects women
Strictly Come Dancing star Amanda Abbington has said it’s ‘the next chapter’ as she provided a candid health update.
The Sherlock actress participated in the 2023 series of Strictly Come Dancing and was partnered with professional dancer Giovanni Pernice at the time.
Amanda previously revealed she received 'hundreds' of death threats on social media after claiming she was subject to a 'toxic environment' and behaviour that she alleged was 'inappropriate, mean, nasty bullying' while competing on the BBC One show.
Following an investigation behind the scenes, Giovanni was cleared of the most serious accusations made against him and the broadcaster issued a formal apology to Amanda.
They upheld six of the 17 complaints, which related to verbal bullying and harassment instead of the more serious allegations on the physical side.
Appearing on the White Wine Question Time podcast, Amanda has opened up about going through menopause.
Describing the symptoms she’s been experiencing, Amanda said that ‘night sweats’ have left her feeling like she’s been ‘swimming’.
“The night sweats I'm experiencing at the moment are insane. It's like I've gone swimming.
“It's amazing. I'm like how is this happening? How do I have this much fluid in my body,” she said.
The podcast’s presenter Kate Thornton, replied: “You get it right. You nail it with your HRT and then your hormones hit. And then we've got to tweak again.
"And basically you're chasing your hormones. So you have no idea which way they're going to go. And it's as exhausting as trying to keep a dog on a lead."
Noting that she’s at ‘the start of the next chapter’, Amanda discussed how some women feel they have to ‘apologise’ for going through menopause.
She explained: “Once we all hit the menopause, we think we become invisible and we think we have to apologise, there is a feeling of apologising for being there.
“My best friend, she's a writer and an actress and she's come through the menopause, and she's this fabulous beacon of shining joy and she says it's just wonderful.
"You just grab it, you're not going to be that person who just hides, the menopause is supposed to be this shut off time and that's it. Actually no, it's the start of the next chapter."
According to the NHS, menopause is when your periods stop due to lower hormone levels. It usually affects women between the ages of 45 and 55, but it can happen earlier.
Symptoms of menopause include anxiety, mood swings, brain fog, hot flushes and irregular periods. These symptoms can start years before your periods stop and carry on afterwards.
