Former BBC Breakfast star Louise Minchin shared intimate details of her menopause experience with HELLO!, explaining the upsetting impact it had on her career.
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"I remember an embarrassing conversation I had at work with my boss when I asked for the heating to be turned down because I was hot and sweaty," the 54-year-old recalled. "I wasn't being a diva. It was excruciating."
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Louise explained she went through menopause nine years ago, aged 45, and is aware that many people leave their jobs as a result of menopause symptoms, expressing the importance of wider awareness of the experience.
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"It's really important because we're at the height of our careers and we can't get to the position whereby people are having to leave their jobs because they're suffering from menopausal symptoms," she said.
Of the 40-plus symptoms of menopause, Louise said: "I was incredibly ignorant to begin with. I didn't realise how many symptoms there were."
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The star also shared details on the painful injury she sustained in 2019, which left her "immobile".
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The presenter injured herself during training for the "epic extreme triathlon Norseman" in the summer of 2019, but fast forward to the present day, and Louise is well on the road to recovery with an end goal of participating in next year's London Marathon.
Louise Minchin suffered at work because of menopause
"I had an operation about 12 weeks ago; goals are really important because they give you something to aim for… but you don't necessarily have to get there. The journey is equally as important. Given that I can only run at two minutes in one go at the moment, the aim is to do the London Marathon in April."
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