Shirley Ballas on her difficult experience with menopause – Good Housekeeping

Strictly Come Dancings Head Judge Shirley Ballas has forged a glittering career to date and is gracing our screens once more, as the latest celebrities take to the dance floor for a new Strictly series.

But, as Shirley explains in her own words, its not all baubles, bangles and beads. Behind the scenes, Shirley has been managing her ongoing menopause journey, and she describes the early part of her experience as one of the darkest periods of her life.

Following her own difficulties, Shirley decided to speak out to help other women and has now joined the new Menopause Your Way campaign with QVC.

According to research commissioned by the campaign, only one in 10 women feel prepared for the landmark change. Of those who believed they knew what symptoms to expect, two in five still felt they did not have a clear understanding of how to manage them.

Here, Shirley opens up to Good Housekeeping about her experience with menopause, how she found support and where she is on her journey today.

I didnt know what was wrong to begin with, I didnt put the menopause tag on it. It started with all those sweats and the bad skin and generally feeling low all the time. It was overwhelming.

I can only say it feels like a volcano in your tummy, and it goes all the way up and starts erupting. You start sweating, you're uncomfortable, you're agitated. I didn't want to go out anymore, I was struggling to go to work. Doctors gave me anti-anxiety medication and then they gave depression medicine, nobody understood it.

Your body starts to change during menopause, it gets a little more rounded because it starts to protect itself and thats absolutely fine. But at the time, I didnt know why I was gaining weight when Id always been physically fit.

My skin was drying out, my nails were chipping, I felt dehydrated all the time and I had no libido.

It was my son, Mark, who first sat me down and said, Okay, lets talk about it. He was willing to take a whole afternoon to listen to me. He introduced me to his doctor in the United States, where we were living at the time. From there, I started taking bio-identical hormones (an alternative to HRT, hormone replacement therapy) which was life changing.

Allen Berezovsky

Other than my brother taking his own life [Shirleys brother, David, died in 2003 after battling depression], I would say it was one of the other darkest periods of my life. Some women, like my mother, they sail through the menopause, but that certainly wasn't the case for me. I just wanted to get up in the morning and feel better.

Not everyone can take hormones, but I found hormone replacement life changing and I regularly check my oestrogen and testosterone levels with a doctor. Its all about understanding your own body and using a combination of approaches.

Ive always had a healthy way of eating, Ive always exercised. I love yoga and going for a walk in the park. I try to find time for myself, even just half an hour is better than no time at all.

I want women to know that its not all baubles, bangles and beads just because Im seen dressed up in glad rags on a Saturday.

Being on Strictly has given me a platform. I feel like I have a responsibility to try to help women understand what their bodies are going through when they hit menopause at 45 or 50 or whenever they go through it, because early menopause can happen even in your 20s.

I do a lot of work around other causes like cancer and suicide and I feel that menopause is just as a strong conversation that needs to be happening. Thats why I joined the campaign with QVC, to help educate people and move conversations forward.

The key for me is education. This message is not just for women, it's also for men, for workplaces, for families and younger generations. We learn about puberty when were younger, but we dont know about how our bodies will change after that. I think its just as key to understand the whole biological process all the way up until menopause is complete.

If you notice a sudden change in your body, particularly around the age of menopause, then you have to find help. Go and see a doctor because if you start early enough when it comes to taking hormones or accessing support, then it can be a non-frightening experience.

You can also find information to read up on and links for support through the QVC campaign.

We want to help put the message out to help women of all ages and educate the whole family. The people around you need to understand the high and the low moods, the night sweats and whats going on in your body. Dont suffer in silence. Thats the key message, no more suffering.

I would say its ongoing with my hormones but generally, Im in a much better period now than 10 years ago which was horrific. Id say when I was around 57 my body started to balance out.

Of course, Ive been looking forward to the new Strictly series so it's a very exciting period, but Ill still be going to get my hormone levels checked during the Strictly run. Its an ongoing journey.

Shirley Ballas is partnering with QVC UK's Menopause Your Way campaign, to offer reassurance, insight and inspiration to empower women experiencing the menopause.

You can get tickets to join Shirley Ballas for fizz and cake at Good Housekeeping Live in partnership with Dyson on Friday 14 October.

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Shirley Ballas on her difficult experience with menopause - Good Housekeeping