Andrea McLean, 50, admits she finds sex ‘excruciating’ post-menopause and she asks her husband to stop
LOOSE Women star Andrea McLean has opened up about finding sex “excruciating” after going through menopause.
In a candid interview, the TV host, 50, admitted she sometimes has to ask husband Nick Feeney, 47, to stop as there is “no getting through it”.
Speaking to magazine Andrea admitted that she has struggled with “sex not being the same” after menopause.
The mum-of-two said: “Post-menopausal sex is as good as it can be.
“When you go through the menopause, the vaginal wall becomes brittle and thin - which is excruciatingly painful during sex.
“Trust me, you can't close your eyes, think of England, and get through it! There is no getting through it.”
Andrea said that twice a week she uses Vagifem pessaries, which contain oestrogen to help with the elasticity of the vagina.
Thankfully, she and businessman husband Nick talk “very openly about everything” so she feels completely comfortable to say if sex “doesn’t feel right”.
She added: “The most difficult thing was thinking sex has never been the same - and there's a sadness [to that]. There's always been some kind of pain since.”
Trust me, you can't close your eyes, think of England, and get through it! There is no getting through it.
Andrea McLean
To help with her sex drive, Andrea admitted she takes two pumps a month of testosterone gel to increase energy levels, lean muscle mass development and sex drive.
She also has accepted it is normal to get “low moods” and she meditates at least four times a week for 15 to 20 minutes to help with feeling “overwhelmed.”
The Loose Women star, who published the book Confessions of a Menopausal Woman in 2018, said she has been told she has helped numerous women.
Andrea, who has appeared on Dancing On Ice and BBC1 gymnastics series Tumble, said she has people stopping her in the street, and even gets men thanking her for ‘giving them back’ their wives.
She added that the key to coping with menopause is to have a sense of humour, and realising that “life won’t be the same as before, but that is ok.”
Andrea has navigated her way through two divorces – in 2004 after 17 years with her first husband, BBC producer Nick Green, then from builder Steve Toms in 2011 – and tied the knot with businessman and husband number three Nick Feeney in 2017.
She has children Finlay, 18, and Amy, 13, from her first two marriages.
Andrea endured a full hysterectomy three years ago and battled anxiety during the menopause, which she also detailed in her bestselling book.
WHAT ARE THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF MENOPAUSE?
The severity of menopausal symptoms can vary depending on the individual.
They can range from mild to significantly interrupting your daily routine.
Menopausal symptoms can start months or years before your periods stop, and can last until four years or longer after your last period.
Symptoms include:
- Hot flushes
- Changing or irregular periods
- Difficulty in sleeping
- Anxiety and loss of confidence
- Low mood, irritability and depression
- Night sweats
- Vaginal dryness or discomfort during sex
- Reduced libido (sex drive)
- Problems with concentration or memory
- Weight gain
- Bladder control
Andrea previously opened up to Fabulous about her menopause journey.
She said: “You can be a really dynamic forward-thrusting woman and suddenly you get this brain fog and you can’t remember where you’ve put things, you walk into a room and forget why you walked in there.
“You get rages, and get really angry and you can’t understand why everything gets on your nerves. You can also get very depressed. I had all of those things.
“On air you just have to force your brain to click in and work. I’d be talking to someone and literally saying in my head, ‘Come on. Focus. Think.’
“In terms of the physical side of it, it was awful. I had sweat running down my back, down my neck.”
The most difficult thing was thinking sex has never been the same - and there's a sadness [to that].
Andrea McLean
Andrea says it’s “100 per cent” possible to stay sexy during the menopause, despite the changes in your body.
She said: “You get hot in all the wrong ways! But you can look and feel sexy during the menopause.
“You need to talk about it and stop pretending everything is OK when it’s not, and that takes 50 per cent of the stress away.
“But you can feel great, you can feel normal, you can feel like a little minx like you did in your twenties, but you just do everything a bit differently.”
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Andrea revealed she had secret breakdown last year and her recovery has helped her cope in lockdown.
She said her breakdown was sparked by trying to ‘please people’.