Hollyoaks actress Stephanie Waring has survived 'hell' of menopause
Hollyoaks star Stephanie Waring is over the menopause after spending two years dealing with the hellish side effects.
Hollyoaks star Stephanie Waring is over the menopause after two years of "hell".
The 48-year-old actress - who has played Cindy Cunningham on and off for three decades in the Channel 4 soap - had an early menopause and endured two years of debilitating side effects and hormone-induced mood swings.
The menopause is a natural stage in a woman's life when her periods stop due to lower hormone levels, usually occurring between the ages of 45 and 55.
But Stephanie got through it with the help of her sympathetic doctors and her supportive husband, Manchester entrepreneur Tom Thornton-Brookes.
In an interview with New! magazine, she said: "When I got told I was in perimenopause, I said, 'What the f*** is perimenopause?' I had no clue. I had to really research it because there was no awareness around the topic and, for me, that's all I've done since.
"Now I'm post-menopause. It happened within two years for me, so I would say, as women, especially in midlife, research as much as you can because everyone's different and everyone will have different symptoms. It's not one size fits all.
"I was lucky that my GPs did listen, but I've heard from so many women who get turned away and put on antidepressants and just get told, 'It is what it is,' or, 'You're not going through it.'
"It is symptom-based. You know your own body better than anyone - we're all individuals and I think women should be taken more seriously because we really go through hell.
"My partner has been massively supportive. He will just stop, sit down and listen when I need to talk and just be there if I need anything. He's been absolutely brilliant."
Stephanie - who has daughters Mia, 21, and Lexi, 16, from previous relationships - has revealed that changing her diet and hitting the gym helped her cope during the menopause.
Stephanie relied on clean eating and lifting weights to shift extra pounds and be as healthy as she could be as her body changed.
She said: "It has been a bit of a journey. But I feel amazing at the minute. I think I've really just been looking after myself in general. You really do have to do that and put the work in. You can't just rely on hormones, on HRT, you've got to do the work on the other side of menopause as well."
