Actress Sally Phillips revealed today that she mistook her menopausal symptoms for the effects of “divorce”.
The 52-year-old Bridget Jones actress told Good Morning Britain she didn’t realize what was going on until she googled the symptoms.
The mother of three split from husband Andrew Bermejo in 2017 after 14 years of marriage.
She has previously spoken about how a rift opened up after the birth of her eldest son Olly, 17, who has Down syndrome. They also share sons Luke, 13, and Tom, 10.
Actress Sally Phillips revealed today that she mistook her menopausal symptoms for the effects of “divorce”.
The 52-year-old Bridget Jones actress told Good Morning Britain she didn’t realize what was going on until she googled the symptoms. The mother of three split from husband Andrew Bermejo in 2017 after 14 years of marriage. Pictured the couple in 2002
Speaking today, Sally explained that she didn’t initially recognize her menopausal symptoms.
She said: “I thought that’s what divorce felt like, but turns out it was actually menopause!
“I googled the symptoms and found I had them all. Except for the hot flashes.
“I think it’s great that we’re talking a little more about menopause because I thought all those symptoms were something else.”
Symptoms often include hot flashes, night sweats, bad mood, decreased sex drive, vaginal dryness, increased facial hair, and trouble sleeping.
She added: “It can be very sexy, you can get a massive increase in libido – apparently!”
Speaking about menopause today, Sally said, “I think it’s great that we talk a little bit more about menopause because I thought all those symptoms were different.”
Sally has previously spoken about how a rift opened up in her marriage following the birth of her eldest son Olly, 17, who has Down syndrome. Pictured mother and son in 2017
“The government set up a task force on menopause and I think that’s great because it means we can all relax knowing the government has them!”
She joked that “drugs” got her through her struggles, before clarifying that she meant menopause treatment.
She researched symptoms for a project with Boots called Menopause Monologues, which shares women’s experiences and opens the conversation about women’s health.
The actress has previously opened up about how her son’s diagnosis and two miscarriages have caused a rift in her marriage.
At 14 weeks pregnant, she miscarried her second child and eventually gave birth in a hospital toilet.
Sally and her ex-husband share three sons, Olly, 17, Luke, 13, and Tom, 10, pictured in 2018
She later suffered another miscarriage after having her son, Luke, and had to have the fetus surgically removed because she was too far along in her pregnancy.
Speaking on TBN chat show Soul Tears in 2018, Sally revealed how the pain of suffering two miscarriages also strained her marriage to her ex-husband.
Sally said: “I ended up giving birth in a hospital toilet on one of these cardboard trays and what came out looked like a baby. I handed the baby helplessly to a nurse who said they would run tests.
“I said I wanted my baby back but they had burned him or her because they said it didn’t qualify as they were just ‘products of conception’ which obviously isn’t at all how you think about it. ‘
Sally said the loss of her first baby caused a rift in her marriage to now ex-husband Andrew Bermejo.
He didn’t take the miscarriage as badly as Sally did since she was only 14 months old.
She continued, “If you’ve had a baby within the first six months, you know what that means on Earth, and if you’ve had a child, you bond very early, don’t you? It was dark and very difficult to deal with as a couple.
“We had a split that started after Olly when my husband and I dealt with the diagnosis very differently and then that split over babies grew bigger because he didn’t really take into account that I was pregnant. Fourteen weeks isn’t that long, but in your body you feel the nausea, the excitement and all those things.”
Knowing that some couples have multiple miscarriages, she was determined to prepare her body for another pregnancy as best she could by taking vitamins and eating well.
But alas, it would be of no use as she would later lose another baby – and this time much further into the pregnancy.
Sally said: “It was very lonely. I remember going under the anesthetic and just waking up crying and being alone in the hospital.
“I remember the nurses were not friendly, talking about you and goading you. You can just tell what a difference kind words and gentle touches make in those moments, because I’ve experienced both. People talking about you and being on a ward with people who have babies is difficult.
When asked what she would say to someone experiencing baby loss, Sally wasn’t sure of her answer.
She explained: “You can’t tell people don’t worry you’re going to have a baby because you don’t know they’re going to, that’s what you want to say. You want to tell people they’re going to meet someone wonderful, but you can’t tell them.
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