Dani Harmer gave a heartbreaking health update live on Tuesday’s episode of This Morning – admitting that her perimenopause struggle ‘had taken its toll on her entire idenтιтy’.

The actress, 36, who is best known for playing Tracy Beaker in the BBC hit show, opened up about being diagnosed with perminopause on social media last month. 

Perimenopause, which usually starts in women’s 40s, is when the ovaries gradually begin to make less estrogen.

Mum-of-two Dani took to the sofa to chat to hosts Ben Shephard, 50, and Cat Deeley, 48, about why she decided to open up about her health to her followers.

She said: ‘I just wanted to be open about it, obviously I am on the younger side of it. 

‘Even though I think it’s rare, I don’t think it’s that uncommon, especially looking through my comments.

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Dani Harmer gave a heartbreaking health update live on Tuesday’s episode of This Morning after her perimenopause struggle ‘took its toll on her entire idenтιтy’.

The actress, 36, is best known for playing Tracy Beaker in the BBC hit show The Story of Tracy Beaker between 2002 and 2005

The star opened up about being diagnosed with perimenopause on her TikTok account last month

‘I just wanted to be open about it, actually, I had quite a good experience with my GP.

‘I wanted to make people aware, going to the GP can really, really help. I was having such awful symptoms. 

‘And I really needed help with it.’

She continued: ‘I was literally like a different person. To be honest it wasn’t not long after I’d had my son. 

‘I wasn’t really sure if it was a case of the baby blues, and hormones for sure. I was like a different person. 

‘It was almost like I was watching myself in a weird way. I’d always suffered with depression and anxiety, but this was on a different level.

‘The mood swings were out of control.’ 

Cat pointed out that it was her husband Simon who noticed her symptoms first, which led Ben to ask how the conversation went down. 

Dani said: ‘I was literally like a different person. To be honest it wasn’t not long after I’d had my son. I wasn’t really sure if it was a case of the baby blues, and hormones for sure. I was like a different person’

Dani said: ‘My hair is my idenтιтy, it’s almost what I’m known for. ‘To be losing it, I’m not a vain person at all’

What is Perimenopause?

Perimenopause, or menopause transition, begins several years before menopause. It’s the time when the ovaries gradually begin to make less estrogen. It usually starts in women’s 40s, but can start in their 30s or even earlier.

Perimenopause lasts up until menopause, the point when the ovaries stop releasing eggs. In the last 1 to 2 years of perimenopause, this drop in estrogen speeds up. At this stage, many women have menopause symptoms. 

The average length of perimenopause is 4 years, but for some women this stage may last only a few months or continue for 10 years. Perimenopause ends when women have gone 12 months without having their period.

SOURCE: WebMD 

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Dani said: ‘It went down alright. My partner is quite tactful. 

‘He was like “you’re being a little agitated by my breathing. Is everything alright?”

‘It really wasn’t like me, I am normally quite laid back.

‘I’m normally a chilled person. 

‘My sleep was all over the place, I’m normally a good 10 hour kind of girl and hot sweats, they are absolutely rank. 

‘That was not pleasant. It’s not great.’ 

And Cat wanted to know how it has affected her work, to which Dani said: ‘Brain fog when you’re an actor is really really not ideal.

‘The worst was doing panto, I was playing the fairy, you’re on your own as a fairy doing monologues, doing blank on stage and asking your MD for your lines is not ideal. 

‘Luckily you can kind of shrug it off.’ 

It has also impacted her hair, something that is very important to her. 

Dani said: ‘My hair is my identity, it’s almost what I’m known for. 

‘To be losing it, I’m not a vain person at all. 

‘This is it improved, I’m taking supplements and gummies and oiling my hair. 

‘I’m having bald patches, it’s started to affect my self esteem. 

‘I come across very confident but behind closed doors, it’s taken it’s toll for sure.’

Last month Dani opened up to her TikTok followers in a very honest post. 

She said: ‘She said: ‘I have been diagnosed with perimenopause. And what I need your help with is my hair.

‘I am losing it, like it is thinning so badly like you can see the bald patches coming in but just like the texture. It’s thinning – it’s bad right.’ 

Dani admitted she is quite low by her hair thinning and asked fans whether she should get hair extensions but said she is worried that it would make her locks worse.

She continued: ‘It could be a terrible idea, it might make my hair even worse to be honest but it’s really getting me down now!’ 

As for how she was diagnosed with perimenopause, Dani admitted it was her husband Simon who first noticed that her ‘whole personality had pretty much changed’.

The actress said her symptoms got ‘too much to ignore’ as her depression and anxiety increased and she also started experiencing ‘brain fog’, night sweats and sleep interruptions.

Dani, pictured back in 2009, opened up about how her hair is her idenтιтy – and it thinning has knocked her confidence 

Dani revealed that she went to the GP and saw a female doctor and got a ‘diagnosis pretty swiftly’.

They also did blood tests to rule anything else out.

Sighing, she said: ‘I felt like I was being possessed by someone else, it was horrible – I was just getting deeper and deeper into a dark depression.

‘So I’m really glad that I went and I got help. My doctor was more than happy to put me on HRT.’ 

Dani said she’s been on HRT for around 18 months, and ‘feels like myself again’ and has lost the weight she gained during lockdown.

However the only lasting side effect she is facing is hair loss and the ‘odd H๏τ flush and stuff’.

Dani captioned the post: A little perimenopause chat!! I’m definitely no expert at all! But if anyone has any questions I’ll try and answer using my experiences.’

This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.