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A Loose Women star has sparked health worries after she got news that was 'not exactly what she wanted to hear' following a trip to the hospital.
Dame Kelly Holmes, 54, took to her Instagram stories on Friday to share an update with her 130,000 followers after she had been to see a gynaecologist.
The Olympic gold medal runner filmed herself walking down a busy high street, donning a grey knitted jumper and white fluffy cap.
She quipped: 'What a day! When you go to see a gynaecologist and it's not exactly what you want to hear.'
Not wanting to reveal the details of the news yet, she continued: 'More to come but only when I have the outcome. All I can say is I'm glad for casual chat with @dr_naomipotter.'
The athlete and TV star has always been candid with fans about her health and has previously lifted the lid on her struggles with perimenopause.
A Loose Women star has sparked health worries after she got news that was 'not exactly what she wanted to hear' following a trip to the hospital
Dame Kelly Holmes, 54, took to her Instagram stories on Friday to share an update with her 130,000 followers after she had been to see a gynaecologist
During a Loose Women appearance in 2023, she candidly detailed the symptoms she had been facing with the panel.
She said she has been experiencing 'extreme body pains', sweats and anxiety and was reaching out for advice on HRT (hormone replacement therapy) - a treatment to relieve symptoms.
Perimenopause is the transitional period before menopause, when women's hormone levels start to change, but before their periods have stopped for a full 12 months – therefore reaching menopause.
The NHS says perimenopause usually starts between 45 and 55.
During it, hormone levels change and ovaries start to produce fewer eggs. Symptoms can include hot flushes and night sweats, headaches, dizziness, aches and pains, joint and muscle pain, and difficulty sleeping.
Speaking to the presenters on the ITV daytime show, including Judi Love, she said: 'It's been a serious thing. I am totally in denial of my age. I still put 39 on my exercise machine.
'I have had extreme body pains and I have so many aches and pains. I go to the gym and I'm so much weaker than I have ever been.
'I was told to go to the doctors and it said I had low oestrogen and I was like I don't want to take pills. As a former athlete I was like no.
'The other things are like anxiety, sleep, I'm emotional, sweats, it really affects me. I don't know if it will change.
She quipped: 'What a day! When you go to see a gynaecologist and it's not exactly what you want to hear'
The athlete and TV star has always been candid with fans about her health and has previously lifted the lid on her struggles with perimenopause
Kelly previously said the perimenopause is particularly tough 'as someone who is in tune with their body' (pictured winning the 800m at the Olympics in Athens in 2004)
She continued: 'People use to say about the HRT but what am I doing to help myself. I've been getting advice, I've been taking vitamins and I'm weight training.
'We lose out muscle mass, I have always trained and I am weaker but by doing that it can help prevent injury. You need help from other people.'
It comes after Dame Kelly revealed that the debilitating symptoms of the perimenopause are 'killing' her.
The double Olympic champion said she is experiencing 'constant pain' and night sweats.
She said: 'I think perimenopause is killing me at the moment. As much as I'm in denial, it definitely has had an effect on my body.'
She described her symptoms as 'body aches, pains, like constant pain throughout the body, feeling lethargic'.
Kelly added; 'Last week, I started getting the sweats, which I'm not happy about, only at night. I'm thinking, "This isn't good". And it makes you more irritable. You feel like you're not yourself.'
The Nuffield Health ambassador – who retired from professional athletics in 2005 after doing the historic double by taking Olympic gold in both the 800m and 1500m in Athens – was talking as the health charity published a major survey.
She said she had been experiencing 'extreme body pains', sweats and anxiety and was reaching out for advice on HRT (hormone replacement therapy)
The star, who backs the charity's Find 5 campaign which encourages people to take just an extra five minutes a day for their health, said the perimenopause is particularly tough 'as someone who is in tune with their body'.
She said: 'I think I'm in denial of age completely.'
'Doing some exercise is really important for people with perimenopause. You do as much as you can to combat it, so I go in the gym,' she said.
Kelly does three to four weights sessions a week and some running – although with a recent history of back problems she is careful not to overdo it.
But she added: 'Sometimes I feel so knackered, it's easy just to not do it. I give myself more rest these days than I've ever given, because I think that's really important.
'I take magnesium because I'm now sweating so I don't want to get cramps. I'm thinking about upping my proteins,' she added.
Dame Kelly has also been open about her battles with mental health and the pressure she felt on her wellbeing while keeping her sexuality a secret for over 30 years.
'My mental health has never been great since I had my first breakdown,' Kelly detailed in another Loose Women appearance in December 2022.
Dame Kelly has also been open about her battles with mental health and the pressure she felt on her wellbeing while keeping her sexuality a secret for over 30 years
She went on to explain that sport has been her saviour in keeping her wellbeing in check
She said: 'I think there's a big correlation between mental wellbeing and physical wellbeing. I get it in cold sores.
'I've been really ill this year - everybody has this perception that I'm this Superwoman because of my sporting attributes but no.
'I've been really under pressure mentally for lots of reasons and it comes out in my body for sure.
'I've had the worst back problems, I was in hospital yesterday having steroid injections in my back. Every illness that's come out - as soon as I get Covid, I'm ill. I've got this chest infection, I'm ill. Cold sores, the lot.
'When people are stressed, by whatever means, it comes out in their physical being.'
Hosting the panel, Kaye Adams says to Kelly: 'It must be hard for you though being that you've had a lifetime of being perceived as Superwoman, and you probably had taken great pride in your health to a certain extent.'
Kelly adds: 'It really affects me, it really affects my mental health.
'Mental health isn't a buzzword, I've been talking about it since 2005.'
She went on to explain that sport has been her saviour in keeping her wellbeing in check - but because of the stress she has recently felt manifesting itself into ill physical health, she has been unable to keep active for three months.
She continued: 'Sport or fitness or being active is who I am. I haven't been able to do it for about three months.
'It really, really affects me. You sometimes have to help ourselves, of course we have to find ways to look after our health a bit more, take time off which I'm not good at.
'But yeah, I'm really struggling. I have to say. I'm really, really struggling.'
