Loose Women star Coleen Nolan admits the fear of seeing her mother deteriorate with dementia left her fearing the worst when hormonal changes left her with ‘brain fog’

Coleen Nolan says she feared she was suffering with symptoms of ‘some form of dementia’ as she struggled to process the effects of the menopause on her body and mind.

The 59-year-old Loose Women star has explained that she feared the worst when she found herself becoming more forgetful and suffering from brain fog as her hormone levels naturally changed due to older age. But Coleen was alarmed by her forgetful spells – and admits she lives in fear of suffering from dementia as her mother battled the cruel disease.

Coleen’s mother, Maureen, passed away in 2012 after a long battle against Alzheimer’s, leaving the TV star and her sisters devastated. The memory of watching her mother’s health deteriorate has haunted Coleen, and she said she has been ‘panicking’ after noticing herself forgetting simple things like shoes and keys.

Taking to Instagram this week, Coleen candidly opened up about her experience of menopause. She said: “Just when I think the menopause symptoms might be lessening. I’ve been suffering with what I thought was the start of some form of dementia, I have to say. And because my mum had it I’ve been panicking.

Coleen Nolan has shared her dementia fears as her body has been adjusting to the menopause ( 
Image:
Instagram/ @coleen_nolan)

The Loose Women did manage to joke about her forgetfulness, however ( 
Image:
instagram/@coleen_nolan)

“But I’ve since been told the old fog brain of menopause is a real thing and although it’s quite scary, it’s also helped me calm down a bit and think ‘oh, it’s menopause’. So many things with menopause, isn’t there?”

Coleen added: “I thought I was over most of it but here I am, can’t remember anything. Honestly, can’t remember names when I’ve just said hello to someone. Can’t remember my phone, my shoes, my car keys, dogs. I’m surprised I manage to find the house when I go home. It has been a bit scary but I’m kind of okay now because I know what it is.” Taking a humours approach to her changes, she joked: “Anyway you might not be interested, but I won’t remember if you are or not, so.”

Coleen’s menopause experience reflects a similar reaction that iconic TV host Ulrika Johnson went through a decade ago. Opening up about her own menopause journey, the 56-year-old explained last year that she initially mistook her menopause at the age of 46 as early onset dementia. She told The Mirror: “The memory loss was the most terrifying symptom.

“We all have that thing of walking into a room and not remembering why we’ve gone in. You could put that down to being busy and having so many things to think about. But it was that thing of being in a conversation with somebody and not finding the next word.”

She also warned of unexpected changes in mood, confiding: “Whilst I’ve had the experience of depression and probably will do all my life, this was different. This didn’t feel like depression, it’s very hard to describe, I just felt very, very down and anxious.”

The star opted to speak out about her own experience in order to offer insight and support to other women. She said: “Like I think a lot of women do, I kept it to myself, because it’s women and we just soldier on.”