Athlete Dame Kelly Holmes has opened up about the crippling pain she experienced before being diagnosed with the menopause, and how she didn’t want to go on HRT

Dame Kelly has been candid about going through the menopause

Dame Kelly Holmes, the double gold medalist for Great Britain at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the Women’s 1500m and 800m races, has always been in sync with her body. Since retiring from athletics, she has made a name for herself as a health and fitness advocate, sports commentator and recently, a panellist on Loose Women. However, despite her confident TV persona, Kelly, now 54, has been privately battling with the menopause – confessing to us that she’d been “in denial” about it. “About three years ago, I was getting bad body pains to the point where I couldn’t even do one push-up,” she reveals.

“If anyone knows me, they know I keep myself fit. So to not be able to do one push-up was alarming. The worst pains were in my wrists, then I ached through to my bones. It was just constant pain, I could feel it in my body the whole time.” Alongside this, Kelly was also dealing with insomnia, but was unaware at the time of the connection between hormonal changes and sleep disturbance. As her symptoms persisted, the Olympian was advised to undergo tests to determine if she was menopausal.

Kelly Holmes is still a huge health and fitness advocate

“I did the blood tests, reluctantly, because again, I was in denial of my age and now I realise that’s almost a naive thing to think, as you could experience the menopause from late thirties upwards,” she admits, reports OK!.

In seeking treatment, the sportswoman sought out a private doctor’s opinion. She recounts, “I was not in a great place mentally,” adding that she now recognises menopause likely played a role in her condition.

Her medical tests showed severely depleted oestrogen and testosterone levels, leading her physician to advise starting hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Kelly admits, “But I didn’t want to have HRT, as I didn’t want to put anything I don’t understand into my body,” yet she understood the need to give it a chance.

The star most recently became a Loose Women panellist (Image: David Cummings)

Her experience with HRT wasn’t favourable, prompting her to stop and turn to collagen supplements instead. “I wanted natural ways to feel better. When I started taking collagen, I felt like my body pains were alleviating.”

These days, feeling more positive, Kelly is dedicated to enlightening other women about the benefits of exercise, particularly weight lifting to combat muscle loss due to declining oestrogen. She states, “It’s brilliant doing fitness when you’ve been feeling low and it’s important when you’re getting weaker. So weight training has become something important to me.”

Offering her advice to others experiencing menopause symptoms, Kelly stresses the importance of dialogue and proactive health care: “Conversation is key. And those of you who are suffering, just book that appointment with a doctor. It can really make a huge difference.”