Gabby Logan thought she had ‘early onset dementia’ when menopause hit
Gabby Logan has said she thought she had “early onset dementia” when menopause symptoms first appeared four years ago.
The TV sports presenter revealed that the shock of struggling to recall words and names left her fearing the worst before she sought help.
As well as brain fog and forgetfulness, the 51-year-old became short-tempered, telling colleagues to “f--- off” and threatening to move out of her family’s house.
Mrs Logan eventually went to the doctor, was put on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and “felt different within days”, but wished she had insight into what was coming earlier in her 40s.
“There was a feeling of, am I sliding into some kind of early onset?” she told the Sunday Times magazine. “Because my grandma, who was in her 90s, was dying of dementia at the time. It was the first time I’ve been with somebody who had lost their memory.
“I said to her once, ‘Just think of it like you’ve got so many amazing memories and you’ve just not got enough space for these new words and new things.’ And then I remember thinking, ‘Oh gosh, is my hard drive full now too?’”
The menopause typically occurs between the ages of 49 and 52 when menstruation has completely stopped, but the perimenopause, when hormonal changes and symptoms first start to occur, can begin from three to five years earlier.
According to the NHS, common mental health symptoms of menopause and perimenopause include low mood, anxiety, mood swings, low self-esteem and issues with memory and concentration.
Physical symptoms include hot flushes, difficulty sleeping, heart palpitations, muscle aches and joint pains, and weight gain.
A recent study by the University College London (UCL) found that women going through the perimenopause were 40 per cent more likely to experience depression than those yet to start.
Logan said her 18-year-old twins Lois and Reuben, who were 14 at the time, were left close to tears by an outburst that she described as her “lowest point”, which prompted her to seek help.
“It was over something small, like the kids not clearing up after breakfast,” she said. “I had this absolute meltdown, sat everybody down and launched into this off-the-cuff ‘I’m going to get myself a flat in Beaconsfield and move out and let you all just get on with it.’ It was totally random.”
Colleagues at work also saw Logan become short-tempered.
“There’s one guy I’d always had a great relationship with and he said something really benign and I was, like, ‘Oh, just f--- off.’ I still feel terrible about it. Luckily I didn’t go around telling my bosses to f--- off or that would probably have been the end of me.”
Logan is presenting the BBC’s Euros 2024 coverage in Germany and will also cover the Olympic Games in Paris from next month.
She has written a book, The Midpoint Plan, which includes advice for midlife women and men, covering sex, sleep, friendship, family, alcohol and illness – notably the prostate cancer diagnosis of her husband Kenny Logan in 2022.
