Dani Harmer, 36, reveals she has been diagnosed with perimenopause as she candidly opens up about health struggle
Former child star Dani Harmer has revealed she's been diagnosed with perimenopause as she opened up in a new TikTok video on Monday.
The actress famously played Tracey Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson 's curly-haired schoolgirl in the TV show from 2002 to 2005.
Dani also reprised the role in the spinoffs Tracy Beaker Returns in 2010, The Dumping Ground in 2013, and My Mum Tracy Beaker and The Beaker Girls in 2021.
Now the 36-year-old TV star has opened up about her health struggle as she admitted it has taken a massive toll on her signature dark curls.
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 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 and that the only lasting side effect she is facing is hair loss and the 'odd hot flush'
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 hot flush and stuff'.
The Tracey Beaker star concluded by offering to try and answer fans questions about perimenopause.
'I'm definitely no expert at all! But if anyone has any questions I'll try and answer using my experiences,' she captioned.
Fans took to the comments to offer their advice while others said they were 'proud' of Dani for sharing her journey.
They wrote: 'Get some collagen powder! I have mine in a morning coffee and you can't taste it, if anything it makes it creamier;
'Rosemary oil on tiktok shop; Try weleda hair tonic! It's so good; So proud of you talking about this babe, love you xxx;
'Nooo no extensions this will thin it more. Wear your hair down more, no tight hair bands. Change your shampoo and routines. Silk pillow cases. Change your parting regularly. I'm going through the same x'
The video comes hours after Dani detailed her 'traumatic' five-day labour as she told Vanessa Feltz on her Channel 5 show that her partner feared losing both her and their baby.
She welcomed her first child Avarie-Belle, eight, with her partner Simon Brough in 2016. She went on to welcome second child, Rowan in 2022.
Now the mother-of-two has revealed to Vanessa that delivering her firstborn wasn't without complications as was she was in labour for five days and it took 'a really long time to get over it'.
Dani needed an emergency c-section for her first pregnancy and they faced the possibility of losing Dani and their baby.
Appearing alongside James Jordan and Paula Rhone-Adrien, Dani said: 'I had a really traumatic first birth, with my first Avarie-Belle.
'I was in labour with her for five days which then resulted in an emergency cesarean - which is very different to an elective one.
'And it was really really scary. Not just for me but for my partner as well. I think it was more traumatic for him because he had to witness the whole thing.
'And it was scary for him thinking that he might not only lose his baby but he might lose me as well.
'I don't remember much of it because I was drugged up on a lot of different things, but it was an experience I really didn't want to have to repeat, so when we fell pregnant with my second, I really wanted to go for an elective caesarean.
'I found that they were really trying to persuade me to go for a natural birth and I said to them unless you can guarantee me that I'm going to give birth naturally, one hundred percent, then otherwise I will want an elective one.'
Their daughter was born at 5pm on June, 29 and weighed 6lb 9oz.
Dani confirmed that the trauma of her first pregnancy was the reason behind the six-year age gap between her two children.
She gave birth to her second child, Rowan in February 2022 at 10.49am and weighed 8lb 3oz'.
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