Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has revealed he “struggled to cope” as he battled “male menopause”.
The Changing Rooms star, 59, spoke about the impact of a gradual change in testosterone levels, which left him feeling like he had lost his “juiciness”.
talking to the expressLaurence explained that he went to see a doctor for the first time in December 2022, after realizing he was “struggling to cope” with his bad mood, and praised testosterone supplements.
The interior design guru is the latest male celebrity to speak openly about his midlife struggles after Robbie Wililams claimed last year that years of partying had left him testosterone-depleted, leading to hair loss and low libido.
‘I’ve used all the good natural things. I have the manopause,” he said, while his partner Shaun Ryder also spoke about his struggles.
This comes after it was revealed this week that one in ten hospitals have ‘male menopause’ guidelines, while a quarter have no policies in place for women.
Activation protocols have been installed in around 20 trusts, despite the NHS describing the term as “useless and misleading”.
Elsewhere, almost a quarter of police forces have policies to address “manopause”, but more than 40 per cent had nothing for female staff experiencing the menopause, according to a Freedom of Information request.
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen has revealed that he “struggled to cope” as he battled “male menopause”, before seeking help with testosterone supplements.
Robbie Williams claimed last year that his hair is falling out and that he has lost sexual desire due to ‘manopause’
Happy Mondays star Shaun Ryder claims he ‘can’t talk’ if he forgets his testosterone gel
The findings are further evidence of widespread practice among public bodies, as exposed in an audit by the Mail last year which found examples within the Fire Service, Police, Councils and the NHS.
Critics said it was a mistake to compare the two, since menopause affects all women and “manopause” affects about two percent of men.
Speaking about his struggles, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen explained: “They said, ‘It’s your testosterone.’ My levels were very low. It’s something I was very interested in, because it’s an age thing.
‘There is an obsession that testosterone has to do with your libidinousness, your ability to become priapic. But in reality it is not at all. It’s basically a sort of “manopause” where, as testosterone levels drop, life becomes quite difficult. It’s hard to be optimistic. You lose a lot of your momentum. You lose a lot of juiciness.
“So I was happy to accept the idea of testosterone supplements, and I think it’s something that men in their 60s should be a lot more honest about. It can be embarrassing if it looks like you’re going to the doctor because you can’t function in things conjugal
Laurence went on to explain that low testosterone levels are not just “about sex” and can contribute to “how you feel about the world and about yourself.”
Male menopause, sometimes called “andropause,” is said to be characterized by a gradual change in testosterone levels.
Meanwhile, Happy Mondays star Shuan Ryder insisted in an interview with the sun last year that ‘male menopause’ is real, describing the dangers of forgetting your testosterone gel.
“As any woman who has gone through menopause will know, if you forget your stuff you go completely crazy,” she said.
‘If I don’t have my testosterone gel, I can’t talk.
“I can’t leave the house, I can’t make eye contact.”
As with women, the term is used to describe the period of an adult man’s life when his hormone levels drop, which can cause symptoms including erectile dysfunction, depression, anxiety, and rapid fat gain.
But there is considerable debate within the medical community about whether it should be recognized as a condition.
Dr. Channa Jayasena, a hormone specialist at Imperial College London and author of the Endocrine Society’s guidelines on testosterone replacement therapy, said it should not be called a “manopause.”
“I think it’s a useless term,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Menopause Matters series.
‘If we compare it to menopause, all women go through menopause, while 2 percent of men go through ‘manopause.’
The Changing Rooms star opened up about the impact of a gradual change in testosterone levels, which left him feeling like he had lost his “juiciness”.
‘Menopause is a relatively sudden event in a woman’s life. It occurs over two to five years, while declining testosterone levels can develop over decades.’
He said that while all women would potentially benefit from HRT if they had symptoms, this was not the case with testosterone deficiency and many men did not need medical intervention.
Dean Burnett, a neuroscientist and honorary researcher at Cardiff University, said symptoms related to manopause, such as brain fog and low mood, were more likely the result of common mental disorders such as anxiety or depression.
He said: ‘We are very keen to medicalise things in the modern world, because we are increasingly recognizing atypical conditions, disorders or simply ways of being, which could be better addressed.
“Women go through menopause, so by saying that men have a similar type of hormone deficiency problem at a similar stage in life, it’s a very logical leap to say ‘well, that’s the male version’ of this.” well-established phenomenon.
“But I do think you can go too far and try to put a label on a problem that doesn’t necessarily exist.”
As with women, the term “male menopause” is used to describe the period of an adult man’s life in which his hormone levels drop, causing a series of symptoms that destroy the confidence of those who suffer from it or are directly debilitating, such as erectile dysfunction, depression, anxiety and rapid fat gain.
Baby boys are born with testosterone. Their ‘T’ levels increase rapidly during puberty, causing children to develop deeper voices, larger muscles, and body and facial hair. The hormone also helps the testicles produce sperm crucial for reproduction.
Testosterone levels typically peak around age 20, followed by a slow decline throughout the rest of adulthood. At their highest, testosterone levels should be between 300 and 1200 ng/dL. Once men reach their thirties, testosterone levels begin to decline by at least one percent per year.
Testosterone in men is produced in the testicles and drives sexual development. It regulates sexual desire, bone mass, fat distribution, muscle mass and strength, and the production of red blood cells and sperm.
It also acts on the brain and spinal cord as an important regulator of neurological functions. Low testosterone levels are associated with depression and anxiety.
Low testosterone levels could indicate a problem in the pituitary gland, a pea-sized gland located at the base of the brain that monitors and regulates countless bodily functions through the hormones it produces.
Age-related hormonal changes in men are gradual and, while they do not render the male reproductive organs useless, the change could cause sexual complications.
Unlike women, hormonal change does not make men infertile. Although testosterone is a hormone that boosts male fertility, people with low testosterone levels can still produce healthy sperm, although sperm count and quality typically decrease.
And while a woman’s transition occurs somewhat drastically (over a couple of years), men experience a drop in testosterone annually from around age 40 until old age.
Doctors usually perform a series of blood tests on patients who have these symptoms to determine what is causing the testosterone deficiency and how to treat it. For example, low testosterone levels have been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular and fatty liver disease.
Men with low testosterone levels may choose to start hormone replacement therapy to combat symptoms. Testosterone replacement therapy comes in many forms, from topical gels to intramuscular injections.
TRT helps restore levels of this hormone in the blood, reversing the symptoms of low testosterone.