This Morning brought a male guest on the show today who claims to have suffered ‘manopause’, the male equivalent of menopause, after developing similar symptoms to those that women are known to get during that period of their lives.
The guest James Innes-Smith confessed to This Morning hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford that he suffered a drop in his hormone levels as he got older, resulting in feelings of depression and low moods.
James said it took him a while before he realised what was wrong with him. He was diagnosed with ‘manopause’ by Dr Marion Gluck who also appeared on This Morning to defend James and his symptoms.
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Dr Gluck said: “I’ve had lots of male patients, where I’ve excluded everything else and seen testosterone levels are low, so I would then give hormone replacement.”
After being diagnosed James, who is in his 50s, said he is now “feeling lighter and much less anxious”.
But he has faced a backlash from many female viewers who don’t believe that ‘manopause’ is real.
One viewer tweeted: “‘Manopause’ how embarrassing seriously,” while another said: “Despite James being hot I’m not convinced.”
When Ruth read out some of these kinds of comments Eamonn defended James by saying: “What gets me is that I could not sit here and criticise any female condition in that way so it absolutely amazes me that there’s not some sort of empathy.”
James responded to the comments: “No wonder men are feeling they can’t come forward and admit they have this.
“It’s out of guilt, because women laugh at these things. It’s important if you’re feeling low or depressed, go to your doctor.”
But there were some who were keen to defend James, as supportive comments came in from men and women.
One tweeted: “I must admit however, that there probably is something in it as men DO have declining hormones as they age and it impact them.”
Another sympathetic viewer tweeted: “It happened to me, low testosterone shown on blood test, GP prescribed testosterone injections every 10 weeks – never felt better.”
James has revealed more about his ‘manopause’ symptoms in a Daily Mail column. He confessed to having “mood swings” and feeling “exhausted”.
He said: “Why, on the eve of my 50th birthday, had I become so irascible, so impatient, so unpredictable and distant around people I cared for?
“What was this woozy sense of unreality hanging over me and why did I feel so fuzzy and exhausted all the time?”
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He said that after a female friend told him about her menopause symptoms and that she feared her boyfriend was going through the male version, James wondered if that’s what he had.
James spoke about the stigma he encountered, as ‘manopause’ (also known as the andropause) isn’t a term recognised by many in the medical profession.
He said: “My GP scoffed when I asked him whether the andropause might explain my erratic behaviour.”
He was relieved to find out that he wasn’t the only one suffering with the manopausal symptoms, despite him and his friends never having heard of a male menopause before.
He continued: “The good news is that none of my symptoms appear to be unusual for a man of my age and Marion is confident that with some carefully planned hormone treatment, I will soon be feeling my old self again.”