Tracy Beaker star Dani Harmer has spoken candidly about her challenges following a devastating health diagnosis.
The former child star, who became a household name through The Story of Tracy Beaker and its numerous spin-offs, took to TikTok to share that she was diagnosed with perimenopause at just 36.
Highlighting a particularly distressing symptom, the beloved actress asked viewers for advice on how to deal with her rapidly thinning hair.
“I have been diagnosed with perimenopause. And what I need your help with is my hair,” Dani said, pulling back her trademark curls to reveal bald patches. “I am losing it – it is thinning so badly you can see, like, the bald patches coming in… It’s thinning – it’s bad, right?”
Though she floated the idea of getting extensions to hide the loss, she admitted: "They might make my hair even worse, to be honest, but it’s really getting me down now.”
The actress credited her husband, Simon, for encouraging her to seek medical advice after noticing a profound change in her demeanor.
“My whole personality had pretty much changed,” she explained. What followed were waves of depression, anxiety, brain fog, night sweats, and broken sleep.
“There was just too much to ignore,” she added. “I felt like I was being possessed by someone else; it was horrible - I was just getting deeper and deeper into a dark depression.”
After a swift diagnosis and blood tests to rule out other conditions, her doctor prescribed hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which is a treatment used to help menopause symptoms. “My doctor was more than happy to put me on HRT,” she said. “I’m really glad that I went and I got help.”
Now on HRT for 18 months, Dani says she feels like herself again. “I’ve lost the weight I gained during lockdown,” she noted. However, some symptoms, such as hair thinning and the occasional hot flush, persist.
Opening up further in the caption, she wrote: “I’m definitely no expert at all! But if anyone has any questions, I’ll try and answer using my experiences.”
Supportive fans flooded the comments with recommendations such as collagen powder, rosemary oil, Weleda tonic, silk pillowcases, and avoiding tight hairstyles.
In addition to discussing perimenopause, the Dumping Ground star recently spoke to Vanessa Feltz about the traumatic birth of her first child, Averie-Belle.
Recalling the “five-day labour,” she shared that the experience led to an emergency c-section and intense emotional fallout.
“It was really, really scary. Not just for me but for my partner as well,” she told Channel 5 viewers, cited by the Daily Mail. “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."
Harmer, who welcomed her daughter Averie-Belle in 2016 and son Rowan in 2022, said the trauma of her first birth played a major role in the six-year gap between her children.
“When we fell pregnant with my second, I really wanted to go for an elective caesarean,” she said, explaining that she had to advocate strongly for the procedure after doctors pushed for a natural birth.