Denise Welch details 'brutal' symptoms of painful hidden health condition

20 February 2024 , 08:16

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Denise Welch details 'brutal' symptoms of painful hidden health condition

Denise Welch has bravely shared her 15-year struggle with vertigo that sometimes leaves her "screaming like a wounded animal".

The Loose Women star, 65, revealed that this health battle has even caused her to miss work at times over the years and impacts her daily life. Discussing her experience with vertigo, Denise also described the experience as being similar to feeling drunk and can be "brutal".

Denise - who is 11 years sober - compared her experience with vertigo to being on a rollercoaster and recalled how during a trip to New York last year she was forced to head to the airport early so she could find sears to lie down - declaring: "It was so bad. It's really, really debilitating."

The Loose Women presenter explained how the symptoms can be brutal (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Vertigo is a symptom, rather than a condition in itself, and can often get better without treatment but can severally impact your daily life. A vertigo attack can make you feel like everything around you is spinning - enough to affect your balance - and can last as little as a few seconds or go on for hours.

"I went to an ENT guy who sent me - this is after years of trying to get it done properly - went to an audiologist, check my hearing and said that was fine," Denise explained on Loose Women yesterday while chatting about her health battle. "And then it sounds pretty brutal, but we established it was mainly my right side."

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She added: "So Lincoln was with me. And he laid me down on the bed and he said, I'm going to put you backwards to the left, which he did, which was horrible, but not so bad. Then he sat me up and put me down to to to the right - they threw me backwards. First time, threw me backwards with my head to the left, then with my head to the right. Lincoln said I sounded like an a wounded animal."

Denise also revealed she had to pull out from Loose Women once because she felt so unwell with her vertigo. Fans of the ITV show were overjoyed at the end of last year when she announced she signed a new contract to stay on daytime TV programme. Denise has been part of Loose Women from 2005 until 2013, then she took a break and returned in 2018.

The former Coronation Street actress has now confirmed she won't be leaving the ITV show anytime soon. Chatting to Best, she revealed: "I've just signed another contract for Loose Women for a year, which I adore. I'm there for the long-haul. But I'm at the point now where I love working, but I also love not working. Next year is about getting the balance right."

Zoe Delaney