Broadcaster Emma Barnett has said finding out she was going through perimenopause at the age of 38 felt like she had been "mugged, robbed".
Barnett, now 40, said it was the "first time in my life I haven't really wanted to be a woman - it's the first time I've thought, I'd really quite like to be a bloke".
She was speaking on her new BBC podcast, Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett, the first episode of which was released on Friday.
Perimenopause, which commonly occurs around the age of 46, is when you have symptoms of menopause but your periods haven't yet stopped. These symptoms can include anxiety, mood swings, brain fog, hot flushes and irregular periods.
In the episode, Barnett says perimenopause made her feel as though she had lost her identity - and that she is still waiting to "come back" to who she was before.
