'I didn't want to be with him.' How perimenopause affected Alison Brahe-Daddo's marriage.

Alison Brahe-Daddo wrote the book on perimenopause... like, literally. 

The model-turned-author of Queen Menopause has long been open about her experience with perimenopause in her late 40s.

In a recent interview on ABC's All In The Mind podcast, she shared how perimenopause 'took a toll' on her marriage to Australian TV legend, Cameron Daddo. 

"I didn't want to sleep in the same bed, I didn't want to hold [Cameron's] hand," she told host Sana Qadar.

"I didn't want to be with him, but I needed him because I needed support."

Ali and Cameron Daddo attending a premiere. Image: Getty.

When Ali's menopause began, she continued, Cameron struggled to know how to be there for his wife. 

"He didn't know how to do it in the right way because everything felt like the wrong way, so it was really confusing for him," she said.

Alison and Cameron were married in 1991, and the couple share three children, Lotus, Bodhi and River.

Speaking on Mamamia's 456 Club podcast earlier this year, Ali said that during the times her menopause symptoms were at their most severe, the couple had separate bedrooms. 

"If you don't have your sleep, it makes everything harder," she explained.

The intimacy between herself and Cameron also "took a beating" during that time. "My libido was a long-lost treasure, I don't know where that went. My poor husband, who likes to fix things, he didn't know what to do," she said.

"It can take a real toll on relationships. Or... it did for us, until we sought some help. We went to a couples' therapist... we made the choice to look at menopause as something we could tackle together."

Listen to Ali Daddo on the 456 Club. Post continues after podcast.

Ali spoke further about her own menopause journey. "I'm definitively not an expert on menopause because that's a gynaecologist's job but I'm certainly an expert on my menopause," she told hosts Narelda Jacobs and Cathrine Mahoney.

"It started with a change in my cycle. I had always been super regular but then it came every two weeks, every week, I missed a few months, and then it became extremely heavy – they call that 'flooding.'" 

After speaking to other women for her book, Alison said that flooding' is a symptom that can be the most traumatic for many.

Ali went on to speak about the hot flashes she has since experienced. "It's like an all-encompassing combustion of heat that's like nothing I've ever felt before," she told the hosts.

Alison found that journalling, meditation and drinking cold water helped ease her symptoms. "I would try to find something that made me feel good... anything that could soothe me."

The Very Peri audio series is your all-in-one survival guide for getting through perimenopause. With 10 topics covering everything from science and symptoms to solutions and support. Everything you need to know to take on peri with confidence. Listen now.

Feature image: Getty + Mamamia. 

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