Singer and songwriter Robbie Williams has said he is going through the "manopause". The former 'Take That' singer, who will turn 50 in February next year, told The Sun that the condition has left him fighting baldness, a plummeting libido, insomnia and crippling tiredness. The star blamed this on years of partying that left him "knackered" and deprived of essential hormones. The English singer found tremendous success around the world over the past two decades. He launched a solo career in 1996.
Speaking to The Sun, Mr Williams said, "The hair is thinning, the testosterone has left the building, the serotonin is not really here and the dopamine said goodbye a long time ago. I've used up all of the natural good stuff. I've got the manopause."
"My daughter says to me, 'Daddy's lazy'. I don't like the term 'lazy' as that's how I was described when I was younger. The reality is that I'm just f****** knackered from what I did to myself in the Nineties and bits of the 2000s," he added.
Mr Williams is married to actor Ayda Field. He has been open about beating his addictions to food and drugs - especially to sleeping pill Zopiclone - after he left 'Take That'.
"I have a different sleep pattern to other people. I'm magnetically drawn to 4am and falling asleep at six and there's nothing I can do about it," said Mr Williams.
"I go to bed at 11pm and I'm just lying there completely awake and completely alert until 5am. It's one of the banes of Ayda's existence that she doesn't get me until 1pm," the singer further said.
According to the UK's National Health Service (NHS), "Male menopause" is the more common term for andropause. The other physical and emotional symptoms can develop when they reach their late 40s to early 50s.
Typical symptoms include mood swings, loss of sex drive and muscle mass, difficulty sleeping and poor short-term memory.
It can be caused by lifestyle factors or psychological problems, such as stress, depression, anxiety, smoking and heart problems.
