The menopause has driven Oscar-winning actress Whoopi Goldberg completely mad.

The COLOR PURPLE star, who celebrated her 50th birthday in November (05), insists she doesn't know if she's coming or going since 'the change' overtook her body, and never realised how it would alter her sense of femininity.

She says, "I am haywire!

"I'm up, down, hot, cold, I'm all over the place.

"My sex drive has totally changed. One minute I'm like, 'Yeah! I can't wait for it." The next I'm saying, 'Oh God, go away.'

"And my moods are completely erratic. I could cuss you out for two weeks, then send you a Hallmark card to say I'm sorry.

"All of a sudden I don't mind saying to people, 'You know what? Get out of my life. You're not right for me.'

"It's wonderful and liberating.

"(But) the menopause can be hard to deal with because it really is a shock when it hits you.

"There's no countdown. It's just boom.

"All those years bitching about my period and when it stopped, I was stunned to realise how much my womanhood was tied into it.

"It hits you hard."