Celebs Go Dating star Helen Flanagan shared a very honest post onlineGet daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxMore Newsletters SubscribePlease enter a valid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.More NewslettersWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More infoThank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow me See OurPrivacy Notice See OurPrivacy Notice×Group 28 Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxInvalid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.Sign UpNo thanks, closeWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info×Group 28Thank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow MeNo thanks, closeSee our
Privacy NoticeCelebs Go Dating star Helen Flanagan has opened up about her ongoing battle with a medical condition that leaves her “depressed’ and “not wanting to leave the house.” The actress mum-of-three, 34, has given an unfiltered look into the struggled of daily life living with with the PMDD – premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Helen revealed that the symptoms can be severe and that she faces them every month, including crying spells and irritability, with this week seeing her experience the worst episode she’s had all year. “It’s horrible with hormones as you can’t control what the hormones do to your brain,” she wrote in an emotional Instagram post today. “I was so happy on holiday… and then as soon as I came back… the hormones just made me feel so depressed.”
Celebs Go Dating star Helen got candid about her battle with PMDD in an emotional Instagram post.
She said the exhaustion caused by the disorder even felt like pregnancy, revealing her symptoms: “Not wanting to leave the house, crying all the time, exhaustion (like a pregnancy kind of tired) focus and concentration really poor, even clumsy, irritated. Any other women that struggle with this, I feel you.” In the candid post, she also shared the sense of relief she feels once her period begins, as her mood begins to stabilise: “As soon as you bleed you just feel such a relief as you know mentally you’re going to feel ok again and normal.” Helen added that the condition is often linked to women with ADHD, a condition she also manages, but that taking medication has made her feel worse: “I tried the pill in December to try and help with my PMDD but it didn’t agree with me at all.” Sign up to OK!’s daily newsletter to get updates sent to your inbox for free
Helen is currently starring on Celebs Go Dating
(Image: Channel 4)
She said that pills made her feel “weird” and “worse in a way,” adding that they: “Made me bleed so heavily that I felt faint all the time. Medication kind of freaks me out anyway after having such a horrible reaction to ADHD meds.” Helen shared the insight into her health alongside a picture of her on the toilet, adding: “I just wanted you to know and share this picture of me on the loo this morning. Just before the school run.” PMDD is a more severe form of PMS which causes emotional or physical symptoms the week or two before a period, and which “causes extreme mood shifts that can disrupt daily life and damage relationships,” according to The Mayo Clinic , though the cause of the condition isn’t clear. The former Coronation Street actress also added that embracing her emotions rather than suppressing them was helping her manage the condition, writing: “I used to never let myself cry or really feel my emotions and fight them which I think made it all worse. I got myself in this kind of mentality when me and the father of my kids separated to cope really and was almost constantly in a not natural masculine energy.” “Now I don’t, I be totally in my feminine energy. I cry when I need to cry. I get angry when I’m angry and I let myself feel sad (only for a certain amount of time though)”. Not afraid to get emotional, Helen recently opened up about her relationship with boxer David Haye. Speaking on Celebs Go Dating, she said she “fell in love” with him after meeting on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here. She said: “It was quite something, it’s really hard for me to talk about it, he had a girlfriend and an open relationship… I didn’t mean to fall in love with him but I did.”Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnCelebs Go DatingHelen FlanaganHealthMental health
