Helen Flanagan shares update on 'crippling' condition as she makes plea to fans (2025)

Helen Flanagan has taken to Instagram to share an update on her 'crippling' PMDD in a hilarious video as she asked fans to send her advice on how to manage the condition

Helen Flanagan has given her followers an update on her ongoing struggle with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) via Instagram on Friday. The 34 year old former Coronation Street actress was diagnosed with PMDD in 2023 and has previously shared that the condition makes her 'feel horrendous mentally before her period' to such an extent that 'she couldn't cope'.

The star recently took to Instagram to share an update, accompanied by a light-hearted video of herself describing how she feels at various stages of her menstrual cycle. Helen revealed that her post was inspired by Vicky Pattison, who also battles with the debilitating condition, stating: "PMDD post Reel inspired by @vickypattison (heart emoji). We message sometimes about PMDD and I always love her posts on it and the awareness xxx".

She continued: "My PMDD has been a lot more manageable recently and I'll later in caption say somethings that help me control it. I always feel like I have four personalities in one month and any boyfriend I've ever had knows how bad my PMDD can be x".

The actress went on to detail that she typically experiences 'intense symptoms for roughly 10 days including severe depression, sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, anxiety, and 'crippling' OCD'.

She further added: "The Luteal phase for me can be the very worst. I used to have very bad intense symptoms for about 10 days, severe depression- sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, anxiety/ ocd- ocd so crippling I thought I was going mad, exhaustion, brain fog. Now I get about 4 days before my period where I don't feel myself mentally. I also get severe bloating before my period where I can pass off at being pregnant."

"I also am always so desperate to come on my period as I know how much happier I will feel when I bleed and I will just feel more able to cope with anything life throws at me and feel I have my sanity back x. I had this from being about 16 but never really knew what it was x".

She went on to say: "I've been prescribed sertraline before for my PMDD but it didn't work for me x (just sharing my personal experience here, we are all different and great if sertraline works for you) It just made me feel angry which isn't me at all. I then tried Yasmin the contraceptive pill to help control my pmdd and that really didn't work for me (again great if it works for you I think we all react differently to things)".

"It made me feel really sick ( I had hyperemesis gravidum in all pregnancies so very sensitive to hormones) and I just felt low on it and not myself," she said before she continued: "I also took medication for adhd for years, that I ended up being really poorly on so I was really put off medication so wanted to go though a more natural route as I didn't feel I had much choice x (also again if medication works for you, for some people it really does that's great, just sharing personal experience) x."

Helen added: "I did Cycle Syncing with my friend Grace which I absolutely loved I felt like I got such a better understanding of myself and my cycle and understanding the different stages helped me take more control back and worked out strategies."

The star has been open about her struggles in the past, confessing during a chat on the Full of Grace podcast last June that she 'used to feel horrendous before her period' and begged doctors for medication to 'level her out'. She's been remarkably frank about the mental breakdown she experienced early last year, which led to her withdrawing from her acting comeback.

In a candid interview on the Full of Grace Podcast, Helen expressed how she hoped the medication would 'fix her,' but instead it left her feeling 'absolutely terrible.’

In a snippet from the podcast, Helen admitted: "I just, I couldn't cope, I just felt so awful and I would feel so depressed. [I would go to] the doctors and be like ''I honestly feel so horrendous mentally before my period, I need to take something to level me out. I thought it was gonna kind of like fix me but it actually made me feel absolutely terrible."

Last February, news broke that Helen was stepping down from her role as Miss Scarlett in Cluedo 2 after being 'advised to withdraw for medical reasons'. However, she didn't elaborate on the reason behind her exit, causing concern among her fans.

In an Instagram post last March, she disclosed that she had been privately battling with her mental health across January and February of the previous year following her split from Scott Sinclair, 36.

Helen told The Mirror at the time that she was hallucinating and felt like she was in danger. After experiencing an adverse reaction to her ADHD medication, she admitted that coping with the split was a struggle: "I don't see it as a break-up, I see it as a divorce. We were together 13 years. But instead of processing it all, I threw myself into work and shut off my emotions. I just went into survival mode. Then it all came to the surface earlier this year and I was mentally and physically breaking down."

She began taking medication for her ADHD but had a severe reaction, sharing at the time: "It was really sad and very scary. I was seeing things and I felt like I was in danger all the time."

Helen is a mother to three children - Matilda, 8, Delilah, 5, and Charlie, 2 - whom she shares with her ex, Scott. The pair called it quits on their 13-year relationship in 2022. Currently, Helen is romantically involved with former footballer Robbie Talbot, 45. Their love story started in February 2024 after they met at a restaurant.

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