Overview

• The former Coronation Street actor, 35, says PMDD rules her life and has strained relationships through severe depression, anxiety and intense mood swings.
• She recounts being bed-bound for two days during a particularly severe episode in September.
• After trying options such as contraceptive pills and antidepressants, she says the Elle Sera ‘Golden Pill’ at about £1.66 a day has steadied her mood and reduced pre-period lows, despite its marketing as a libido aid.
• She says forgetting recent doses triggered extreme anxiety and dark thoughts, and she regards hysterectomy as too drastic for her age.
• She has previously discussed serious mental-health crises and plans a candid memoir for January detailing these experiences without airbrushing.