Lucy Mecklenburgh won’t leave her house if she is bloated.
The former ‘The Only Way Is Essex’ star suffers from abdominal bloating and because she can never predict when she is going to have a "swollen, painful stomach" she sometimes has to cancel plans with friends when it becomes too uncomfortable to even go out.
In an interview with New! magazine, she said: "When I get a swollen, painful stomach, I don’t want to go out. Sometimes I’ve had to change my plans with friends because it gets so uncomfortable or I can’t get into my jeans."
Lucy decided to share her swelling struggles with her 1.4 million followers on Instagram and she knew she was right to reveal her problem when she received countless messages from women who suffer from the same problem.
She said: "I did an Instagram Story a couple a couple of days before my swollen stomach and I just thought, ‘I’ve never actually put this on Instagram.’ So I did and my inbox was full of hundreds of women with the same problem.
"It’s horrible, but it’s relatable. I think when it comes to Instagram, people with a following have a responsibility to make sure they’re not just showing all the good things in their life."
The 27-year-old model – who is in a relationship with former ‘Coronation Street’ actor Ryan Thomas – has also opened up about her struggles with anxiety and admits she has just had to learn to live with the condition.
She said: "Anxiety is something you always live with and you just learn how to deal with it. For me, it’s learning techniques as simple as writing down everything I’m worried about in my notes on my phone to get it out of my head. Also I have an occasional social media detox and turn my phone off at 10pm."
Lucy Mecklenburgh plagued by bloating
