Frankie Bridge admits it ‘scares her’ to see how much she needs her antidepressants

Frankie Bridge has admitted it ‘scares her’ to see how much she needs her antidepressants.

The Saturdays star, 32, admitted she was ‘really emotional and crying all the time’ as she struggled with ‘bad withdrawals’ after forgetting to order more medication.

Frankie told the Loose Women panel she’s ‘sad’ that the issues of mental health are only being discussed because they’ve been heightened during the Covid pandemic, after openly discussing her struggles with anxiety and depression.

Frankie shared a video revealing her struggles with withdrawal symptoms after being left without her antidepressants over the Easter weekend.

She told Jane Moore, Kaye Adams and Paris Fury that this was the worst side effects she’d ever had from failing to take her medication. 

‘You’d think after all these years of suffering with depression and anxiety that I would’ve learned when I’m near the end I need to reorder my medication,’ Frankie said.

‘I had just so happened to run out of my tablets the day before the bank holiday which meant I couldn’t get them even longer. 

‘I’ve been having with drawel symptoms, I get dizzy eyes, I feel sick. I’ve done it a few times before stupidly and didn’t get those side effects but this time it really did get me.’

She added: ‘It scares me how much I need them because my mood just plummeted. I was really emotional, I wanted to cry all the time and having to put on that brave face like everything is OK.’

Frankie, who has spoken openly about her struggles with mental health, said that it’s become a far greater problem during the Covid crisis, admitted she believes that not everyone will benefit from medication alone. 

She continued: ‘It’s sad that people who have never suffered from mental health issues are now. After everything with Covid, we know it’s going to be an even bigger issue.

‘Not everyone needs medication. I’ve found when I have said I take medication, people say ”thank you so much”. I think there is a big stigma around it. 

‘I was scared to go on it in case it changed my personality but for me, the two have to go together, therapy and medication. 

‘I also have an issue with people just being thrown on medication when they might not necessarily need it. It’s hard with mental health, everyone is different.’ 

On Friday, Frankie took to Instagram to reveal she’d been suffering from ‘really bad withdrawals’ from her antidepressants.

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Speaking candidly on Instagram Stories about how she was holding up after ‘5 or 6 days’ without her pills, Frankie admitted she was feeling ‘really out of it.’

Frankie explained: ‘Just before the Bank Holiday I realised I’d ran out of my anti-depressants and obviously I couldn’t get any until after the Bank Holiday was over.

‘And I still haven’t got them, so now I’ve been getting really bad withdrawals. 

‘It’s really weird, the only way I can describe it is you know that first thing when you have had a drink, and your eyes feel a bit funny and your head feels a bit numb and it feels like you’re in a bit of a dream?

‘So I feel really out of it, like I can’t really concentrate on anything and I’m getting bad headaches, I’m tired, I’m feeling sick. Just really not feeling myself.’

Frankie then added that she was due to have more medication delivered during the day and would be taking her tablets as soon as possible.

She told fans: ‘So they’re hopefully being delivered today, which will be 5 or 6 days that I’ve not been on them so I will take them as soon as they come.

‘But I do this all the time. I’ve now set monthly reminders on my phone so hopefully I don’t forget again.’

Frankie also revealed that she’s just started the seven-day break for her pill and is on her period and feeling ‘hormonal’, adding that husband Wayne ‘deserves a medal’ for everything he’s ‘had to deal with over the past week.’ 

Reflecting on the difficult week, Frankie said: ‘I’m going between that feeling of wanting to cry, scream and shout all at the same time.’

She also encouraged followers to always make sure they’re up to date on with their own prescriptions and stocked up as to not risk running out.  

The mother-of-two told fans that being busy over the past month has hit her hard, leading her to forget to reorder more antidepressants.

Explaining why she’s not been on social media much for the past few days, Frankie said: ‘I have been in a bad place. I was really, really busy, the last few weeks which I’m really grateful for and all the things I’ve loved and enjoyed. 

‘But I haven’t been that busy for so long because of corona and I think it just really hit me, the tiredness and the guilt of being away from the boys in the Easter Holidays and the last day of their old school… 

‘The house has just been ripped apart, for me it’s been a bit much all at once and I did my usual and just before Bank Holiday realised I’d ran out of my antidepressants.’

Source: Daily Mail