HOLLYOAKS actress Stephanie Davis suffered so badly from a skin condition that she did not want to leave the house.
The actress opened up about the condition and how it got so bad she was in pain, staying put at home.
“The issue started in August last year, on reflection it was stress that started it all up. I’ve noticed now if I get very stressed my skin flares up,” she told Ok.
“I had tried everything from over-the-counter creams to prescribed steroid creams, which made my skin 10 times worse and my skin 10 times drier and more irritated.
“I even tried smothering my face and chest Greek yoghurt to help cool my skin from the awful burning, I just wanted to dunk my whole face in a bucket of something to relieve the pain.
“I’ve literally tried everything!” the star reflected on her frustration, admitting that at one point her skin became so “tight and crusty” and start shedding “like a snake” that she was “unrecognisable”.
She added: “It affected my confidence so badly that I just didn’t want to leave the house.”
Stephanie eventually turned to her fans on Instagram for advice.
“I just wanted to find something to stop the crippling pain and burning. My anxiety skyrocketed and I just wanted to hide away,” she explained, and then revealed her fans helped her realise she was pregnant.
The star then had a devastating miscarriage, explaining she one day hoped to have her “happy ending.”
“Didn’t know if to post this or not just felt so lost recently,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Is it no ones business, or should I share my sadness or just keep it in and feel sad and alone like I do.
“As my followers I guess you know me pretty well. It was in fact your messages about my bad skin change, my heavy curry intake, random food and hormones that made me check… I was pregnant.”
Steph skin has recovered using a medical treatment, but it’s been a rough year for the star.
In January, her stalker Alex Boston was jailed for 28 weeks for his three month campaign of terror that forced Stephanie to move house.
“It definitely had a big impact on my mental health,” she said during an appearance on This Morning.
“I struggle with my mental health anyway. When that happened my anxiety was through the roof, I couldn’t relax.
“I was constantly having panic attacks, every time I heard a noise I was up panicking.”
Stephanie found fame playing Sinead Shelby on Hollyoaks from 2010 to 2015.
She returned to the popular Channel 4 soap in 2018 but left again last year to pursue new projects.
Stephanie gave birth in 2017 to son Caben with her ex Jeremy McConnell.
She is now dating Joe Mckalroy after going Instagram official earlier this year.
