Vicky Pattison has come in for a wealth of praise for her 'refreshingly honest' Instagram post about struggling with her period.
Like many others, the former Geordie Shore star dreads the time of the month when her period kicks in, bringing with it painful cramps, heightened emotions, anxiety and other unwelcome side effects.
And, as she struggles with her latest one this week, 33-year-old Vicky took to Instagram to post a pictured of her stomach and write at length about not only her predicament, but her admiration from all the other 'warriors' who go through it every month.
Vicky began the post, which at the time of writing, had been liked close to 100,000 times in a matter of hours by referring to the onset of her period as 'aunt flow arriving in town' before adding: "I’ve spoken at length with you guys about how my periods have got worse as I’ve got older but now I’m dealing with my body’s adjustment to life without the implant and let me tell you... IT IS NO F**KING picnic.
"The pain and bloating I’m experiencing is something else....but honestly I was nearly on my hands and knees coming through my door last night after work and it just made me want to take my hats off to all of you amazing warrior women who deal with this shit every month, without complaint (well not in my case) and are still absolute boss b***hes!!!"
Continuing her candid post, I'm A Celebrity 2015 champion Vicky added: "Do you know any other animal who can bleed for 3-7 days and still live?!! No!!! And not only live- but THRIVE!!
"We’re out here earning money, supporting our selves and our families, raising our children, slaying the game and being all round incredible while dealing with the cramps, the pain, the emotional roller coaster, the tears, the clumsiness, the insatiable need for sweet treats and all the rest!!!!"
She signed off by writing: "go forward queens and be period proud, armed with tissues, chocolate & a kick a** attitude!"
The post as has had a huge response from Vicky's many social media followers, with one telling her: "Dont think ive ever met a more open, real, honest woman in my life! inspo always," and a second writing: "Thank you for putting a Godamn normal pic up and making us feel normal with our period bellies!!! So sick of these "perfect bodies" on IG making us feel worthless!"
A third reacted: "Thank you for sharing this normality Vicky.. open that bar of chocolate and get the kettle on for your hot water bottle."
