GLAMOUR model Helen Hine has revealed she is spitting blood four years after turning her back on an addiction to diet pills which seriously damaged her health.
The 32-year-old, from Bridgwater, turned to thermogenic diet supplements to stop her gaining weight - tablets which raise the body temperature and speed up the calorie-burning process.
After suffering serious side affects, including an increased heart rate, chest pains, anxiety and fatigue resulting in numerous hospital visits, she is now urging modelling hopefuls to focus on leading a balanced and healthy lifestyle.
Her revelation comes after appearing on Channel 5 documentary, Diet Secrets and How to Lose Weight.
Helen, who has worked for the Daily Sport and top modelling agencies, said: “It is really, really difficult. You need a good balance with a healthy lifestyle and that’s what anybody needs.
“People can change the way they look, put a filter on their face and in reality, life is not like that. People are under so much pressure to be perfect.
“People go to extreme measures to look perfect. There is a lot of pressure on young girls, especially girls who want to get into the industry. Because a lot of people live on fast food as it’s cheaper, people are taking bigger risks.”
Thermogenic supplements, which artificially induce a state of thermogenesis, which raises body temperature leading to a higher rate of calorie burn, create a similar effect to a trip to the gym.
The pills caused side effects including headaches, which she tried to control using painkillers. She was also rushed to hospital with a heart rate of 280bpm - the average is between 60 and 100.
Little did she know chemicals contained in the diet pills can result in fatal consequences if combined with painkillers.
Helen said: “It all started when I was eight when my sister used to take the mickey out of how fat I looked, although she was actually fatter than me. I then instantly had a little bit of a confidence thing with my body and as I got older I was obsessed with my weight and used to feel very body conscious.
“I was just a curvy, normal girl and I was not overweight at all.”
Helen noticed the pills were having an effect on her physique within only a few days but within four to five weeks, she was experiencing agonising pain.
She said photographers used to comment on her weight, which fuelled her desire to lose weight.
She added: “My partner at the time and I were driving to the local store and all of a sudden I had an agonising pain in my chest and I screamed out. We headed to the local hospital and they took me through in a wheelchair to resuscitation and wired me up and I had a heart rate of 280, completely unaware ephedrine and painkillers can react, causing seizures, strokes and heart attacks.”
She was a size 8 before dropping to a size 6 with the help of the supplements.
She ended up in hospital 10 times during the seven years she used the dieting aids and eventually gave them up in 2013. The birth of her son Lewis, now seven, led her to revaluate her lifestyle.
Helen had a healthy interest in sport as a teenager and studied nutrition at college before pursuing a modelling career.
She said: “I have been spitting blood in the mornings for four years now and I have seen specialists who don’t quite know what the problem is. I do feel that the inflammation in the internal walls of my stomach might have caused a few problems.
“To be healthy doesn’t mean to throw lots of pills down your throat. Unfortunately, at the time I didn’t see that, I was just trying to get a quick fix.”
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