Former EastEnders star opens up about drastic weight loss amid ...

FORMER EastEnders star turned body confidence advocate Melissa Suffield has opened up about her health woes to The Sun.

Melissa, 31, was diagnosed with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) after experiencing "horrible nausea" on December 16 last year, with her having felt nauseous "ever since".

Melissa Suffield has lost weight over the last 12 months due to suffering from SIBOCredit: InstagramMelissa advocates self love and acceptanceCredit: InstagramMelissa, pictured above in 2023 before her weight loss, runs an account on Instagram that promotes body confidenceCredit: InstagramThe former soap star says she is back in the jeans she wore before welcoming her son River in 2020Credit: InstagramThe mother of one starred in EastEnders as Lucy Beale from 2004 until 2010Credit: BBC

After around 40 appointments with her GP and spending more than five figures on tests and other medical costs, Melissa has a diagnosis of SIBO, B12 deficiency, and is still yet to work out the root cause of it all.

Melissa experiences nausea, reflux, constipation, and other symptoms like her hair falling out and suffering from dry skin.

According to the Mayo Clinic, the condition occurs "when there is an abnormal increase in the overall bacterial population in the small intestine — particularly types of bacteria not commonly found in that part of the digestive tract."

Symptoms are listed as a loss of appetite, abdominal pain, nausea, bloating, an uncomfortable feeling of fullness after eating, diarrhea, unintentional weight loss, and malnutrition.

The former soap star who played Lucy Beale from 2004 until 2010 has opened up about how SIBO impacts her and how she is now less healthy than she was a year ago, despite being slimmer now, with her keen to raise awareness of the chronic illness.

Melissa told us in our exclusive chat that her health condition is "very frustrating", but noted a silver lining of sorts.

"Obviously, I've lost quite a lot of weight this year," Melissa began, adding: "But absolutely none of that has been through choice. None of it. Like I'm back in my pre-pregnancy jeans."

'THERE'S NO JOY IN THE WEIGHT LOSS'

She added: "But there's no joy," noting: "I don't enjoy the fact that that's happened at all in the way that you know, that's like a goal for a lot of people.

"A. It was never a goal for me. But B, this is the complete antithesis of whatever I've ever wanted with my body.

"So that's been tricky for sure. And then also, just on top of that, like my skin and my hair has been like affected.

"Now I'm dealing with feelings of, you know, not enjoying the way that I look, which is frustrating because I've done such a lot of work to get me to a place where."

Revealing the silver lining of sorts, Melissa revealed that her weight loss proves that being slim does not equate to being healthy.

"What it [losing weight because of SIBO] has helped me do is prove the point that I've always, always made, which is that you cannot define how healthy someone is, by how much they weigh, or how fat you think they look or whatever it is that you think you know," Melissa said.

She added: "We say, 'oh, you know fat people, they're a burden. Blah! Blah!'

"It's not true. It's just not true," she affirmed.

'I AM A BURDEN ON THE NHS'

Melissa went on: "I am now currently more of a burden on the NHS than I was when I was bigger last year. That is a fact. That is a pure fact.

"I've been bounced around from this department to this department.

"I've been requesting tests left, right and centre. I'm almost at 40 GP visits just this year."

She then added how she has spent an "obscene amount of money on prescriptions" adding: "I am a bigger version on the NHS in my smaller body, with my perfect BMI."

Melissa urged: "So yes, it's not one size fits all. But I am living proof of the fact that just because you're thinner doesn't mean you're healthier."

AN IMPORTANT LESSON

The former Lucy Beale star then said that she thinks it's "really important" for people to learn that being thinner doesn't necessarily mean the person is healthier.

"I think that's a really important thing to learn as well, and to physically see an action like that's the thing people have seen my body in action.

"I'm not shy about that at all, and I'm not shy about having the conversation either.

"So people can see how much bigger I was at this time last year than I am now.

"They can see that change, but if they watch my stories or they follow me on Instagram, they will also see how and why that's happened," she said.

Melissa says she wasn't a burden on the NHS when she was bigger, but is a burden now she is slimmerCredit: InstagramMelissa left EastEnders in 2010Credit: HandoutMelissa's Instagram account still has a focus on body confidence and style, despite her weight lossCredit: Instagram