Watch: Carrie Ann Inaba Hospitalized After Having Medical Emergency on Flight
Carrie Ann Inaba is getting candid about her struggles with Sjogren’s disease.
The Dancing With the Stars judge shared that her life is now “all about energy management” after being diagnosed with the chronic autoimmune disorder, which affects glands that produce moisture in the eyes and mouth.
“I look like, maybe I’m feeling fine,” Carrie Ann told People in an interview published April 21, “but I live with constant pain, constant dryness in my eyes and in my mouth, constant fatigue.”
“Sjogren’s is always with me,” she continued. “It’s invisible, you can’t see it, but it’s always with me. I always have pain. I always have fatigue. It’s about how I manage that pain.”
What’s worse, the 58-year-old said she’s “lost a lot of friendships” as a result, explaining that she doesn’t “have a lot of energy to give to another person” due to her constant fatigue.
“As the years progressed, it was sadness,” said Carrie Ann, who was diagnosed in 2013. “Because I recognize what I’m losing by having Sjogren’s disease.”
That’s why the In Living Color alum now sets her schedule around her condition, with dedicated time to be “peaceful at home” often being planned ahead of a DWTS taping.
“And then the day after, I schedule a quiet day,” she noted, adding of her day-to-day life, “It’s about how I manage that pain.”
As for her recent hospitalization? Carrie Ann—who experienced a medical emergency during an April 15 flight to New York City—clarified that had to do with severe food poisoning, which caused her blood pressure to drop once she became dehydrated.
“Normally I handle most of my health things on my own,” she noted in an April 16 Instagram video. “Like many people who live with autoimmune disease, I travel with a health tool kit and am prepared for the worst, but this scared me.”
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The former The Talk host said her arms went numb while she was trying to compose herself in the bathroom, leading her to seek help from the flight crew. Overall, Carrie Ann told USA Today that the experience “taught me the importance of listening to and trusting my body when something doesn’t feel right.”
She added, “I’m so grateful to the people who took care of me and helped me through such a scary experience.”
For more celebs speaking out about their own health scares, read on.
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