Gina Rodriguez suffered from "debilitating" anxiety and panic attacks after taking too much medication for her ongoing struggle with Hashimoto’s disease.
The 33-year-old actress has been battling the disease – a condition in which your immune system attacks your thyroid – for some time, and has admitted her medication for the condition caused her to have crippling bouts of anxiety when it became apparent she was taking too much.
Luckily for the star, she was able to lower her dosage of Hashimoto’s disease medication, and no longer battles the mental health conditions.
She added: "To the core of my being, I know what it’s like to feel like there is no way I can win this, so where do I even begin. [Hashimoto’s] affects so many aspects of your life. I’ve had it for so many years … that rebellion of not taking care of myself can’t exist anymore.
"It is really important for us to be super self-aware. I wasn’t banking on that. I wasn’t like, ‘hey, yeah, let me get a disease that makes me have to be super aware.’ I don’t want to be super aware of myself all of the time."
The ‘Jane the Virgin’ star credits her boyfriend Joe LoCicero with helping her manage her illness, which can also result in fluctuating weight for the star, meaning she has to watch her diet closely.
Speaking to SELF magazine, she said: "[Mine and Joe’s relationship is one of] respect and kindness, and generosity, and compromise, and sacrifice.
"[He] has really helped me have a healthier perspective on [weight], that stupid number that can destroy us and feel like it’s equivalent to our self-worth. This love is so easy."
Gina Rodriguez suffers panic attacks
