Jennifer Esposito has recalled the debilitating health issues she faced early in her career that left her "deeply depressed" because doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with her.
The Blue Bloods star admitted her years-long health battle caused her to have "thoughts of suicide," which landed her in a psychiatric ward.
"I had a whole life beginning in the city, and I was a young actor, and I had to stop everything," the 53-year-old said on Maria Menounos' Heal Squad podcast.
"They brought me to a psychologist, like they had me on every medication," she recalled.
"They wanted to give me shock treatment at one point because I wasn't responding. I'm very sensitive to medication. It was a really bad time. And my mother had people pray over me."
Jennifer suspected that her symptoms could be connected to "what I was eating and my vitamins and then my body," after she began to lose her hair, fingernails, and even a tooth.
© WireImage"I had hair falling out, nails falling off. A tooth fell out of my mouth, like literally in the middle of a scene," she recalled during filming on the ABC comedy Samantha Who? which aired from 2007 to 2009.
"I was mortified but also had been so ill that I just — I went hysterical. Like, somebody has to help me," she said.
Jennifer was misdiagnosed several times with conditions including multiple sclerosis, irritable bowel syndrome, and even stress.
© WireImageJennifer's diagnosis
She was finally diagnosed with celiac disease, a serious autoimmune condition where the immune system reacts to gluten, a protein found in foods containing wheat, barley or rye, sometimes causing damage to the small intestine.
According to Jennifer, her symptoms were so severe that her liver was failing, and her doctor said he was dumbfounded that she was still "alive."
Despite immediately eliminating gluten from her diet, her recovery was "horrendous" because her body was in such poor condition.
"They had me on four Klonopin a day, and I was still a trembling mess," she explained. "I was literally sleeping in my kitchen because it was the only place that didn't have a window, because the light — the stimulus from the light — would make me tremble and shake. It was horrendous."
© Getty ImagesTwo months after her diagnosis, Jennifer was in such distress with her physical symptoms that she begged doctors to keep her in the hospital.
"Doctor, you got to keep me here because I'm jumping out of my skin. I'm going to jump out the window," she recalled saying.
The comments led doctors to believe Jennifer would harm herself, so they admitted her to a psychiatric ward under the alias "Betty Franklin."
"I will say it was seven of the most excruciating hours of my entire life because I was yet again pleading for my sanity," she said.
© Getty ImagesAfter her release, Jennifer threw herself into understanding her condition and recovery, and now no longer experiences panic attacks.
Despite the struggles she went through before her diagnosis, Jennifer said that "celiac disease saved my life. One hundred percent."
"I 100% would have been somewhere not good," she added, admitting that living in "fight or flight" would eventually have taken an even greater toll on her had she not been forced to adopt a slower pace of life.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org
