Longtime “Dancing with the Stars” judge Carrie Ann Inaba is opening up about her “debilitating” pain.
During a recent interview with Fox News Digital at Televerse 26, a festival by the Television Academy, the 58-year-old TV personality discussed her experience with Sjögren’s disease.
“It’s debilitating. And so I am always in pain,” she said. “And most of the time, when I’m not on camera, I’m in sweatpants. Maybe I haven’t showered in three days, and I’m just kind of like roaming my little neighborhood, walking my dogs. My life is very unglamorous for the most part.”
Inaba said it is “really an important message in this day and age” for people to hear what life is actually like behind closed doors because everyone is “being shown these very hyper-realistic versions of people, and it’s not true.”
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“I think we need to know that people, we’re all people, we are all going through something,” she added. “And I’m grateful to have Sjögren’s disease because it has given me even more compassion for people and I think it makes me a better judge because I really can feel people when they’re going through stuff, and it’s given me more empathy, and I’m grateful.”
WATCH: CARRIE ANN INABA IS ‘ALWAYS IN PAIN’ LIVING WITH SJÖGREN’S DISEASE
According to the Mayo Clinic, Sjögren’s disease is an autoimmune disease that “most often affects the glands that make moisture in the eyes and mouth.” The lack of moisture leads to “fewer tears and less saliva.”
Inaba’s symptoms started with dry eyes, but the ballroom judge said, “I also had a lot of pain, and I think people don’t know this.”
“A lot of people think Sjögren’s disease is just dry eyes and your moisture glands, but it’s actually a whole systemic condition and can affect your organs as well, and I’ve had some organ interactions,” she explained. “It’s been a rough road.”
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While at Televerse 26 — a three-day conference celebrating all things television with access to insider secrets, craft expertise and innovations propelling television forward — Inaba told Fox News Digital it took doctors 10 years to diagnose her, admitting that even after learning her diagnosis, it took her around 10 to 15 years before she was able to “come to peace” with the idea that this is “something I’m gonna live with forever.”
She said managing her energy has become “a key factor in how I plan my day and what I can take on,” adding that while she hasn’t “been able to do as much lately,” she has “learned we don’t always have to do so much.”
The dancer and TV personality shared with her Instagram followers that she suffered a “medical emergency” while en route to New York in April after she “suddenly felt quite ill.”
WATCH: ‘DWTS’ JUDGE CARRIE ANN INABA WAS DIAGNOSED WITH AN AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE AFTER 10 YEARS OF SYMPTOMS
“While it seemed like food poisoning, I also suddenly broke out into a cold sweat, got dizzy and my arms went numb,” she wrote. “Normally I handle most of my health things on my own. 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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She added that she knew “it was time to ask for help” when her arms went numb during the flight.
Inaba later told USA Today that a flight attendant and a doctor on board helped her before paramedics took her to a hospital after the plane landed. She received fluids and was later released, continuing her recovery at her hotel.
