‘Blue Bloods’ Star Reveals Horrifying Health Struggle and Recovery

Blue Bloods star Jennifer Esposito is reflecting on a yearslong health battle that she says disrupted her acting career, caused severe depression and ultimately led to a psychiatric hospitalization before she was diagnosed with celiac disease.

The 53-year-old actress discussed her experience during an appearance on Maria Menounos’ Heal Squad podcast. Esposito recalled being a young actor in New York when unexplained physical and mental symptoms became so severe that she had to put her career on hold.

“I had a whole life beginning in the city, and I was a young actor and I had to stop everything,” Esposito said.

She said she became severely depressed and experienced suicidal thoughts while doctors struggled to determine the cause of her symptoms. At one point, she said doctors considered shock treatment because she was not responding to medication.

“They wanted to give me shock treatment at one point because I wasn’t responding,” she said. “I’m very sensitive to medication. It was a really bad time.”

Esposito said her physical health also deteriorated while she was working on ABC’s Samantha Who? from 2007 to 2009. She recalled losing her hair and fingernails and said a tooth fell out during filming.

“A tooth fell out of my mouth, like literally in the middle of a scene,” she said. “I was mortified but also had been so ill that I just — I went hysterical. Like, somebody has to help me.”

She said doctors considered several possible diagnoses, including multiple sclerosis and irritable bowel syndrome, while one therapist attributed her symptoms to stress.

“Talk about gaslighting,” Esposito said.

Eventually, she began looking for a connection between her symptoms and nutrition. After years of searching for answers, she said a doctor diagnosed her with celiac disease. According to Esposito, the illness had become so severe that her liver was failing.

Her recovery was difficult. She said she was severely deficient in vitamin D and experienced extreme sensitivity to light and other stimulation. At one point, she said, she was taking four Klonopin pills a day and still trembling.

Esposito later described being taken to a psychiatric ward after telling a doctor, “You got to keep me here because I’m jumping out of my skin. I’m going to jump out the window.”

She said the experience was terrifying and lasted seven hours.

Now, Esposito said she has changed her lifestyle and no longer experiences panic attacks. Looking back, she considers the diagnosis life-changing.

“Celiac disease saved my life. One hundred percent,” she said.