Heavy/Getty Tarek and Heather El Moussa
New mom Heather El Moussa, who stars in HGTV‘s “The Flipping El Moussas” with her husband, Tarek El Moussa, revealed on October 26, 2023, that she’s been quietly struggling with Hashimoto’s disease.
El Moussa, 36, told Today.com that the autoimmune disorder was triggered by her pregnancy with her and Tarek’s infant son Tristan, who was born in January 2023. But she didn’t know until recently what was causing her symptoms, from extreme exhaustion to a drastic drop in her milk supply.
“I remember saying to my assistant, ‘I feel like I’m dead,” she recalled.
Here’s what you need to know:
Heather El Moussa Says She Thought Her Exhaustion & Brain Fog Was the Result of Becoming a New Mom
When baby Tristan was four months old, Heather noticed while breastfeeding that her milk supply suddenly dropped. She went from pumping six ounces one day to a half an ounce the next, she told Today. She was also experiencing intense fatigue, which made filming her home flipping show with Tarek an arduous task.
“My brain was so tired,” she said. “My body was so tired. I was exhausted all the time and no amount of sleep could make it better. Filming was absolutely brutal because I could barely get out of bed.”
Heather’s lactation consultant, whom she’s seen since shortly after Tristan’s birth when he was struggling to latch due to tongue-tie, suggested that Heather get some blood work done.
When her doctor called to say she had Hashimoto’s disease, Heather said, “I was in total shock.”
Heather El Moussa Joins Other Celebrities Who’ve Been Diagnosed With Hashimoto’s Disease: About the Disorder
GettyHeather El Moussa
Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune disorder that affects the thyroid gland, according to Mayo Clinic, which is “a butterfly-shaped gland located at the base of the neck just below the Adam’s apple” and is responsible for producing “hormones that help regulate many functions in the body.”
With Hashimoto’s, the thyroid’s hormone-producing cells die, per Mayo Clinic, which typically leads to a decline in hormone production, known as hypothyroidism. Symptoms can include fatigue, problems with memory and concentration, muscle weakness and aches, depression, swelling and more. Heather told Today that her doctors said the change in her milk supply was also caused by the disorder.
Since starting a prescription medication for Hashimoto’s, which Mayo Clinic said is typically treated with a synthetic hormone called levothyroxine, Heather told Today she’s “feeling much better.”
Heather joins a list of Hollywood celebrities who have also been diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease in recent years. According to Women’s Health, they include supermodel Gigi Hadid, actress Gina Rodriguez, singer Leona Lewis and “Guardians of the Galaxy” star Zoe Saldana.
Before Heather and Tarek were married, he was diagnosed with a different autoimmune disorder, celiac disease, which causes the body to react negatively to gluten. Heather was with him when he got the news from his doctor on an episode of his show, “Flipping 101,” in 2021.
“Celiac disease was something Tarek had never even heard of (classic him 😆) and it’s something that a lot of you might not know about,” Heather wrote on Instagram at the time. “We knew something was making him extra inflamed and I was extra worried because as a lot of you might know, Tarek has had two types of cancers in the past and I wanted to be one step ahead of anything because obviously I want him to live forever and be as healthy as possible ❤️”