Jennifer Lopez has been a superstar for decades. But the “American Idol” judge recalled a terrifying health scare early in her career that caused her to lose her sight temporarily.
Jennifer Lopez Health Scare
During a recent appearance on the “SmartLess” podcast, Jennifer opened up about the health scare on the set of her 2002 film, “Enough,” that left her hospitalized.
“I overworked myself so bad, when I didn’t realize my limits,” Lopez told Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett. “I was doing ‘Enough,’ [and] I think I had done like four movies in a row. I had recorded my second album or something like that—so, the ‘JLo’ album, which was really big.”
She continued, “I was working, filming every day as you guys know what that is. You know all the hours. And then I would go into the studio at night and then on the weekends I had junkets or video shoots or whatever. And I remember not clocking that I had worked like 98 days in a row without taking a day off, right?”
According to the “Wedding Planner” actress, she reached her limit one day on set, recalling she felt a “pitter patter in [her] heart.”
“It’s like rising, and I go and finally it got to the point, I was like, I really feel nervous. I had the little girl in ‘Enough,’ and I was like, ‘I’m sorry, sweetie. I feel a little weird today,'” she said, likely referring to Tessa Allen.
Upon returning to her trailer, Lopez said, “I sat down, and all of a sudden I just couldn’t see.”
Her body tensed up to the point that she could not move. Lopez’s security guard rushed her to the hospital, where her doctor told her her body “shut down,” which was caused by exhaustion.
How the Panic Attack Changed Her Life
Lopez previously detailed her exhaustion-induced panic attack during a 2022 edition of her “On the JLo” newsletter.
“There was a time in my life where I used to sleep 3 to 5 hours a night. I’d be on set all day and in the studio all night and doing junkets and filming videos on the weekends,” she wrote, per People. “I was in my late 20s and I thought I was invincible.”
She called the experience a “classic panic attack brought on by exhaustion.”
She continued, “I realized how serious the consequences could be of ignoring what my body and mind needed to be healthy — and that’s where my journey to wellness began.”
In the decades since, the multi-hyphenate has become known for her healthy lifestyle, following the doctors order to “get 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, don’t drink caffeine, and make sure you get your workouts in,” as well as largely abstaining from alcohol and tobacco, and maintaining a healthy diet.
“We hear this all the time, but you have to love yourself. I had to figure out what that means,” she told Vogue in 2018. “I thought I did, but that means taking care of yourself, being your own keeper, making good choices for yourself, figuring out negative patterns, figuring out where you’re hurt and healing, all of those things from your past.”
