Sushmita
Sen
Discovered
Her
Adrenal
Glands
Stopped
Making
Cortisol
When
She
Fell
Violently
Ill
After
Shooting
For
Nirbaak
"I
finished
shooting
for
my
Bengali
film
Nirbaak,
and
I
fell
violently
sick.
We
could
not
figure
out
what
had
happened.
Then,
an
array
of
tests
happened
and
after
fainting
and
being
rushed
to
the
hospital,
we
discovered
that
my
adrenal
glands
had
stopped
making
cortisol.
I
was
lucky
to
come
out
of
that
fainting
spell
because
I
had
gone
into
an
adrenal
crisis."
The
Actress
Had
To
Take
Steroids
Every
8
Hours
To
Stay
Alive
"The
next
thing,
after
that,
would
have
been
my
organs
packing
up
one
by
one.
But
for
some
reason,
I
came
back
from
it
and
was
declared
steroid-dependent
for
life.
Which
means
that
I
had
to
take
a
medicine
called
hydrocortisone,
which
is
a
steroid,
every
eight
hours
to
stay
alive
because
my
body
no
longer
made
that."
The
Next
Two
Years
Were
Traumatic
For
Sushmita
"Needless
to
say,
started
the
next
two
years
of
so
much
of
trauma,
because
I'm
in
the
public
eye.
I
am
a
former
Miss
Universe
and
supposed
to
be
this
very
beautiful
woman.
I
have
hair
that's
falling
and
I'm
looking
at
it
every
day.
I
have
become
moon-faced
and
I
have
steroid
deposits.
You
have
to
understand,
this
is
not
a
steroid
that
you
take
while
working
out.
This
is
completely
different
and
makes
you
put
on
weight.
You
start
to
lose
your
bone
density
and
have
high
blood
pressure."
'I
Was
Very
Very
Sick,"
Recalls
Sushmita
"I
was
very,
very
sick
and
I
was
still
a
single
mother
with
two
kids
who
needed
me,
in
different
ways,
to
be
there.
I
just
was
really
mad
with
everything
going
on
around
me.
Then
I
had
a
moment
when
I
said,
'If
you
take
my
energy
away
from
me,
who
am
I?' Because
that's
who
I
recognise
myself
with.
So
now,
if
you
go
back
in
time
between
2014
and
2016,
you
will
see
a
very
different
Sushmita
in
all
my
public
appearances,
but
it
taught
me
a
lot."
The
Actress
Went
To
London
&
Germany
For
Her
Medical
Treatment
"There
is
a
test
called
the
synacthen
test,
which
they
did,
and
both
times,
they
declared
me
steroid-dependent
for
life.
I
was
like,
'I
won't
be
able
to
live
with
steroids
in
my
body,
because
I
can
see
the
side
effects
of
this
taking
place
already.'
I
couldn't
open
my
eyes
because
they
were
swollen
up.
My
eyesight
was
getting
weaker.
It
was
just
because
I
was
doing
60mg
of
steroids
every
day,
which
would
go
up
to
100mg
if
I
was
doing
a
press
conference
or
a
show
to
accommodate
energy."
Sushmita
Joined
Instagram
For
This
Reason
"During
this
time,
a
thought
crossed
my
mind.
'If
this
does
kill
me,
people
would
never
know
who
I
was.'
They
would
only
have
versions
of
this
article,
that
story.
So
one
night,
I
just
got
on
to
Instagram
and
opened
that
page.
The
reason
I
don't
follow
anybody
on
it
is
because
that's
not
what
I
got
on
to
it
for.
I
got
on
to
it
for
telling
you
my
life,
with
as
much
honesty
as
I
have
lived
it,
so
that
when
you
look
back,
you
can
say,
'That
is
the
Sushmita
I
knew!
Not
these
other
versions
of
her!'"
She
Refused
To
Live
Like
A
Patient
For
Those
Two
Years
"During
those
two
years,
I
made
a
promise
to
myself
that
I
would
go
down
fighting
and
not
as
a
patient.
I
was
told
by
all
the
doctors
that
I
need
to
change
my
profession
because
the
idea
was
that
the
stress
management
mechanism
was
no
longer
working
in
the
body.
So
if
you're
going
to
be
an
actor
or
in
the
public
eye,
it's
going
to
bother
you
that
you're
losing
your
hair,
face
and
skin.
You're
going
to
put
on
weight.
I
said,
'No,
I
won't
give
it
up.
I'm
going
to
do
it
as
much
as
I
can
and
then
be
done
when
I'm
done."
When
Sushmita
Had
To
Rushed
To
A
Hospital
In
Abu
Dhabi
"The
doctors
said
not
to
do
any
anti-gravity
because
I
had
ACTH
(adrenocorticotropic
hormone)
and
cortisol,
so
no
blood
rush
to
the
brain.
When
they
all
gave
me
bad
news,
the
first
thing
I
did
is
call
up
my
teacher
and
said,
'We
start
gymnastic
rings.
We
get
on
anti-gravity.'
Because
if
they
are
telling
me
that
this
is
the
only
thing
that
I
am
not
to
do,
I'm
going
to
do
it
because
I
don't
like
who
I'm
becoming
in
the
attempt
to
survive.
This
is
not
the
best
advice
for
everyone
suffering
from
different
things,
but
it's
what
my
body
needed
to
do.
Sushmita
"went
through
detoxing
and
everything
possible
medically",
but
got
introduced
to
aerial
silk,
despite
being
advised
against
it
by
her
doctors.
"I
went
back
to
yoga.
I
started
to
discover
everything
in
my
body
and
listen
to
it.
And
in
2016-end,
in
October,
I
finally
collapsed
badly.
When
I
collapsed,
I
was
rushed
to
a
hospital
in
Abu
Dhabi
and
God
bless
a
few
people
in
my
life
who
bent
backwards
to
take
care
of
me."
'I
Waited
For
This
Moment
To
Finally
Hear
These
Words'
"I
reached
Abu
Dhabi,
they
took
me
off
steroids
and
hospitalised
me.
They
did
the
synacthen
test
again
and
released
me.
I
was
on
the
way
to
Dubai
and
the
doctor
calls
up
and
says,
'Sushmita,
have
you
taken
the
pill
already?'
I
said,
no,
I
have
to
eat
something
and
then
I'll
take
it.
He
says,
'You
need
to
stop
right
now!'
I
go
like,
'Cold
turkey
on
steroids?
That's
a
bad
idea,
no?
Why
should
I
stop?'
He
says,
'Because
your
body
is
producing
it.
In
35
years
of
my
practice,
somebody
with
an
adrenal
failure
has
never
come
back
to
producing
cortisol
again!
I
cannot
believe
it.
I
tested
three
times
because
I
did
not
want
to
risk
giving
you
this
news
without
being
sure.
You
need
to
go
cold
turkey.
You're
going
to
suffer
withdrawals,
obviously.
But
I
would
prefer
you
suffer
the
withdrawals
than
subject
your
body
to
anymore
steroids."
"I
was
stumped.
I
waited
for
this
moment
to
finally
hear
these
words
but
when
it
finally
happened,
I
didn't
know
how
to
react
to
it
for
a
very
long
time.
I
stopped
the
steroids
from
that
point
and
from
October
2016
up
until
August
2018,
I
went
through
the
worst
withdrawal
possible.
Everything
was
affected
deeply,
so
it
was
not
good.
But
throughout,
I
went
back
to
training
vigorously.
I
have
been
blessed
to
find
doctors
in
India
and
abroad
and
there
have
been
people
who
went
out
of
their
way
to
get
me
back
on
my
feet."