The Immune Disorder That Made HGTV’s Heather Rae El Moussa Dread Filming

Hashimoto’s disease originates in the thyroid gland in the lower neck and affects the body’s ability to produce hormones essential for proper body functioning. Symptoms of the condition can include intense fatigue, weight gain, thinning hair, joint pain, and constipation. If left untreated, the chronic inflammation disease can permanently damage the thyroid. The causes of this disease are largely unknown, although research has found Hashimoto’s disease is more prevalent in women than men, per MedlinePlus.

“The Flipping El Moussas” star Heather Rae El Moussa’s first indication something was wrong was Hashimoto’s disease’s most prevalent symptom: exhaustion. “I remember saying to my assistant, ‘I feel like I’m dead,’” El Moussa recalled to Today. This made it difficult for El Moussa not only to continue her professional career as a model and TV personality but also to take care of herself and her newborn son.

“I was like, I’m probably just foggy because of mom brain,” she continued. But it was a dramatic decrease in her milk supply — from six ounces per day to barely half an ounce — that caused her lactation specialists to recommend she visit a doctor. Following her diagnosis, El Moussa was prescribed a synthetic hormone called levothyroxine that functions like the T-4 hormone typically produced by the thyroid. The HGTV star said the medication has her “feeling much better.”