Jennifer Lopez "felt physically paralysed" when she suffered crippling panic attacks brought on by exhaustion.
Jennifer Lopez used to suffer terrifying panic attacks.
The 52-year-old singer/actress has opened up about a dark time during her 20s when she was working too hard and surviving on less than five hours sleep a night - revealing stress and tiredness brought on terrifying symptoms which affected her eyesight and made her feel "completely frozen".
In the latest edition of her 'On the JLo' newsletter. Jennifer wrote: "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. I was in my late 20s and I thought I was invincible.
"Until one day, I was sitting in a trailer, and all the work and the stress it brought with it, coupled with not enough sleep to recuperate mentally, caught up with me."
Jennifer went on: "(I) went from feeling totally normal to thinking about what I needed to do that day and all of a sudden I felt as if I couldn't move."
I was completely frozen (and) couldn't see clearly" adding the symptoms "started to scare me and the fear compounded itself."
She found out the symptoms were caused by a panic attack as she jugged her acting with her budding music career - and the revelation prompted her to make some big life changes.
Jennifer added: "Now I know it was a classic panic attack brought on by exhaustion, but I had never even heard the term at the time ... My security guard on set came in and picked me up and drove me to the doctor. By the time I got there, I could at least speak again and I was so terrified I thought I was losing my mind. I asked the doctor if I was going crazy. He said, 'No, you're not crazy. You need sleep ... get 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, don't drink caffeine, and make sure you get your workouts in if you're going to do this much work.'"
The 'On The 6' star added: "I realised 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."
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