What is grand mal seizure? Brooke Shields opens up about health scare before her one-woman show in NY, says 'now my salt is okay'
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Brooke Shields provided a health update after her revelation in September about experiencing a grand mal seizure.
According to the Mayo Clinic, grand mal seizure, also known as tonic-clonic seizure, "causes a loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions" which is usually caused by epilepsy but can also be triggered by other health problems like very low blood sugar, a high fever or a stroke.
Brooke Shields recalls the seizure before her performance in New York
View this post on Instagram
At the Glamour Woman of the Year Awards in New York City where she was being honored, Shields told People, "I'm fine."
"I mean, now my salt is okay," said the 58-year-old actress, adding "I didn't know it was all about salt and they were like, eat potato chips and I'm like, really?."
"I didn't know the serious nature of flooding your system, flooding yourself with the necessary sodium that one needs, and how your kidneys can malfunction. I didn't know. I just kept thinking I was hydrating," she continued.
The 'Sahara' actress first revealed her health issue in her Glamour 2023 Women of the Year cover story.
At the time, Shields disclosed that the seizure took place before her performance of 'Previously Owned by Brooke Shields' show at the famed performing arts venue and restaurant Cafe Carlyle in New York City.
View this post on Instagram
"I was preparing for the show, and I was drinking so much water, and I didn't know I was low in sodium," she said of her one-woman show.
"I was waiting for an Uber. I get down to the bottom of the steps, and I start evidently looking weird, and [the people I was with] were like, ‘Are you OK?'"
The 58-year-old actress further said that she left her home the night of the seizure but her companions kept asking her if she was "all right."
Shields then walked to a corner outside and before heading into NYC restaurant L'Artusi, she felt discombobulated.
View this post on Instagram
"I go to the sommelier who had just taken an hour to watch my run-through. Everything starts to go black. Then my hands drop to my side and I go headfirst into the wall," she explained.
Brooke Shields said she was 'frothing at the mouth, totally blue' when she had the seizure
Shields said when the seizure began, she was "frothing at the mouth, totally blue, trying to swallow my tongue."
"The next thing I remember, I'm being loaded into an ambulance. I have oxygen on. And Bradley f*****g Cooper is sitting next to me holding my hand," she stated.
View this post on Instagram
The actress then revealed that doctors determined the cause of her seizure was "low sodium" which occurred after she consumed "too much water."
"I drowned myself. And if you don't have enough sodium in your blood or urine or your body, you can have a seizure," she said.
