Missy Elliott Nearly Got Into A Car Crash Amid Graves' Disease Tremors
Missy Elliott is doing better than ever. In November, she became the first female hip hop artist to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. And this summer, the "Get Ur Freak On" is heading out on her first-ever headlining tour alongside Ciara, Busta Rhymes, and Timbaland.
"This is an incredible time in my life as I am experiencing so many milestone 'firsts,'" the 52-year-old told ABC News. "Fans have been asking me to tour forever but I wanted to wait until I felt the time was right because I knew if I was ever going to do it, I had to do it big, and I had to do it with family."
Missy, who has struggled with Graves' disease for years, is also feeling healthier than ever. Here's everything she's revealed about her condition, including her symptoms and weight loss.
Missy was diagnosed with Graves’ disease in 2008.
Missy first received her diagnosis in 2008, she told People three years later in 2011. Graves' disease is an immune system disorder that causes the overproduction of thyroid hormones, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) says. (Wendy Williams has also been diagnosed with it.)
Symptoms include weight loss (despite having an increased appetite), a rapid or irregular heartbeat, fatigue, shaky hands, and trouble tolerating heat, the NIDDK says.
She lost weight due to the condition.
Missy revealed that she was diagnosed after losing an “extreme” amount of weight in 2008. “It causes hair loss, your eyes bulge,” she told Billboard in 2015.
Missy’s friend, rapper-dancer Sharaya J, told the publication that Graves' disease "started to change her way of life."
"There were physical changes, extreme headaches, extreme weight loss," she added. "What that does to a person, being a public figure and knowing people are looking, judging? That’s a tough thing."
Missy struggles with tremors and high blood pressure.
In 2011, she also shared that she began having tremors due to her condition. And she nearly got into a car accident because of them. “I couldn't keep the brake down and almost crashed," she said, per CBS News. Missy added that the tremors were so bad at one point that she “couldn't even use a pen."
She's also struggled with high blood pressure, telling Billboard, "My blood pressure was always up from just overworking."
The disease even took her ability to physically write songs, she told Good Morning America last year. "I remember Monica coming to the house one day, and I couldn't even hold a pencil," she said. "She wrote the lyrics out for me…I felt helpless."
She took almost ten years off to recover.
After her diagnosis, Missy stepped out of the spotlight for nearly a decade to focus on her health, returning in 2015 to perform at the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show with Katy Perry. Months later, she released her first single in years, "WTF (Where They From)."
Missy later told audiences at Essence’s Black Women in Music event in 2018 that she took some time off since her "nervous system had broken all the way down."
"I didn't come up in here in a wheelchair," she said, per ABC News. "Nobody helped me get up here. I'm walking...by the grace of God."
Missy now manages her Graves’ disease with diet and exercise.
Missy “was on medication for a short while” but has been off it for “some time,” she told ABC News in a 2018 statement. Now, she said, she manages her condition with "diet and exercise." That same year, she detailed some of the dietary switches on IG, including drinking more water and cutting out juices and soda, per Parade.
Missy's tour kicks off on July 4.
You Might Also Like
