Candice Michelle Details Debilitating Panic Attacks
Former WWE superstar Candice Michelle has opened up about dealing with some scary panic attacks in her past.
When Candice Michelle worked for WWE from 2004 to 2009, female performers were known as divas. Candice was hired after auditioning in the Diva Search competition.
While some women that WWE hired in that era didn’t last very long due to their lack of wrestling background, Candice was a survivor. She went from being somebody that barely wrestled much to winning the Women’s Title from Melina at Vengeance: Night of Champions 2007 and holding the championship for 104 days.
After leaving WWE, Candice Michelle mostly stayed away from the wrestling business since she’s a married mother of three. She did appear on a Raw Reunion episode in 2019 when she “won” the comedic 24/7 Title, but for the most part, she’s been away from WWE.
During a revealing interview with WrestlingNewsco’s Steve Fall, Candice Michelle detailed having panic attacks in the past. She spoke about how she moved with her husband and three children from Los Angeles to Texas.
“We sold everything. We moved my family of five and a big boxer into an RV. Then we’re like, let’s make this fun, so we did 21 stops all the way from California to Texas and national parks and exploring. But every week my husband had to fly back to work and so I would manage the kids and the dog and it was wonderful to have this special time. But at the same time, I fell off my rituals a little, not really having my green shakes and drinking my water and, you know, doing my exercise the way I would.”
“I was in Junction, Colorado having a beautiful day and I went to the mall. I wasn’t feeling good. I was like, maybe I need to have lunch. You know, I haven’t had lunch yet. So I get lunch for me and my kids, my three daughters, and we’re sitting at a table and I could just feel it like it’s not going so good.
“Now I was like, maybe it’s blood sugar. I don’t have any issues with blood sugar, but I know people say when their blood sugar is low to have some candy, right?”
“So I said, ‘Go give me a candy out of the candy machine’, and I just wouldn’t even eat it. I saw this baker in a cupcake shop and I just went straight to him and I said, ‘Is there a medic in the mall? I’m not okay. I have three kids. I’m in a strange place. I have no family, friends, and I’m not okay. Can you come help me?’ He said, ‘I’ll call security.’
“I sat down and before you know it, I’m on the ground convulsing. I don’t pass out, but I’m not conscious. Like I can’t open my eyes. I know where I am, but I can’t see anything and I just keep saying. ‘I have three kids. I have three kids’, and I hear this lady saying ‘I’m here. I’m watching your kids.’ 911 comes.”
From there, Candice Michelle the testing she went through at the hospital.
“I go to the hospital. They run all the tests and X-rays and they say, ‘You had a panic attack’, and I said, ‘Panic attack? From what?’ I wasn’t worried about anything. I wasn’t scared about anything. You know, like, why did I have that? Then what happened after that was the most shocking thing for me. I had an attack every single day for the next four months.
“I mean, every single day, and for people that don’t know about this, it’s basically like your body and your mind runs a marathon every time you have an attack, and so I was just beat to a pulp.”
“So I started, you know, ‘What’s happening with me?’ I tried medications. That’s not my first protocol, but I was like, I’m dying, like, I’m not okay. Those made me worse. I was like, okay, so I tried a different one, and then I’m on supplements, and before you know it, I’m getting brain scans done to see what’s going on in my brain.”
“We found out it basically, I hit rock bottom. I have level three adrenal fatigue. I had no hormones in my body from the stress. It’s basically I was living in fight or flight for this entire journey, and to build that up, I can’t replace my adrenals with a supplement if I have no hormones in my body, and if I take hormones, the stress eats it before it deposits into my body.”
“So I’ve been on a vicious cycle for a year and a half. I mean, I couldn’t take my kids to school. I take one to school, pullover, and have to go through a panic attack to get my next kid to school. My husband was transitioning still, his work was in LA.
“So I’m full time by myself, not feeling safe, and it has just worn me out. Talk about visiting the depths of hell, and really mentally, like, not stable. I really had to go through that journey which has been really tough.”