Brooke Shields recalls insulting question from doctors after grand mal seizure recovery

Brooke Shields shares experience of being asked an insulting question by doctors: "You wouldn't say that to a man."

On Monday, January 13, model-actress Brooke Shields appeared on Good Morning America and discussed why she chose to address women's experiences in the healthcare system in her new book, Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old. She opened up about an unsettling experience following a grand mal seizure she had years ago, recalling an insensitive question asked by two male doctors at the time.

“I had a seizure not too long ago and the two male doctors said, ‘Are you restricting yourself for dietary reasons?’ And I was like, ‘No. I’m a 59-year-old woman who looks younger bloated. Give me some potato chips!’ You wouldn’t say that to a man.” 

Shields first revealed details of her health scare in her Glamour 2023 Women of the Year cover story. She shared that the seizure happened just before a performance of her one-woman show, Previously Owned by Brooke Shields, at New York City's Café Carlyle, a renowned performing arts venue. “I was preparing for the show, and I was drinking so much water, and I didn't know I was low in sodium,” she recalled. 

Shields explained that on the night of the seizure, she had left her home but was repeatedly asked by her companions if she was “all right” and needed some coffee. 

“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,” the actress described. This is when the grand mal seizure began, with Shields recalling it as “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---ing Cooper is sitting next to me holding my hand,” she added.

Doctors later determined that the seizure was caused by “low sodium” after Shields consumed “too much water.” She explained, “I drowned myself. And if you don't have enough sodium in your blood or urine or your body, you can have a seizure.”