Joe Manganiello shares difficult health journey with photos from hospitalisation

Joe Manganiello has shared photos documenting his difficult health journey, revealing that he lost 60 pounds following surgery to remove his large intestine during a seven-year battle with an autoimmune disease.

The Magic Mike actor, 49, posted the images on Instagram on October 15, days after releasing his memoir, Bloodlines, in which he detailed his prolonged illness and its impact on his life.

“In the days following the amputation of my large intestine, my weight began to plummet,” Manganiello wrote, explaining that he lost 60 pounds in the two weeks after surgery. He also shared images showing his recovery, including a photograph taken during his hospitalisation and pictures documenting complications affecting his abdomen and skin.

Manganiello said he experienced several symptoms throughout his illness, including digestive tract ulcers, severe abdominal pain, fevers, blistering rashes, headaches and extreme fatigue. The pain became so intense that he sometimes struggled to walk.

The actor explained that his symptoms began around the time of his marriage to Sofía Vergara in 2015. Despite undergoing numerous tests and trying medications commonly used to treat Crohn’s disease and colitis, doctors initially struggled to find an effective treatment.

In an interview with People published on October 7, Manganiello described how his condition continued to worsen. He also discussed relying on pain medication to manage his symptoms and the emotional challenges this created during his 13 years of sobriety.

Manganiello said his health struggles also affected his mental well-being. He later sought help from a shaman in Santa Monica, which he described as a turning point in his personal journey.

The actor, who is now engaged to Caitlin O’Connor, has opened up about his illness in his memoir, offering a detailed account of the physical and emotional challenges he experienced over seven years.