'Slept 10 days in 3 months': Gymnast McKayla Maroney says she dealt with severe insomnia
Olympic gold-winning gymnast McKayla Maroney says she is battling severe insomnia, revealing that she slept only 10 days in a three-month time period.
The now 27-year-old discovered she has a histamine intolerance, and posted on her social media site to update her life and what she says are her "wacko health issues."
“I’m just gonna share about it, and hopefully help someone!!”
"Hopefully you had a hot girl summer because I definitely did not. I had a summer of severe insomnia," Maroney wrote. "I slept a total of 10 days out of three months. I’d like to say it was a nightmare, but you have to sleep to have nightmares."
Histamine plays a role in causing allergic and anaphylactic symptoms, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
In the Instagram video, an emotional Maroney breaks down and says, "I'm so tired of not sleeping... Like it's been a month of not sleeping."
She also posted pictures of her taking a food sensitivities test and getting blood drawn.
“Thankfully I did finally find out I have histamine intolerance, which was causing a massive adrenaline problem for me — and when it got really bad, high histamine foods made me feel internally itchy, like I was getting bit by mosquitoes all night,” she wrote.
Maroney says she has been getting some sleep lately, but her health issues are far from over.
“I still have pretty bad anemia, (low iron) I’m trying to get better from — and I found out high oxalate foods (like spinach, almonds, potatoes) give me massive fatigue, and weird neuropathy issues at night, that was also ruining my sleep,” Maroney said.
Maroney was part of the United States women's gymnastics team, nicknamed the Fierce Five, that won a gold medal in the artistic team all-around event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gymnast McKayla Maroney says she has dealt with severe insomnia
