HGTV's Jasmine Roth Has Dealt With Some Seriously Scary Health Issues

Jasmine Roth's life might seem perfect from the outside, especially when you watch her transform dilapidated homes into cozy, functional living spaces on her popular reality show, "Help! I Wrecked My House," but she's been dealing with an array of scary health issues behind the scenes. While she initially kept her various diagnoses private, Roth decided to open up about her health journey in September 2024, shortly before she gave birth to her second daughter. In a candid essay, Roth shared with fans that she struggled with infertility during her second pregnancy and that this led to her discovering many other health issues that needed addressing. "I was hesitant to share my story at first, knowing that so many people have been through far worse than I have, but I also know that a lot of families are struggling with secondary infertility and if my experience can help even one person with some answers — it's worth it," she shared in an Instagram post.

In an essay published on Motherly, Roth explained that she had no idea second infertility was even something that could happen. She had no trouble getting pregnant with her first child, so when she still failed to fall pregnant the second time around after trying to conceive for seven months, she went to see her doctor, who told her, "You aren't healthy enough to get pregnant," Roth wrote. This led to a long journey of healing her body, and once she did finally get pregnant, Roth had to navigate additional challenges, like extended bed rest because of a subchorionic hemorrhage (a condition that is not usually serious and can resolve on its own but needs to be handled with caution, per Cleveland Clinic).

Roth's challenging pregnancy is but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the health conditions she's been dealing with, however.

In 2023, Jasmine Roth took to Instagram to let her followers know that she had a herniated disc in her neck, and like many other HGTV stars who have been open about their health issues, she didn't sugarcoat the experience. In a reel she posted, she made it clear that having a herniated disc literally made everything painful and that it was even hard to sleep. "Not being at 100% has been beyond frustrating but also made me very grateful for the health and strength I have," she wrote in the caption. This particular post was from March 2023, and in June of that year, Roth let her followers know that she still hadn't recovered.

According to the Spinal Restoration Center, herniated discs can take a long time to heal — those who are lucky might find their pain gets better within two weeks, while others might only experience relief after eight weeks. However, the injury can take up to six months to heal, which means pain might last longer. This was the case for Roth, who explained in an Instagram post that the pain had been interfering with her day-to-day life to such an extent that she found herself back in the hospital.

The most frustrating part of Roth's road to recovery was not knowing how she had sustained her injury. She opened up about this in another Instagram post, saying that having no idea how she hurt her neck left her a little paranoid and made accepting the injury even harder. "Everything I did, I wondered if it would trigger a new similar injury or undo any healing or progress my body had made. I was living in fear and confusion," she admitted. Luckily, she managed to heal up without any surgery.

While sharing her health journey with fans on Motherly, Jasmine Roth revealed that, while she was trying to figure out why she had trouble becoming pregnant, doctors discovered she had a serious heart condition. "My blood work showed extremely high genetic cholesterol," she explained. "I was immediately sent for a scan of my heart that showed build-up in the 'widowmaker' artery, the part of the heart that goes into cardiac arrest without warning." Cleveland Clinic explains that the widowmaker artery, in medical terms referred to as the left anterior descending (LAD) artery, is crucial for proper functioning of the heart because it supplies 50% of its blood flow. This makes cholesterol build-up in this artery life-threatening.

Roth's doctor immediately put her on medication and told her to stick to her healthy lifestyle. The news came as a big shock to Roth, but the discovery of her condition was a blessing in disguise. "I felt overwhelmed. My brain immediately started reeling, thinking about what could have happened," she admitted. "I filled the prescription on my way home that day, and within 3 weeks, I had so much more energy. I also had a major sense of relief, knowing that we'd caught this deadly condition early on."

Even though Jasmine Roth initially felt better after she started taking medication for her heart, she still didn't feel quite like herself, and her doctor ordered more tests to figure out what the problem might be and discovered that it was in Roth's gut — she had an E. coli infection which needed prompt treatment.

The Mayo Clinic notes that it's normal to have certain strains of E. coli present in the gut, but some strains can cause illness, with symptoms usually including vomiting, stomach cramps, and bloody diarrhea. It's relatively easy to get exposed to harmful strains of E. coli — undercooked beef and raw vegetables are common culprits, as well as contaminated water. E. coli can also spread between people. E. coli-related illness usually resolves within a week in healthy adults, but seniors, children, and those who are immunocompromised are often at risk of developing serious complications, like kidney failure.

Jasmine Roth's E. coli infection wasn't the only issue tests uncovered — she explained on Motherly that tests indicated her body was infected with high levels of mold. Per Healthline, mold exposure usually leads to allergy-like symptoms, and people often experience classic symptoms like sneezing, eye irritation, a runny nose with congestion, rashes, wheezing, lung irritation, coughing, a sore throat, and even headaches. While unpleasant, mold exposure isn't life-threatening, but for people with existing health conditions, symptoms and severity might be exacerbated. Some people might experience more adverse reactions to certain types of molds depending on whether or not they have an immune system response after coming into contact with the spores. Oftentimes, people's work exposes them to mold — those who work on farms, at lumber mills, or dedicate their time to woodwork and winemaking are at a high risk of exposure. Given that Roth renovates homes, it's possible she was exposed to several types of mold.

Amid sharing her second pregnancy journey with fans on Motherly, Jasmine Roth also opened up about dealing with hormonal imbalances, which her doctor said was the main reason she was struggling to get pregnant. "My ability to deal with stress was non-existent, and I had shockingly high cortisol levels," Roth explained.

The Cleveland Clinic notes that symptoms of high cortisol can be pretty debilitating. Women usually notice significant weight gain which tends to show up around their abdomen and face, and they might even notice that they have extreme hair growth across their body. Muscle weakness in the lower and upper extremities can also be a symptom of high cortisol. Additionally, high cortisol can lead to Type 2 diabetes, thanks to elevated blood sugar levels. High blood pressure is another symptom along with low bone density. Treating high cortisol levels can be fairly simple, but that doesn't mean it's easy. It largely consists of reducing stress, something that can be tough to do in this day and age.

Roth's doctor pretty much told her that she had to slow down and do some recon. "My doctor explained that not only did I need to physically deal with my hormonal imbalance by getting proper sleep, taking supplements and supporting my body's detox processes, she suggested that I had to unpack my childhood trauma and let go of limiting beliefs that were causing me shame, guilt and stress," Roth wrote. "I was incredulous! To me, it felt so unrelated, but I knew I didn't have time to question the process." In the end, doing the work paid off, and Roth managed to feel like herself again and get pregnant with her second child.