Sex And The City Star Kim Cattrall Has Faced Some Serious Health Issues

In "Sex and the City," Kim Cattrall's character Samantha Jones received the upsetting news in Season 6 that she had breast cancer. While this storyline was fictional, the Canadian actress' life has not been free from her fair share of health struggles. Cattrall's tragic life story includes battling multiple conditions like Hashimoto's disease, a chronic autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid gland, per Cleveland Clinic. Cattrall was diagnosed with Hashimoto's in 1998 right after "SATC"'s freshman season hit the small screen. Dealing with any type of medical ailment during such a hectic time can be daunting, but navigating this diagnosis was likely even more grueling for Cattrall due to its common symptoms of weight gain and fatigue, which isn't ideal for a busy actress. 

In 2012, she reflected on her illness to Express, telling the outlet: "I'd always had a lot of energy, but it dropped, and I knew that something was off and I had some hair loss. If your thyroid is out of whack you're screwed as it's your body's thermometer and you can't function." Cattrall further revealed that she takes the hormone thyroxine to treat the disease and undergoes biannual blood tests to monitor her thyroid levels. But while it seemed she was able to keep her Hashimoto's disease at bay while filming "SATC," a later health concern would prompt her to unexpectedly step away from a job.

Kim Cattrall isn't one to quit when things get tough, which may be why she's worth so much. But in 2015, she resigned from a play she was doing in London less than a week before opening night. In a statement (via The Guardian), Cattrall said: "With great sadness and at the advice of my doctors, I will not be able to continue with the Royal Court's production of 'Linda.'"

The press framed her resignation as a "mystery illness," but as Cattrall revealed on BBC's Radio 4 Woman's Hour in April 2016, she was diagnosed with exhaustion due to insomnia. While some may shrug off her condition, the "Glamorous" star had let her own thoughts and worries — which included dwelling on her father's death, his dementia diagnosis, her own mortality, and her status as an unmarried, childless woman — send her into all-night spirals that drastically affected her ability to function.

Cattrall began going to cognitive behavioral therapy and pressed pause on her fast-paced lifestyle to help her recover. "Letting go of all that was the hardest part but I realized the work that I really needed to do was more important than the play — it was work on my sanity," she told the broadcast. Fortunately, she was seemingly able to heal pretty quickly and Cattrall has continued to pick up new acting gigs without compromising her sleep. Now, if only she'd join the "Sex and the City" reboot.