Raquel Rodriguez on her skin condition struggles

Raquel Rodriguez opened up about the struggles she faced due to a skin condition that sidelined her WWE career for several months.

“It was definitely the hardest part of my life because it was like everything just crumbled at once. I’m getting a rash on my skin, so I’m looking in the mirror and I’m not recognizing who I’m seeing. I’m still trying to wrestle… but I can feel people looking at me, and my confidence was starting to wane.”

She first experienced the condition in November but continued wrestling, culminating in a severe reaction during a trip to Australia. “Somewhere in between the makeup at RAW and the flight to Australia, my face just blew up. I woke up on the plane… By the time we landed in Australia, it was not down. I had to see a doctor and get a steroid shot just to help get me home.” Despite the pain, she persevered through matches without makeup, as her skin remained too sensitive.

Returning home brought more challenges, though her family’s support was invaluable. “There’s something about being a grown-up with your dream job, and then having all of that just taken away. People in my life that were supposed to be my friends… just kind of disappeared. I kept telling myself… this is a challenge of my faith, my ability to fight back, and to keep pushing forward… Nothing lasts forever, right?”

Rodriguez had to reevaluate her lifestyle and health. “I had to learn how to regulate my stress, cook better, and make better choices with supplements and foods… My body wasn’t detoxing like it was supposed to.” She faced conflicting diagnoses, from “mass cell activation syndrome” to eczema, and attributed the condition to a breakdown in her nervous and immune systems caused by multiple stressors.

She admitted fearing her career might be over. “Oh, yeah, 100%… all of a sudden it just stops… You’re like, I’ve been doing this for so many years. This has been my dream, and now it’s just gone. What do I do? What’s next?” Despite these fears, she found perspective, acknowledging, “Wrestling is the best thing ever… but I know I can’t do it forever. My body won’t allow me to do it forever. It was like having a breakup with wrestling, but not fully. This might be harder than a real breakup.”

Source: The Takedown on SI