Golnesa Gharachedaghi, 35, aka GG from Shahs of Sunset, recently sat down for an interview with People to talk about Rheumatoid Arthritis. Here's what she had to say:
"It's very confusing when you've never heard of a disease before and all of a sudden you're supposed to in one second accept that you have it. I can't lift things the way a 35-year-old should be lifting things. I can't hold my phone for long periods of times without my hands going numb or shaking. I can't sit in the car for too long. You're tired all the time. It doesn't matter how much you sleep – you're always tired."
On her excessive drinking:
"I wasn't mentally ready for [the diagnosis]. I turned to the bottle for pain and mental management. I was drinking a lot. And when I say 'a lot,' I mean I was literally waking up in the morning and downing a bottle of vodka ... I just wanted to numb out. I would just drink and drink until I couldn't feel my body. Because you know, when we drink, it's like we can do anything – we're invincible. So I was dancing on tables and then I would wake up the next day and not be able to walk for the whole day. But those moments felt so good to me when I was in them that the following day didn't matter. I just wanted to feel that numbness again. It became obvious that it was a problem. I just wanted to be able to cope without using alcohol."
On going to rehab, which she completed 5 weeks agp:
"The spiritual retreat really changed me. You're out in the wilderness, you just meditate from morning 'til night, you do spiritual counseling, you do a lot of self-work. It's all about cleansing the liver and the soul. I'm learning different ways of living. It's a different lifestyle. It's been an amazing transition for me."
On starting chemo for her RA:
"Physically, it's more okay than I thought it was going to be. I have a lot of weave in my hair. I try not to pay attention to what's falling out – I'll just get more weave put in."
On her Shahs castmates having doubts about her diagnosis:
"I should be grateful to these people. They gave more attention to RA! Now more people know what RA is, they're Googling it. Like, wow, this disease that so many people have never heard of is now getting so much attention. That's amazing."
On why they doubted her:
"This disease is something they've known from day one that I've had, and all of a sudden, the more and more attention I was getting – that's where it started. They wanted their storyline to jump in on it. The issue was – and is an ongoing pattern season after season – whenever Reza [Farahan] goes against someone, he takes all his puppets along with him. So right now, because the mustache is against me, the others kind of wag their tails, like bitches."
On her new fighting style:
"I mean, don't get me wrong – that fire is still inside of me, and the fire will definitely show up when it needs to, but let's just say I've buried the knives. If a situation ever occurs, I know now how to use my words instead of my fists."
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