Tisha Campbell says she went into remission from sarcoidosis after her divorce from Duane Martin

During your visit to podcast Joined by Shanti Dias, mental health advocate and music industry executive, Tisha Campbell shared how her health has improved since leaving her marriage and the stress that got here with it.

The actress and singer talked about her experiences with lung disease, specifically sarcoidosis, which affects black women more often than white women (and men). It is an inflammatory disease that causes growths, or granulomas, most frequently within the lungs, eyes and lymph nodes, and if allowed to progress (there are 4 stages) it could possibly result in organ damage.

She realized something was mistaken after the birth of her first son, Xena, and while working on the film in 2001. “I just couldn’t breathe. I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest,” she recalls. She thought she had pneumonia and took various medications to find relief. Shortly thereafter, she noticed “lesions” on her neck and arms and went to the doctor. After tests, a visit to a specialist and a lung biopsy, she was diagnosed with stage I sarcoidosis.

“[The doctor] he said you have four stages. We cannot allow the situation to worsen,” she said. “So I was on steroids for a long time and you know how steroids work. They sigh, they make you very, very sick in other ways, with insulin and things like that. So I was pre-diabetic and it was getting worse.”

When she gave birth to her second son, Ezekiel, after a second cesarean section, she learned that her sarcoidosis had progressed to stage 2. Concerned in regards to the disease, she spoke to comedian Bernie Mac, who had it in stage 4 and died from complications of pneumonia.

“He had the worst kind. He was getting oxygen between scenes, and I just didn’t wish to be him,” she said. “I knew that any form of stress causes any disease you suffer from. I began exercising really hard regardless that I could not breathe in any respect.

It wasn’t until 4 years ago that she noticed a change in her experience with the disease. She felt higher than ever and the symptoms disappeared.

“Everything helped. But I feel… I’m sorry, I actually have to inform the reality. I actually have been in remission for 4 years. They cannot find it in any respect at the bottom of my brain. I never got sick once,” she said. “I was very afraid of getting Covid because I thought if I got it I would die. Every cold took me to the hospital. Every sniffle. Allergies, it would just build up and I would get sick. But since the divorce, I haven’t been sick.”

“I don’t mean any harm,” she said, laughing. “But when you have any disorder or anything like that… stress is a killer. And it is connected to your body!”

Campbell filed for divorce from Duane Martin, whom she married in 1996 and had sons with him in 2018. Shortly after the marriage, she accused him of physical, mental and emotional abuse. The divorce was finalized in 2020. He recently announced his engagement to model Ashley Marie Jones in February. As for Campbell, she’s back on TV screens and is completely satisfied to feel like herself again, if not higher than before.

“I am very proud of my current mental and physical health,” she said on the podcast. “I spotted they were a mix. If you suffer from any disorder, it will be significant to know that it’s essential to do every thing.”