Carly Pearce recently shared that she had to scale back her live performances.
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Back in 2024, the "Never Wanted To Be That Girl" singer was diagnosed with recurrent pericarditis. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the chronic condition is an inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart. Symptoms include sharp chest pains, shortness of breath, and fatigue.
"I had a really debilitating chest pain that was only relieved if I bent over like this (leaning forward), and that's a classic symptom of pericarditis," said Pearce. "And then when you lay back, it gets way worse, because that wall is kind of inflamed around your heart. I just had a really intense shortness of breath."
As reported by Fox News, the condition also had an emotional effect on Pearce.
Carly Pearce Thought She Would Have a Heart Attack
Pearce said when she first received her diagnosis, it made her fearful for her future.
She explained, "I think just when you have any kind of diagnosis, I think it can be scary and give you anxiety about, 'Is it going to happen again? Am I OK?' For me, it was 'Oh my gosh, is my heart OK? Am I going to have a heart attack?'"
But Pearce found the best way to overcome the panic was to do plenty of research. Still, she explained that ChatGPT or WebMD probably isn't the first place to look.
"My biggest piece of advice for anybody is: Listen to your body, and be your own advocate. ... A lot of doctors dismissed me, and I was persistent until I got a diagnosis," she said in 2024.
Pearce Had to Make Some Changes
Living with pericarditis meant that Pearce had to make some life adjustments. Along with scaling down the intensity of her live shows, she also changed her exercise routine.
"I don't need to turn the treadmill up to 12, or I don't need to look over and try to outwork every single person in a class. I think not running as hard or all of those things," Pearce explained. "Just taking care of my body and listening to my body instead of thinking that it always needs to be on 10."
No word on whether her condition affected the filming of Pearce's steamy music video with Riley Green, but she had something else to get her through the shoot.
She said, "I did finish a bottle of champagne at the end of the day, so I guess it got easier for me because I was feeling better."
