PLL's Sasha Pieterse Details Body Dysmorphia Battle After 70-Lb Weight Gain

Sasha Pieterse spoke candidly about her health journey, revealing the private struggle she endured while battling a number of symptoms at the same time she was starring on a hit TV show.

“I started Pretty Little Liars when I was 12,” Pieterse, 29, pointed out while chatting with cohosts Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi and Mary Alice Haney on the Tuesday, August 19, episode of the “SHE MD” podcast. “By 17, I had gained 70 pounds and was silently battling seizures, irregular periods, acne and hair loss, while playing an ‘It Girl’ on TV.”

The actress became a household name while portraying Alison DiLaurentis on the mystery teen drama series, which aired for seven seasons from 2010 to 2017.

“I really started struggling with something, I didn’t know what it was,” Pieterse shared. “I had also just been diagnosed with epilepsy, which nobody knew until very recently. So I was dealing with seizures with no cause — and I started gaining weight.”

Sasha Pieterse Jaxon / MEGA

She admitted to going through “waves of depression” while dealing with “body dysmorphia and disordered eating.”

Pieterse noted that she had also been experiencing irregular periods since she was 10 years old, and went to 17 different gynecologists to try to understand why it wasn’t improving.

“They all said I was just eating too much or not exercising enough, even though I was doing everything right,” she explained, revealing that her concerns were often brushed off. “If I ate more salads, I would’ve turned green.”

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It wasn’t until she was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) in her teens that she breathed a sigh of relief since it finally gave her the answers she had been looking for.

“I’m not crazy, there is actually something that’s going on with me — now I have a label,” Pieterse shared about feeling validated, revealing that she was her own greatest advocate. “Now I know that there are steps I can take to try and regulate it and move forward.”

In order to maintain a well-balanced lifestyle, Pieterse has incorporated low-impact workouts like pilates and a low-fat diet, which help regulate her metabolism and hormones. She also swapped out high-protein, low-carb products.

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These days, she is also focused on being the best mom she can be to son Hendrix Wade Shaeffer, 4, who she shares with husband Hudson Sheaffer.