Wendy Williams is back on her show this week after a three week hiatus ordered by her doctor. She was told by an endocrinologist to take three weeks off after it was determined that she was having symptoms from Grave’s Disease, an autoimmune disorder that causes hyperthyroidism. She admitted to feeling irritable, having a rapid heartbeat and having trouble sleeping. Her eyes were also affected by the disorder, which can constrict the muscles behind the eyeballs. In preparation for her return, Wendy told People that she feels “100%” better now and that she regrets putting off her endocrinology checkup appointment. She describes her symptoms as “a storm going in my body.” She also said that she’s been having high blood pressure when it’s always been normal before.

“I feel a hundred percent better than I was a few months ago. I had a storm going in my body is the best way I can explain it,” says Williams.

“It came from me neglecting my six month endocrinology appointment. I have Graves disease and hyperthyroid. If you have one you don’t necessarily have to have the other, but I have both, and I was diagnosed with both 19 years ago,” she adds.

Williams also tells PEOPLE that Dr. Oz will be joining her on Monday’s episode in order to shed some additional light on her health.

Although Williams explains that her health situation “was pretty bad” before she took a hiatus from the show, she hadn’t necessarily thought her symptoms had anything to do with her thyroid, adding that she thought her mood swings were being caused by her menopause.

“With the menopause I wasn’t pointing a finger to any particular thing. I was just feeling like ‘All right, well I’m 53 and this is I guess how it’s supposed to be,’ ” she adds.

“Even in October when I passed out on Halloween, that particular day when the EMTs got there I had high blood pressure, which I never have high blood pressure,” she continues, adding that her blood pressure had never been high before.

Williams tells PEOPLE, “My blood pressure is always either perfect or low. It’s never high. But it was high and the lack of sodium so they were filling me with electrolytes, just fill, fill, fill, fill. I can’t believe that I got up after the commercial break and closed out the show.”

“I love doing the show, but I love me more. So I’m going to take care of me, so I can be there for them,” she adds.

[From People]

Wendy also told Good Morning America that she’s been taking care of everyone else besides herself and that this is common among women. “We, as women, particularly if — we have families, you know, we’re taking care of children, we’re taking care of, you know, home, our husbands, we take care of everybody but ourselves.

“And it’s really unfortunate. And that — that is something that has no socioeconomic thing to it. No matter what — no matter what the woman’s status is, it seems like we’re all in the same boat… I’m not doing that anymore.”

That’s so true that women care for everyone else first, although I would counter that it is socioeconomic as wealthy women have more resources and help at home. As for menopause, I’m having my period now after almost a year without it and it’s the worst. I am eating so much, I feel so crampy and I want to curl up in a ball. I was on the combination pill initially for the hormones, but a few months ago I switched to the progesterone only pill. While I’m not as anxious on the mini pill, it’s been awful to get my period again. As I’ve mentioned before, no one really prepares you for menopause and it comes with a host of problems you can’t imagine. Like Wendy, I have also been experiencing high blood pressure for some reason. So I understand why Wendy blamed her age and did not seek help until she had a crisis. It’s understandable for us to soldier on and assume there’s nothing we can do – especially when doctors can be dismissive of our symptoms, and when so many people depend on us.

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