Julie Bowen thought she was 'going to die' after getting pacemaker at 29

Modern Family star Julie Bowen has opened up about getting a pacemaker when she was just 29.

The actress, now 55, revealed that she has sick sinus syndrome, a type of rhythm disorder that affects the heart's natural pacemaker.

"I have a low resting heart rate," she said on the Inside You podcast with Michael Rosenbaum, telling him that her pacemaker is set so "that it can't go below 45."

She went on to explain how she credits her sister, Annie, for helping her be diagnosed over 25 years ago.

"She was at that time in her life when she, I guess, she always carried around a stethoscope. And we were on vacation, and she was like, 'I wanna listen to this.' She was like, 'That is not what they've been telling you, and it's not runner's heart or whatever. That means you need to go to a cardiologist,'" she said. "She would not let it go."

The next month, Julie was spurred into action.

"I shot the pilot of 'Ed' and immediately had to go get a pacemaker afterwards," she recalled "I was like, 'Oh my God. My life is over. This is so weird. I'm gonna die.' I don't know what I thought it was, because I was 29."

"They said I wouldn't probably die of it, but I'd start passing out," Bowen clarified. "There was a vague feeling ... whenever I was relaxed, really relaxed, I'd be, like, watching TV or movie."

She told how doctors convinced her to get the intervention.

"They said, 'You're gonna be driving a car, and you're gonna pass out, and you're gonna kill somebody.' And I was like, 'Oh, well, then give me the Goddamn pacemaker.'"