'Big Brother' Contestant Leaves Show Due To Sexual Assault PTSD

08/31/2017 04:42 pm EDT

Following a difficult time on the set of Big Brother, contestant Megan Lowder opted to exit the show, and now she's opening up about why.

According to People, Lowder spoke to journalists, saying, "When I was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, I was sexually assaulted and I got really bad PTSD from it."

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Lowder went on to explain how that tragedy impacted her time on the show.

Elaborating, she said, "So in the house… I had a lot of guys yelling at me and attacking me and it started really affecting me and making my anxiety severe and I was starting to get physically ill. I was throwing up, I had diarrhea, I was nauseous all the time."

Lowder took to Twitter to thank all the people supporting her, writing, "Thank you guys for the support I love all of the fans and I'm sorry of I took someone's spot that was more deserving than me."

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She then added, "The support is so overwhelming. I don't even know what to say. Thank you all."

According to reports, Lowder spent some time in the hospital to recover from the symptoms of her PTSD but is now with her family in Cathedral City, California.

"I was expecting to have one of the funnest summers of my life," she said. "I did have fun. I had a great time, until all that just got the best of me."

Big Brother is in its 19th season and had its two-day season premiere on Wednesday and Thursday of this past week.

Lowder appeared in those episodes, but her exit will not be acknowledged until Sunday, July, 2nd.

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