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Celebrities Who Have Faced Lyme Disease Head-On

The media loves to observe the lives of celebrities like a hawk because millions of people around the world are interested in knowing about the happenings in the lives. In recent decades, celebrities have become more open about their life, and have become increasingly comfortable with sharing some of their deepest secrets. Unfortunately, not everything that goes on in the lives of celebrities is glitz and glamour, and many a times we find out something tragic about their life.

A major reason why many celebrities have become more vocal about issues is because they want to raise awareness about that particular issue. For example, many celebrities have come out of the closet simply to increase acceptability of gay people in the community, and truly acceptability of gay people has increased by a great extent in recent years.

Similarly, many celebrities have now started talking about Lyme disease, sharing their own struggles to increase awareness about the disease. Lyme disease is very complex, in that the symptoms cannot be categorically associated with it as they resemble a number of other medical conditions. That is why the disease is also referred to as the great imitator. Like any disease, an early diagnosis of Lyme disease is crucial to properly manage the disease.

grayscale photo of man walking on platform stage

A major reason why many celebrities have become more vocal about issues is because they want to raise awareness about that particular issue

To encourage people to get themselves checked for Lyme disease, many celebrities have shared their experiences.

The Struggle of Avril Lavigne

It was June of 2015 when the world came to know that Avril Lavigne was fighting Lyme disease, a fact she disclosed while at the show Good Morning America. This had caused her to stay in bed for many months prior to the interview.

According to Lavigne, her disease was misdiagnosed several times as either depression or chronic fatigue syndrome.
To help people avoid the turmoil she had gone through, Lavigne has launched the Avril Lavigne Foundation, an organization with the mission to increase awareness about the disease in addition to some other illnesses.

The Mis-Diagnosis of Ben Stiller

Ben Stiller first told reporters about his Lyme disease back in 2011. According to him, he recognized that there was a problem when his knee suddenly became inflamed without any apparent cause, and the doctors found it difficult to diagnose the cause which was ultimately discovered to be Lyme disease. Although he is no longer exhibiting any symptoms of the disease, Stiller understands that Lyme will never leave his system.

It was June of 2015 when the world came to know that Avril Lavigne was fighting Lyme disease, a fact she disclosed while at the show Good Morning America.

Shania Twain and Her Battle

The ‘90s music arena was dominated by the likes of Shania Twain until she was struck by Lyme disease in the early 2000s which led her to develop anomalies in her vocal chords. According to her interview with CBC back in 2017, Twain revealed that she contracted the disease after suffering a tick bite while on tour in the Norfolk, Virginia, area, and the reason why she is so sure of that is because she saw the tick with her own eyes, falling off after having bitten her.

Twain ultimately developed a condition called dysphonia, which is a neurological disorder that impacts the vocal chords. Her efforts now are directed towards warning others about the impact of the disease, as she continues to fight it herself.

No Diagnosis for Kelly Osbourne

According to Kelly Osbourne’s book which she published back in 2017, the former reality superstar had been suffering from Lyme disease possibly since the early 2000s, although she did not get a proper diagnosis until around a decade later. In the meantime, since symptoms of the disease had begun to surface, doctors kept prescribing medication to deal with symptoms like stomach aches or a sore throat without actually identifying the underlying issue.

Twain revealed that she contracted the disease after suffering a tick bite while on tour in the Norfolk, Virginia, area, and the reason why she is so sure of that is because she saw the tick with her own eyes, falling off after having bitten her

Alec Baldwin Opened Up

It was back in 2011 that Alec Baldwin revealed that he had been hit by Lyme disease and it was now a part of his life. However, after that, he did not bring it up until 2017 when he spoke at an event aimed at supporting the Bay Area Lyme Foundation. In his speech, Baldwin said that he had suffered from tick bites twice in his life, the first one around two decades ago.

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