Many celebrities have spoken out about their Lyme disease diagnoses over the years, and because the disease is easy to misdiagnose, many had to fight to be believed.
According to the Mayo Clinic, Lyme disease is transmitted by ticks and caused by four species of bacteria in the United States, Europe and Asia. In fact, it’s the most common tick-borne illness in those regions. Early symptoms include a rash in a bulls-eye pattern, fever, chills, fatigue, body aches, headache, neck stiffness and swollen lymph nodes. If the disease goes untreated, symptoms expand to severe joint pain and neurological problems such as meningitis and Bell’s palsy.
Justin Bieber told fans about his diagnosis in January 2020, and his wife, Hailey Bieber, rose to his defense on the same day. “For those who are trying to downplay the severity of Lyme disease, please do your research and listen to the stories of people who have suffered with it for years,” she wrote. “Making fun of and belittling a disease you don’t understand is never the way, all it takes is educating yourself.”
Nearly three years prior, Kelly Osbourne described in a memoir how she advocated for her health and sought out an alternative medicine practitioner who believed her. “I had started entering my symptoms into online quizzes, and the results kept coming back Lyme disease,” she explained. “For the first time, someone listened to me, and I got tested. The results were positive: I had stage III neurological Lyme disease. … I’ve learned to advocate for myself when it comes to my health, and I trust my intuition. If I think something is wrong, I refuse to let anyone dismiss it. And sadly, I stay the f–k away from reindeer.”
Yolanda Hadid also wrote a book about her struggle with the illness, 2017’s Believe Me: My Battle With the Invisible Disability of Lyme Disease. “I honestly don’t have the proper words in my vocabulary to describe to you the darkness, the pain, and the unknown hell I’ve lived these past years,” she said in a 2015 speech. “I actually did not live. I just existed in a jail of my own paralyzed brain. This disease has brought me to my knees. Many nights I wish to die. I pray that I will just wash away into heaven, where there will be no pain.”
Scroll down to read more about these celebs’ sagas and those of other Hollywood stars who’ve battled the disease.
The singer revealed via Instagram in January 2020 he was recently diagnosed with the condition. “It’s been a rough couple years but getting the right treatment that will help treat this so far incurable disease and I will be back and better than ever,” he wrote.
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The British reality star opened up about her diagnosis with stage III neurological Lyme disease in her April 2017 memoir, There Is No F--king Secret: Letters From a Badass Bitch. “I was relieved to finally know what was going on, but I was also scared s--tless,” she wrote.
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Yolanda, an alum of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, found out she had the disease in 2012. And she said in a speech at the Global Lyme Alliance Gala in October 2015 that her children Bella and Anwar had also been diagnosed with Lyme around the same time.
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The pop-punk singer got candid about her diagnosis in an April 2015 appearance on Good Morning America. “I went from doctor to doctor for about eight months until I found somebody that had the knowledge of Lyme disease and the experience of treating it,” she recounted.
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The Real Housewives of New Jersey alum was diagnosed with the disease in June 2016 after a friend told her to get checked out. “She shared with me her struggles with Lyme disease, and we shared many of the same symptoms,” she told Entertainment Tonight.
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The ’80s pop singer revealed her Lyme disease diagnosis in April 2014 after enduring harsh criticism about her appearance. “NEVER JUDGE… ANYONE!” she wrote in a blog post at the time. “You never know what someone is going through.”
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The Sopranos alum disclosed in January 2016 that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 15 years prior and Lyme disease the year before that.
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The Hall & Oates singer detailed his experience with the disease in a July 2016 HuffPost interview, saying he went to “probably about three” doctors who all missed the Lyme diagnosis.
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“I got it in Nantucket, Massachusetts, a couple of years ago,” the Zoolander star told The Hollywood Reporter in 2011. “My knee became inflamed and they couldn’t figure out what it was, then they found out it was Lyme. I’m symptom-free now, but Lyme doesn’t ever leave your system. It’s a really tough thing.”
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The Rich Girls alum wrote a memoir about her battle with the debilitating symptoms, 2016’s Bite Me: How Lyme Disease Stole My Childhood, Made Me Crazy, and Almost Killed Me. That May, she told Health magazine about her surprising reaction to her diagnosis. “It kind of felt like I won the lottery,” she said. “Which is so interesting! I finally felt validated for everything that my body was telling me.”
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