Updated September 14, 2017 at 6pm EST: Lady Gaga just posted on Twitter that she has been taken to the hospital, clarifying that “its [sic] not simply hip pain or wear & tear from tour” but that she’s in severe pain. As of now, it is unclear if this hospital visit is related to her fibromyalgia.
https://twitter.com/ladygaga/status/908405525452345350?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sheknows.com%2Fhealth-and-wellness%2Farticles%2F1136070%2Flady-gaga-fibromyalgiaOriginal story:
Throughout her rise to fame, Lady Gaga has never been shy about discussing very personal matters, including mental illness and sexuality. She has also spoken about living with chronic pain, and yesterday, she told us more: She has fibromyalgia.
In a tweet referring to her new documentary Gaga: Five Foot Two, which will be available on Netflix starting Sept. 22, the singer confirmed that fibromyalgia is the cause of her chronic pain, and wrote, “I wish to help raise awareness and connect people who have it.” She followed up by tweeting: “I am praying that more and more people come forward and we can all share what helps/hurts so we can help each other.”
Fibromyalgia is a complicated illness characterized by constant fatigue and widespread muscle and joint pain. But, like other hard-to-diagnose conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome, the symptoms are frequently overlooked by medical professionals and dismissed.
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Acknowledging the difficulty that can come with living with and treating a chronic illness, Gaga explained at a press conference before the film’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last week that although it was “hard, but liberating” to show her struggle with pain in such a public way, she views her pain as a “microphone.”
“My pain does me no good unless I transform it into something that is. So I hope people watching it who do struggle with chronic pain know that they’re not alone. It’s freeing for me… and I want people that struggle with it to hear me,” Gaga said at the press conference.
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She said that there is a “degree of self-deprecation and shame with feeling in a lot of pain,” and wants people who watch it and think that there’s no way someone in such pain could sing, dance and perform to know that she “struggle[s] with things like them.”
This post originally appeared on SheKnows.com.
