Celebrity magazines always show candid photos of stars to show ways that they’re just like us. Those photos usually show celebrities at the farmer’s market or taking their kids to the park. But sometimes celebs deal with the same health challenges that we do too, even if they tend to talk about it less often. Lady Gaga is not only a pop superstar and actress, but she also openly revealed that she struggles with fibromyalgia. Here’s a bit of background on Lady Gaga and her journey with fibromyalgia.
EARLY PHYSICAL TRAUMAS
Lady Gaga was already experiencing chronic pain for years before she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Born Stefani Germanotta, she was a hardworking pop star for more than a decade. She was known for her high-energy shows, which were filled with both singing and dancing.
But in her earlier years, Lady Gaga was a victim of many traumas, including emotional abuse and sexual assault. As a pop star and dancer, she ended up breaking a hip. Both physical and emotional traumas, such as the experiences of her youth, are often linked to the later development of fibromyalgia.
FIBROMYALGIA TAKES ITS TOLL
The toll of her high-energy performances added up. Lady Gaga broke her hip in 2013. After that, her fibromyalgia symptoms began to affect her more. The fact that she got worse after breaking a hip follows a common pattern for people with fibromyalgia. Even if a person recovers from the initial injury, later problems can develop. She developed chronic pain and had to start canceling shows. Celebrities have more resources than the average patient, but also have more demands on their time.
After dealing with pain for years, Lady Gaga ended up having to cancel a leg of her 2017tour. Some of her other symptoms in addition to chronic pain included the following:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Fatigue
- Sleep problems
Other patients with fibromyalgia may also experience additional symptoms, such as:
- Widespread pain
- Cognitive difficulties (also known as the “fibro fog”)
- Migraines or other types of chronic headaches
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Interstitial cystitis/irritated bladder
- Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) syndrome, or severe jaw pain
She was also quoted in Vogue magazine as saying the following: “My diaphragm seizes up. Then I have a hard time breathing, and my whole body goes into a spasm. And I begin to cry,” she told the magazine. “That’s what it feels like for trauma victims every day, and it’s . . . miserable. I always say that trauma has a brain. And it works its way into everything that you do.”
WHAT’S NEXT FOR LADY GAGA
Lady Gaga appears to be stepping back from her musical career at the present time. However, she continues to work using her talents in other areas. Most recently, she appeared in the movie remake “A Star is Born” and won rave reviews for her performance. Like most people with fibromyalgia and chronic pain, she struggles to balance work with getting enough rest to stay well. She suffers from relapses of worsening pain after doing too much, just like most fibro patients do.
Among the treatments that Lady Gaga uses to manage her fibro flares include the following:
- Warm heat
- Electric heated blankets
- Epsom baths
- Infrared sauna
LESSONS FOR OTHER FIBROMYALGIA PATIENTS
The visibility of Lady Gaga’s openness about her fibromyalgia brings more awareness to an often-misunderstood illness. The vast majority of fibro patients are women. Most people go through the struggle of searching for doctors who will take their illness seriously. Once you find a doctor who doesn’t dismiss your illness, it can still be even more difficult to find the right treatments. Effective treatments that reduce pain for fibromyalgia are limited.
Most patients find that fibromyalgia requires a patchwork of multiple therapies. Although it is not an illness that’s “only in your head,” it does often have a component of depression and past trauma. Seeing a psychotherapist can help address any coexisting mental health issues that may be a factor.
Other specialists who may be part of your care team include massage therapists, nutritionists, chiropractors, physical therapists, and your family doctor or rheumatologist.
As Lady Gaga’s case illustrates, fibromyalgia can affect anyone, rich or poor – even celebrities. It can strike you in the prime of your earning years and create more struggles to overcome. However, with persistence and self-care, you can still find a new definition of what healthy and functional looks like for you.
Source: redorbit.com
Lady Gaga Opened Up to Oprah About Mental Health Medication, PTSD, and Fibromyalgia
Lady Gaga is a fierce champion for so many communities and issues, and part of her advocacy includes being incredibly open about her own struggles. She’s spoken out about her experience with sexual assault, mental health issues, PTSD, chronic pain, and much more, showing others who cope with the same things that they aren’t alone. In a new interview with Oprah, Lady Gaga continued to help people understand mental illness and its connection to chronic pain, and broke down the stigma around taking mental health medication.
As part of Oprah’s 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus tour, Gaga sat down with Oprah for a long talk. During the interview, the singer spoke honestly about her mental health, her experience with fibromyalgia, and how taking mental health medication has helped her “tremendously.”
Gaga previously spoke about being diagnosed with PTSD and fibromyalgia, but in her talk with Oprah she dove a little deeper into how the two things may be connected.
“I was raped repeatedly when I was 19 years old, and I also developed PTSD as a result of being raped and also not processing that trauma. I did not have anyone help me, I did not have a therapist, I did not have a psychiatrist, I did not have a doctor help me through it,” she said. “I all of a sudden became a star and was traveling the world going from hotel room to garage to limo to stage, and I never dealt with it, and then all of a sudden I started to experience this incredible intense pain throughout my entire body that mimicked the illness I felt after I was raped.”
The singer went on to explain that her pain was part of a “trauma response.” According to the Mayo Clinic, fibromyalgia is a condition marked by widespread pain, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties. While doctors don’t know the exact cause of fibromyalgia, the Mayo Clinic notes that it can be triggered by physical and emotional trauma, or psychological stress.
After expanding on her struggle with mental health and chronic pain, Gaga opened up about the importance of medication. She called it a controversial topic, noting that there’s still intense stigma surrounding treating mental illness with medication, which is why it’s so important that the star is so honest about her own use of mental health medicine.
“Medication has helped me tremendously,” Gaga said. “I take an anti-psychotic. [If I didn’t take it] I would spiral very frequently and I would spasm in my sleep.”
Speaking openly about her own mental health medication can help reduce the stigma associated with treating mental illness, helping others realize that there’s nothing bad or wrong about getting any sort of medical treatment — whether it’s for your mind or your body.
