Lady Gaga revealed the specific chronic illness she’s been battling for years
Back in 2013, Lady Gaga shared for the first time that she was dealing with chronic invisible pain. Since then, she has spoken out about her illness, remedies that have helped, and why self-care is extra important when you deal with chronic pain. Now, Gaga has revealed that she suffers from fibromyalgia.
Gaga’s new documentary Gaga: Five Foot Two (which heads to Netflix on September 22nd) covers everything in Gaga’s life, and that includes her illness. While doing press for the new film, she talked about her struggles with chronic pain but never mentioned her diagnosis by name.
Gaga took to Twitter to clear things up, in the hopes that by naming her chronic pain she can encourage education and dialogue around fibromyalgia.
In our documentary the #chronicillness #chronicpain I deal w/ is #Fibromyalgia I wish to help raise awareness & connect people who have it.
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) September 12, 2017
I am praying that more and more people come forward and we can all share what helps/hurts so we can help each other
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) September 12, 2017
"In our documentary the #chronicillness #chronicpain I deal w/ is #Fibromyalgia I wish to help raise awareness & connect people who have it. I am praying that more and more people come forward and we can all share what helps/hurts so we can help each other," Gaga tweeted.
According to Mayo Clinic, “Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues. Researchers believe that fibromyalgia amplifies painful sensations by affecting the way your brain processes pain signals.” There is no cure, only symptom management.
For her part, Gaga has already been posting on Instagram about the remedies that have helped her deal with fibromyalgia.
She credits an infrared sauna session followed by an ice bath as one thing that she says “…helps me to keep doing my passion, job and the things I love even on days when I feel like I can’t get out of bed.”
What we find most inspiring is her power in the midst of dealing with chronic pain.
“There is an element and a very strong piece of me that believes pain is a microphone,” Gaga revealed at a Toronto Film Festival press conference via The Hollywood Reporter. “My pain really does me no good unless I transform it into something that is. I hope that people watching [the documentary] that struggle with chronic pain know they are not alone.”
