60 Celebrities Open Up About Personal Medical Issues
By | April 15, 2019
Kim Kardashian West Is Struggling With Psoriasis
Fighting a chronic illness is a lifelong battle that may never have an end. Even though there may be no cure some chronic illnesses, that doesn’t mean that you can’t lead a rich and full life, or that you can’t accomplish your dreams. Just ask these celebrities who’ve managed to reach for the stars - and in some cases surpass the stars - despite having a series of unfortunate ailments that the human body falls prey to regardless of who you are.
Whether you’re a fan of pop singers like Selena Gomez, A-list actors like Tom Hanks, or soccer studs like Cristiano Ronaldo, there’s a celebrity here who’s suffering from a chronic illness. Hopefully their story will inspire you to be the best person you can. Feel free to share your story as well as this collection of celebrities with chronic ailments, have at it!
While she’s busy breaking the internet on a regular basis, Kim Kardashian West is also living with psoriasis. This autoimmune skin condition is accompanied by flaking of the scalp, inflammation, and thick, white, silvery, or red patches of skin. In 2017 she told People that she’s been using a special light to treat the skin disease. She said:
I have been using this light — and I don’t wanna speak to soon because [the psoriasis] is almost gone — but I’ve been using this light [therapy] and my psoriasis is like 60 percent gone. That’s wild because it hasn’t been gone in years.
Selena Gomez Had A Kidney Transplant After Finding Out She Had Lupus
Lupus is an autoimmune disease that happens when your immune system attacks your organs, causing pain and inflammation. It’s a hard illness to diagnose because Lupus tends to mirror various ailments. In 2015 Gomez released that she has lupus, something she discovered when it went after her kidneys. She had to have a kidney transplant from a friend in 2017 in order to stay on her feet.
Gomez told Today that she was shocked that her close friend would do something so drastic for her:
She lived with me in this interesting time where my kidneys were just done. That was it and I didn't want to ask a single person in my life. The thought of asking somebody to do that was really difficult for me. And she volunteered and did it… The fact that she was a match, I mean, that's unbelievable.
Justin Bieber Receives Treatment For Clinical Depression
In 2019 Justin Bieber began seeking treatment for clinical depression. While he hasn’t spoken out about his treatment, a source close to the singer says that he’s getting counseling. Clinical depression effects millions of people and it’s characterized by a persistently depressed mood or loss of interest in activities. A source close to Bieber said:
Justin seems down and tired. He has been struggling a bit.It has nothing to do with Hailey — he is very happy being married to her. It’s just something else that he struggles with mentally. He has good help around him and is receiving some treatment. He seems confident he will feel better soon.
Bella Hadid Works Through Lyme Disease Every Day
Voted “model of the year in 2016,” Bella Hadid has been struggling with Lyme disease since she started modeling. Lyme disease can appear through a variety of symptoms. Sometimes it appears as a red bump, like a mosquito bite, and it can also appear as a rash that forms in a bulls-eye pattern. The disease is contracted through tick bites, and if not treated early enough it can lead to major complications.
It starts with brain fog; for a while I couldn’t put sentences together. I’m really tired a lot. A few weeks ago I had a big campaign shoot that I had to reschedule. It’s hard, but I push through, because at the end of the day, if you’re not working, somebody else is.
Pete Davidson's Chron's Disease Affects His Stomach And His Eyes
It’s well publicized that comedian and actor Pete Davidson suffers from borderline personality disorder, it’s something that he’s discussed openly and made a part of his act. However he also struggles with Chron’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease that affects the GI tract causing loss of appetite, stomach cramps, and diarrhea. It can also cause heavy dark circles around the eyes. Davidson explained to High Times:
I got Crohn's disease when I was 17 or 18. And I found that the medicines that the doctors were prescribing me and seeing all these doctors and trying new things … weed would be the only thing that would help me eat. My stomach would be in pain all day and I wouldn't be able to eat, but then I'd smoke and I can eat and do my shows. I wouldn't be able to do SNL if I didn't smoke weed. I wouldn't be able to do anything really. Me performing not high has gone awful. It's awful for me because I don't feel well.
Sarah Hyland Has Kidney Dysplasia
Modern Family star Sarah Hyland has been dealing with kidney dysplasia, an illness that occurs when the internal structures of one or both of a fetus' kidneys do not develop normally while in the womb. Hyland has undergone two kidney transplants, one in 2012 when she received an organ from her father, and after her body rejected it she received another transplant in 2018.
In an appearance on Ellen she told the host that the constant pain took a huge toll on her mental health, but that after speaking with her friends and family she was able to get the help she needed.
Nick Jonas Has Type 1 Diabetes Since He Was 13
Even while he was rocking the Disney crowd as a young man, Nick Jonas was living with type 1 diabetes, a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin. Even though this illness is an every day issue for the singer, he constantly calls attention to the condition whenever he gets the chance. At the Radio Disney Awards in 2017 Jonas brought a group of fans who also have Type 1 Diabetes said:
This is truly incredible. These kids who are up here are all Type 1 diabetes like myself ... This is a disease I was diagnosed with when I was 13. It was a moment in my life when I was just getting ready to start making music with my brothers, and touring, and it was something I thought would slow me down before I even got started. Thankfully, it didn’t.
Gigi Hadid Struggles Hashimoto’s Disease
Gigi Hadid is one of the most popular models of the modern era, and she’s worked for everyone from Victoria’s Secret to Versace and Fendi. Being a world famous super model is an intense job, and it’s even harder when you’re dealing with Hashimoto’s Disease the way that Hadid is. Hashimoto's disease is a condition that leads to an underactive thyroid which causes an inflammation that prevents the thyroid from producing enough hormones. This causes fatigue and unexplained weight gain.
When Twitter users slammed Hadid for her changing body she responded:
For those of you so determined to come up w why my body has changed over the years, you may not know that when I started @ 17 I was not yet diagnosed w/Hashimoto’s disease; those of u who called me ‘too big for the industry’ were seeing inflammation & water retention due to that.
Halsey Struggles With Endometriosis
The singer behind the hot tracks “Colors” and “The Feeling” has been burning up the charts all the while dealing with a chronic illness where a woman’s uterine lining grows on the outside of her uterus rather than the inside. It can be crazy painful, and if it’s not diagnosed someone can go a lifetime without knowing what’s wrong with them. Halsey explained that even though she’s not happy to have the illness, she was stoked to find out that she wasn’t losing her mind:
Finding out that I had [endometriosis] was the most bittersweet moment because it meant I wasn't crazy! I wasn't a 'baby!' I had every right to be feeling like the world was caving in. But it was terrifying to find out.
Lady Gaga Suffers From Fibromyalgia
Even though she’s the leading lady of A Star Is Born and famous for putting on insane looking live performances, Lady Gaga deals with Fibromyalgia and chronic pain on a day to day basis. Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by intense pain that comes along with fatigue and sleep issues. It’s believed that the pain is caused by the way a person’s brain processes it physical signals.
I get so irritated with people who don't believe fibromyalgia is real. For me, and I think for many others, it's really a cyclone of anxiety, depression, PTSD, trauma, and panic disorder, all of which sends the nervous system into overdrive, and then you have nerve pain as a result. People need to be more compassionate. Chronic pain is no joke.
Demi Lovato Works Hard To Keep Her BiPolar Disorder In Check
Singer Demi Lovato is one of many people suffering with BiPolar Disorder, a mental illness that’s associated with episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs. She’s open about the fact that she’s been struggling with the ups and downs of this illness since she was 7 years old, and that in 2010 she checked into a rehab center to deal with her emotional issues.
Lovato says that it took years for her to receive an accurate diagnosis. She told Womens Health Mag:
For years, people said I was depressed, and I actually didn’t know myself why I was so upset and why I would have these episodes of mania—what I now know is mania… Sometimes I felt invincible, and it was these moments when my mind would go all over the place.
Halle Berry Has Been Living With Diabetes Since She Was 19
Everyone who went to the movies in the ‘90s had a crush on Halle Berry. She was the it actress of the time and she starred in movies like Boomerang and the X-Men series. According to Berry she’s been living with the illness since she was 19-years-old. She told the Los Angeles Times:
I was 19. I became much healthier as I learned how to manage [my diabetes]. It took a couple of years, and some scary situations, to accept that it was a lifestyle change and not a diet I could stop in six months.
In order to keep in shape she says that she maintains a strict regime of exercise while supplementing her lifestyle with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Mandy Moore Has Celiacs Disease
It turns out that the “You” that Mandy Moore is missing like candy is all things gluten. In 2017 she revealed that following an endoscopic procedure she was suffering from Celiacs disease. She announced the bum news on Instagram with a post that read:
Well, this definitely takes the (now gluten-free) cake for bummer news,” she wrote on Instagram in July. “Any celiac sufferers out there with any helpful tips?
She later posted an instagram story showing that she couldn't eat a seed butter because of the grains that it contained. Hopefully she’ll get used to the dietary restrictions.
Cara Delevingne Suffers Stress-Induced Psoriasis
Like many people who suffer from psoriasis, model and actress Cara Delevingne says that her symptoms flair up the worst when she’s under intense amounts of stress. She even had to drop out of the fashion industry because it was becoming too upsetting to hide her skin condition during runway shows. If you’ve never seen it, psoriasis can cause red sores and flaking skin. Delevingne explained:
It only happened during the Fashion Weeks, which are, of course, the worst time of year for me to be covered in scabs. Psoriasis is an auto-immune disease, and I’m sensitive. Kate Moss saw me before the Louis Vuitton show at 3am when I was being painted by people to cover the scabs.
Frankie Muniz Lives With Extreme Memory Loss
Star of Malcolm in the Middle Frankie Muniz revealed that he struggles with memory loss on an every day basis. He doesn’t know why he can’t remember much of his early life, but he believes it has something to do with the multiple concussions and minor strokes that he’s suffered throughout his life. He spoke about his issues with memory loss during an episode of Dancing With The Stars:
I’ve gotten to do really anything I’ve wanted to do. But the truth is I don’t really remember much of that. It almost feels like it wasn’t me. There’s no negative feelings, I just don’t necessarily remember. It makes me a little sad that it doesn’t just pop back into my mind. I’m like, I should have remembered going to Australia! That’s something people remember.
Kelly Osbourne Suffered From Undiagnosed Lyme Disease For 10 Years
Kelly Osbourne has lead multiple lives. She had a hit single with her cover of “Papa Don’t Preach” in the early 2000s, she did some voice acting, and she even appeared in Sharknado 2. However in 2004 she was bitten by a tick while at a deer sanctuary and she’s been suffering the consequences ever since. When she finally came clear about the disease she noted that she hid I because she was worried about what people would think. She said:
Because people would--thought my behavior was – they blamed it on my past, like, drug usage. Like, they thought that, oh, she's just doing drugs again, oh, she's relapsed or she's doing this or that. And nobody believed me. So I was a bit nervous. And until I was informed enough about it and then seeing so many people suffer from it and knowing - meeting other people that also had it, you really start to realize how huge of a problem this is. And there's not enough information out there about it for people and there's so many people suffering from it.
Lena Dunham Suffers From Endometriosis
Lena Dunham, the creator and star of Girls deals with the endometriosis in her daily life. This condition is one where the lining of the womb is found in other parts of the body, most often the ovaries. Endometriosis can cause pain — sometimes severe — especially during menstrual periods. The illness is also known to cause fertility issues. In a Lenny Letter from 2015 the star explained:
Endometriosis is not life-threatening. It doesn't manifest externally very often… I know I'm lucky in the grand health scheme, but I also know that I am one of many women who grasp for a sense of consistent well-being.
Avril Lavigne’s Life Is Complicated By Lyme Disease
In 2015 Avril Lavigne revealed that she was suffering from Lyme disease. A year before she got sick on tour and thought to herself, “I'm achy. I'm fatigued, I cannot get… out of bed.” After catching an episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills where one of the woman found out that she suffered from Lyme disease Lavigne put it all together.
Lavigne says that the disease went undiagnosed for so long that no matter what she did the illness persisted. She told Women’s Health Magazine:
I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to relive it. But it's my responsibility.
Miley Cyrus Always Has Tachycardia On Her Mind
When she’s not partying in the USA or riding stray pieces of construction equipment, Miley Cyrus is dealing with tachycardia, a condition in which the heart rate exceeds the range of a normal resting heart rate. Even though she’s not dealing with a life threatening version of the disease she still has to keep an eye on her stability, especially before she goes on stage. In her 2009 autobiography Cyrus wrote:
The type of tachycardia I have isn't dangerous. It won't hurt me, but it does bother me. There is never a time on-stage when I'm not thinking about my heart.
Lil Wayne Has Epilepsy
Lil Wayne has lead a vida loco. He’s survived poverty and violence to go on to become one of the most popular rappers of the early 21st century, but his adult life hasn’t come without its own unique struggles. In 2013 the rapper revealed that he suffers from epilepsy. This neurological disorder where nerve cell activity in the brain is disturbed, causing seizures.
In 2017 Wayne suffered multiple seizures that forced him to cancel a show in Las Vegas. After having a seizure in 2013 he told Power 106's DJ Felli Fel:
This wasn't my first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh...I have had a bunch of seizures, you just never hear about them. My heart rate went down to 30 percent. I have people around me who know how to handle it. This time was real bad because I had three back to back and the third one was so bad.
Gabrielle Union Has Been Diagnosed With Adenomyosis
Adenomyosis comes about when the tissue that lines the uterus meshes with the uterine wall, thickening and breaking down during each menstrual cycle. It’s not only painful but it can ruin the fertility of anyone who has it. At the 2018 BlogHer conference in New York City Union explained that she not only had multiple miscarriages but that she suffered from the illness. She said:
Towards the end of my fertility journey I finally got some answers, because everyone said ‘You’re a career woman, you’ve prioritized your career, you waited too long and now you’re just too old to have a kid — and that’s on you for wanting a career. The reality is I actually have adenomyosis.
After multiple miscarriages and many, many rounds of IVF, Union had a baby via surrogate.
Daisy Ridley Has Endometriosis And Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Even in a galaxy far, far away chronic illnesses can strike at any time. This Star Wars star has been speaking out about her experience with both endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome since 2016. Endometriosis is a painful disorder where the tissue that’s supposed to line the inside of a uterus grows on its outside. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome causes menstrual irregularity, excess hair growth, acne, and obesity and doctors aren’t totally sure what causes it.
Ridley says that she was diagnosed with endometriosis at the age of 15, which can be exacerbated by starring in a major space epic:
I was in my flat going nuts, and then my skin got really bad with the stress of it all, and I hadn't been well – I had holes in my gut wall and stuff – and we were trying to figure out what to do with that because I'd felt poorly.
Cristiano Ronaldo Had A Heart Operation At The Age Of 15
Many athletes deal with illnesses that sideline their entire careers. But modern soccer dynamo (or futbol if you want to be that guy) Cristiano Ronaldo has been living with a heart condition since he was a young man. At the age of 15 he was diagnosed with a racing heart. His mother explained that “His heart raced a lot when he wasn't running.”
Because of this heart problem he had to have an operation that cauterized a part of his heart in order to slow it down. Ronaldo may be doing well now, and we hope he stays that way, but like most people with a heart condition he constantly has to monitor his ticker.
Julianne Hough Is Dancing Through Endometriosis
This two time champion of Dancing with the Stars is one of the many women who is living with endometriosis, an illness that’s been afflicting her with painful periods for as long as she can remember. However the first time she heard of the illness from a friend she thought the girl was just being dramatic. Hough said:
This is a terrible thing to say, but as an 18-year-old, I was like, ‘She’s just dramatic. I have those same things. That’s just you having your period…The more you know, the more you can do things to either help or prevent, and the earlier you can catch it, the better. I’ve learned things through having endometriosis that maybe I never would’ve found out if I was trying to have kid. It could’ve been really difficult for me with having miscarriages. Now I have knowledge, and now I can actually prepare and hopefully not be let down when otherwise I could’ve been very badly.
Venus Williams Plays Through Sjogren’s Syndrome
Somehow this five time Wimbledon winner has managed to play through Sjogren’s Syndrome, an auto immune syndrome that attacks a person’s salivary and tear glands causing dry eyes and dry mouth as well as fatigue. In 2011 she told the New York Times:
The fatigue is hard to explain unless you have it. Some mornings I feel really sick, like when you don’t get a lot of sleep or you have a flu or cold. I always have some level of tiredness. And the more I tried to push through it, the tougher it got. Some mornings I feel really sick, like when you don’t get a lot of sleep or you have a flu or cold. I always have some level of tiredness. And the more I tried to push through it, the tougher it got.
Anthony Anderson Struggles With Type 2 Diabetes
The star of Blackish has been living with type 2 diabetes since 2001. This chronic illness affects the way the body processes blood sugar and can lead to fatigue, blurred vision, and intense hunger. While this may not seem like a big deal to people who don’t have diabetes, it’s an incredibly hard illness to have when you’re working on a network show. Anderson explained to Parade:
There are a lot of hurdles to jump over when it comes to diabetes. It’s about taking it serious first and foremost and getting real and being diligent about what you need to do to manage the disease. It takes time and it takes a plan but once you have a plan in order it’s about making healthier choices, getting active and staying diligent on the program your doctors put you on.
Shania Twain Almost Lost Her Voice After Contracting Lyme Disease
It’s always shocking when a major star reveals that they’re suffering from a chronic illness. So when Shania Twain explained that she’s been fighting Lyme disease since 2003 when she was bitten by a tick in Virginia, and that she almost lost her voice thanks to the illness. Twain explained:
I saw a tick fall off me. I was on tour, so I almost fell off the stage every night. I was very, very dizzy and didn't know what was going on. It's just one of those things you don't suspect. You have a very short window to catch it and then treat it and then even when you treat it, you could still very well be left with effects, which is what happened to me.
Missy Elliott Finds Success While Dealing With Graves’ Disease
Missy Elliott has been a force in hip hop since the late ‘90s when she began releasing a string of hit singles as well as producing hot tracks for up and coming artists. However since 2008 she’s been dealing with Graves’ disease, a thyroid disease that attacks the auto immune system - it’s also more likely to effect women than men.
The disease causes issues with sleep, fatigue, weight loss, and menstrual irregularities. It can also lead to tremors, which are what tipped Elliot off that something was wrong with her body. She says that the shakes were so bad that she couldn’t even use a pen.
Nick Cannon Is Battling With Lupus
Even though Nick Cannon hosts pretty much every show on television he’s still constantly in a fight with the autoimmune disease known as Lupus. This illness attacks your organs and tissues, causing an immense amount of pain that can really bring people who suffer from this problem down. Cannon says that when he’s stressed he has his worst flare ups, and that one of those horrible times kept him in bed for an hour after he woke up. He told The Mighty:
It took me about an hour to get out of bed. I knew that was the beginning of a flare-up. So I got my act together and took a rest day. I did some meditation, and some yoga, and got back on my hydration game. All the things I should’ve been doing in the first place.
David Beckham Became The World's Most Famous Soccer Player While Dealing With Asthma
Even though he’s the hunkiest Englishman since Hugh Grant, even David Beckham has one struggle. He’s suffered from asthma since he was young boy. Even though he regularly had to whip out an inhaler while on the bench of his soccer games, Beckham didn’t let his affliction get in his way. Aside from using an inhaler, Beckham also manages his asthma with his diet. England midfielder’s spokesman Simon Oliveira explained to The Telegraph:
He has never sought to make it public but if it does inspire any sufferer to think they can achieve great things like many other sportsmen have done then so much the better.
Mariah Carey Struggles With Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar Disorder, an illness characterized by sharp mood swings, and it can be an embarrassing malady to admit that you have. There are a ton of stigmas that come along with this diagnosis, and this golden voiced singer didn’t want to admit that she was struggling with it. In 2018 she told People:
Until recently I lived in denial and isolation and in constant fear someone would expose me. It was too heavy a burden to carry and I simply couldn’t do that anymore. I sought and received treatment, I put positive people around me and I got back to doing what I love — writing songs and making music.
Jack Osbourne Struggles With Multiple Sclerosis
You may remember Jack Osbourne as the rambunctious son of Ozzy Osbourne from The Osbournes, but in his time after the show he’s gone on to create reality television programs and even create a documentary about his famous father. He also stars in Ozzy & Jack's World Detour on the History Channel, all the while dealing with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, an incurable neurological condition that damages the nerves and affects the transfer of messages around the body. Osbourne told Health:
The emotional side of MS is the toughest part. Depression is one of the most common symptoms that people with MS share. There are times it just comes out of nowhere.
In 2017 he noted that MS has changed him for the better and actually makes him work harder:
Before this, I would just be a typical 20-something-year-old and lounge around and just kind of kick it when I could. I don't do that anymore. I hate wasting days. I'm always doing something and trying to accomplish something, whether it's work, something social or doing something active. So for that, I'm appreciative of it.
Morgan Freeman Doesn't Let Fibromyalgia Get Him Down
Yep, even someone as stately and beloved as Morgan Freeman can battle a chronic illness. He’s gone on record about how he deals with fibromyalgia, a chronic condition that causes musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and tenderness. Even though he finds himself in pain, particularly in his arms, from day to day, he says that he doesn’t let the pain get him down. He told Esquire:
There is a point to changes like these. I have to move on to other things, to other conceptions of myself. I play golf. I still work. And I can be pretty happy just walking the land.
Zoe Saldana Was Shocked To Find Out She Had Hashimoto's Disease
Hashimoto's thyroiditis, also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, is an illness where antibodies mistakenly attack your thyroid gland, throwing your metabolism out of whack. This causes weight gain, fatigue, and even decreased heart rate. Star Trek and Guardians of the Galaxy actress Zoe Saldana explained her condition to Net-A-Porter's magazine The EDIT:
I had a great time in my twenties. Then your doctor says you’re losing calcium in your bones. What… is that?! I would hear those conversations with my mom and grandma, thinking I’d never get there. I’m going to live forever! But all of a sudden it hits you; it’s from night to day.
George Clooney Spends Every Day In Various States Of Pain
After a terrible on set accident while filming Syriana in 2005, George Clooney began living with chronic pain. Initially he believed that he had a stroke, but after having a myelogram he discovered that he had a two and a half inch tear in the back of his neck. After a nine hour surgery on Christmas Day Clooney began a road to recovery that may never truly end. He explained to The Hollywood Reporter:
It's been a long recovery. I had to accept that I'm going to beat this on a very different level, almost psychological. I went to a pain-management guy whose idea was, 'You can't mourn for how you used to feel, because you're never going to feel that way again.' Meaning, you wake up with the worst hangover ever, and that's your day, and you have to come to terms with it.
Padma Lakshmi Discovered That She Has Endometriosis In Her 30s
Former supermodel and current host of Top Chef, Padma Lakshmi, has been struggling with Endometriosis since she was a young girl but she never knew why. Laskshmi says that she’s been dealing with intense pain, cramping, nausea, headache, fatigue, and excessive blood flow but that she wasn’t aware she had a chronic illness until she was in her 30s. She told People that it took a surprise procedure for her to know what was happening to her body:
I’m somebody who never knew I had [endometriosis] and always thought that everything was okay. I found out in a very hard, difficult way – and I had to be operated on. Now, I’m fine but it was a very trying ordeal.
Tom Hanks Dieted His Way Into Type 2 Diabetes
Tom Hanks, everyone favorite comedic actor of the ‘80s, ‘90s, and well… every decade after that, found out late in life that he has Type 2 Diabetes. Hanks says that he was an “idiot” about attempting to stave off the malady and that he mostly just dieted rather than committing to a healthy lifestyle. However he hopes to cure himself of the disease with plenty of exercise. In 2013 he told David Letterman:
I went to the doctor, and he said, 'You know those high blood sugar numbers you've been dealing with since you were 36? Well, you've graduated! You've got type 2 diabetes, young man
Selma Blair Is Working Through Her Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis
Selma Blair is a character actress that’s transitioned magnificently from teen roles in the ‘90s to grown up dramas without skipping a beat. However in 2019 she revealed that she’s ben struggling with MS symptoms for years without knowing what was causing them. She said that the flair ups have been happening regularly since the birth of her son, and that in 2018 doctors found 20 different MS-related lesions on her brain. She told Good Morning America:
And I was self-medicating when he wasn’t with me. I was drinking. I was in pain. I wasn’t always drinking, but there were times when I couldn’t take it. I was really struggling with, ‘How am I gonna get by in life?’And not taken seriously by doctors.
After her diagnosis she said that she felt “relief” because at least she knew how to treat it.
Gina Rodriguez Feels Cursed By Hashimoto’s Disease
The star of Jane the Virgin, Gina Rodriguez, has been dealing with the autoimmune condition Hashimoto’s disease. Hashimoto’s damages the thyroid gland and it causes hypothyroidism - a condition in which the thyroid gland is not able to produce enough thyroid hormone, and that totally wrecks your metabolism. It’s treatable but has no cure. While speaking with Self Rodriguez said:
To the core of my being, I know what it’s like to feel like there is no way I can win this, so where do I even begin. [Hashimoto’s] affects so many aspects of your life. I’ve had it for so many years…that rebellion of not taking care of myself can’t exist anymore.
Chloë Sevigny Still Feels Crooked From Scoliosis
Known for her appearances in independent films like Gummo and #Horror as well as her star turns in Big Love and Bloodline, Chloë Sevigny is still dealing with the emotional pain of childhood scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine that can be treated but not cured. She told NPR that her family couldn’t afford a back brace and her only treatment was exercise. She said:
They said, you know, that the curvature wasn't strong enough to have to have the operation, which I know a few girls that have a metal rod in their back. But to me, now, it's like - I still - every time I see myself on film, I see it. That's all I see. And I - and even in photographs, I'm just - to me, it's like - my ex-boyfriend used to say when I'd get really drunk, I'd come home and cry and be, like, I'm so crooked. It's my one thing that, yeah, that I still have a hard time with.
Melanie Griffith Had To Slow Down Because Of Epilepsy
If you’re wondering why the star of films of Working Girl and Body Double has been out of the limelight, it’s because she was diagnosed with epilepsy while at Cannes following a seizure at a party. While speaking on a panel for the Women's Brain Health Initiative in 2017 she revealed how she discovered that she has epilepsy:
I had two seizures, one they took me off the boat. I had this major grand mal seizure, and they took me to the hospital in Cannes and then brought me back to the boat. And then I had another seizure and I went back. They did the EEG and started to look at it seriously. When I came back [to the United States], I was diagnosed with epilepsy and nobody had said to me over a period of 20 years, no one paid enough attention to even diagnose me.
Sasha Pieterse Is Working Through Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Sasha Pieterse, the star of Pretty Little Liars has been struggling with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, a disorder that causes enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the outer edges. People who suffer from this illness deal with weight gain and acne. She says that she didn’t know what was happening to her until her diagnosis, and rather than hide it she came forward with her diagnosis. She said:
I gained 70-ish pounds over two years. It was really, really hurtful the way people reacted. They were saying stuff like, 'She's pregnant.' 'You're fat.' They were angry, they were mad that I look like this. It was one of the hardest things I've ever been through.
Jamie-Lynn Sigler Is Living With Multiple Sclerosis
Diagnosed with MS when she was just 20 years old, actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler didn’t reveal her diagnoses until January 2016, 15 years after finding out that she was living with the debilitating disease. She says that she has trouble with bladder control and spasticity when she sits for a long time. SHe’s also had trouble walking in recent years and now has a noticeable limp.
She said that she’s still figuring out how to live with herself now that people know she has MS. She stated:
Even now when I work, which is very rare, I still deal with this — wanting to look normal, wanting to cover [my MS] up, because that’s what I did for so many years. I think I’m still coming to terms with owning it, and being okay with knowing this is just my body and how I move.
Emily V. Gordon Suffers From Adult-Onset Still's Disease
In 2007 writer Emily V. Gordon (The Big Sick) thought she had a bad cold when she fainted during an X-Ray. After eight days of tests she discovered that she had adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD), a form of arthritis that can shut down major organs. She told The Hollywood Reporter:
Basically, your organs can start getting inflamed as if they're under attacked and have an infection, but they're not. Because I wasn't diagnosed or being treated for it, it just kept getting worse and worse. My organs kept getting more and more inflamed until I had to be hospitalized.
How does she take care of herself? Lots of self-care:
I just have to practice self-care in the ways we all should be doing — get enough sleep, eat healthy and regularly, exercise and keep my stress and drinking down — but I have to be a little more diligent about it because if I slip on any of those, my immune system can act up.
Montel Williams Has Had Multiple Sclerosis Since 1980
Former talk show host Montel Williams went public with his MS diagnosis in 1999. Multiple Sclerosis occurs when the immune system attacks someone’s healthy tissue, but it’s unclear why this happens. Williams says that he first experienced MS symptoms in his left eye when he was about to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD in 1980, but he didn't think anything of it. While speaking with Oprah Winfrey he explained:
My primary symptom is pain. I've got pain from my shins to my feet, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and it's been there for the last 10 years.
Bret Michaels Has Diabetes And Heart Disease
Poison’s Bret Michaels has suffered a series of debilitating chronic illnesses throughout his life. Not only has he had Type 1 diabetes since he was six years old, but in 2010 he suffered a “mini stroke,” or a transient ischemic attack, caused by a hole in his heart. He suffered this ischemic attack a month after surviving a massive brain hemorrhage.
CNN reported that he received outpatient care in order to him and keep him from developing blood clots and having another stroke. There’s no word on how this heart issue has played into his diabetes, although it has to be on his mind.
Wendy Williams Has Turned Cattywampus By Graves’ Disease
In 2018 Wendy Williams announced that she’s suffering from Graves’ Disease and that it’s turning her thyroid "all cattywampus.” Following the announcement she said that she was going to take a break from her show to relax and focus on her health. Dr. Terry Jay Smith, a professor at the University of Michigan Medical School who specializes in endocrinology explained:
Graves disease is an autoimmune disease. The immune system incorrectly identifies the thyroid as foreign. Because of this misidentification, antibodies are generated and there are T-cells that intersect in their surveillance and produce factors which, in the case of Graves disease, frequently cause the over-activity of the thyroid gland, [aka hyperthyroidism].
Tia Mowry Has Endometriosis
Tia Mowry has been in the public eye since the early ‘90s, and she’s had multiple hits throughout the 2000s, however when she tried to have a child she discovered that she was afflicted with endometriosis, a painful inflammatory condition that occurs when the uterine lining grows on the outside of the uterus rather than the inside.
Initially Mowry was upset that she’d been afflicted with the illness, but she realized that it was a chance for her to inform her fans of the malady. While speaking with Women’s Health Mowry said:
I thought I was alone because no one I knew personally had dealt with this. And then I realized: I'd never really seen someone African-American in the public eye talking about endometriosis or their struggles with infertility. And when you don't know or see anyone else who looks like you talking about what you're going through, you feel alone and suffer in silence.
Bono Has Struggled With Glaucoma For Decades
Even though he’s a cool as a cucumber, the singer for U2 who’s rarely seen without his sunglasses says that he reason he’s always sporting shades is because his eyes are sensitive to light. While appearing on the Graham Norton show in 2014 the singer explained that he’s suffering from glaucoma, a buildup of pressure in the eyeball which can damage the optic nerve and lead to blindness . When Norton asked if he ever removes his glasses Bono responded:
This is a good place to explain to people that I’ve had glaucoma for the last 20 years. I have good treatments and I am going to be fine. You’re not going to get this out of your head now and you will be saying, ‘Ah, poor old blind Bono.
Serena Williams Has Struggled With Hematomia Since 2011
In 2011, after receiving treatment for a foot problem doctors discovered that she suffered from hematoma along with a collection of blood clots. The blood clots occur regularly, and after giving birth in 2017 she suffered what she thought was a pulmonary embolism. She’s so used to them that she actually knows what to tell nurses when she feels and attack coming on.
The clotting is so bad that during one extreme coughing fit her C-section wound opened. She required an immediate surgery and a large hematoma was discovered lurking inside her. Williams later described the feeling of being at home with a newborn post surgery as being “trapped” in her body.
Alec Baldwin Is Put Down Once A Year With Lyme Disease
Even Alec Baldwin, one of the greatest leading men of the ‘90s and New York City’s very own parking police suffers from Lyme disease after contracting the disease after being bitten by two ticks.
The actor told People:
The first time was the worst of all. And I really thought this is it, I’m not going to live. I was alone, I wasn’t married at the time, I was divorced from my first wife. I was lying in bed saying, ‘I’m going to die of Lyme disease,’ in my bed and ‘I hope someone finds me and I’m not here for too long.
Baldwin later explained how the illness effects him to Today:
I got the classic Lyme disease (symptoms) for each successive summer, for five years, every August, like this black lung, flu-like symptoms, sweating to death in my bed.
Seals Scars Come From Discoid Lupus Erythematosus Of Lupus
It’s hard not to think of Seal’s facial scarring when looking at the “Kiss By A Rose” singer, however his scars aren’t due to some accident in his childhood, but rather an intense form of lupus that attacks skin above the neck and usually affects young people, causing inflammation and scarring. “Discoid” means “coin-shaped,” and these scars raise on the face as a scaly, lesion. Seal had these as a young man, scarring his face terribly.
Not only did DLE cause Seal’s cheek scars, but he had significant scalp involvement, contributing to his hair loss. Even though his scars remain his lupus has gone into remission.
Hugo Weaving Suffers From Epilepsy
This just goes to show that even if you have a chronic illness you’re not alone, and you don’t have to stop your life. Hugo Weaving, one of the stars of The Matrix trilogy, V For Vendetta, and pretty much every other major fantasy and science fiction series released in the 2000s, has been suffering from epilepsy since he was 13-years-old.
While speaking with The Guardian in 2014 Weaving explained that he spent decades on anti-epilepsy medication and that it made him very foggy. He said:
People always thought I was laid back, but I was basically doped for 30 years on epilepsy drugs. I ran out of my meds filming in the desert and went cold turkey. I was on a moderately high dose and it was masking a nervous anxiety I didn’t know I had.
Zosia Mamet Thought She Had A UTI But It Was Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
In 2017 Zosia Mamet, one of the stars of HBO’s Girls, discovered that she was suffering from pelvic floor dysfunction, the inability to correctly tighten and relax the pelvic floor muscles. Because of this she has terrible constipation, urine or stool leakage and a frequent need to urinate. She’d been suffering from PFD for nearly a decade and didn’t know what was wrong with her. At the AOL’s Makers Conference she explained:
For six years it felt like I had the worst UTI of my life. [It caused] insane urinary frequency, unbearable pain during sex, and a vagina that felt like someone had stuck a hot poker up it.
Toni Braxton's Life Was Upended By Lupus
While appearing on Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk singer Toni Braxton revealed that in 2010 she was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This version of lupus causes fatigue and a “butterfly” rash on the face. The symptoms come and go along with stress on the body. Braxton told Smith how the Lupus more or less ruined her ability to make money:
I felt shallow because my ex-husband and I broke up for money issues. I found out I had lupus at the time. I couldn’t make money because I had lupus. I had to cancel the show. That was my personal contribution to the marriage failing, because who wants to take care of a person who’s sick all the time? He never said that, but I felt it.
FKA Twigs Has Been Stricken With Fibroid Tumors
British singer and dancer FKA Twigs performs a sensual mix of R&B and electronica, and her stage shows are nothing short of physical bootcamps of dance, but that kind of physical exertion can be torture when you’re living with uterine fibroids the way Twigs does. UF are benign tumors that originate in the uterus, and doctors still don’t know why women develop these tumors that cause severe pain near the pelvic organs. She wrote on Instagram:
I tried to be brave, but it was excruciating at times, and to be honest, I started to doubt if my body would ever feel the same again. I know that a lot of women suffer from fibroid tumors, and I just wanted to say after my experience that you are amazing warriors and that you are not alone. You can get through this.
Pink Manages To Rock Through Asthma
Pink’s been churning out hit pop singles since the early 2000s, and at her peak the singer was constantly performing aerobatic stage shows, each one crazier than the other. Somehow she was doing it all with asthma, a condition where a person’s airways become inflamed, narrow and swell. For someone who’s constantly on the move this can be extremely dangerous.
Pink told Women’s Health in 2009 that she has to work out extra hard in order to train her lungs for a performance:
I have to be able to run up those stairs as many times as I do and be able to sing at the same time. I’m an asthmatic. I have to be on that treadmill singing to get my lungs right.
Shannen Doherty Struggles With Crohn’s Disease As Well As Breast Cancer
90210 and Charmed actress Shannen Doherty has had a tough run in the 2010s but she’s not down for the count just yet. She’s been open about her struggle with Crohn’s disease, and has even made light of her struggle with IBD. She once cheekily told Star Magazine, “There’s nothing sexy about women saying: 'I've got to go to the bathroom right now."
Aside from dealing with Crohn’s, Doherty is also a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnoses with cancer in 2015, and a year later she had a single mastectomy. In 2017 her cancer went into remission.
Mick Mars Shreds Even With Ankylosing Spondylitis
Mick Mars, the powerhouse guitarist behind Motley Crüe hits like “Looks That Kill” and “Dr. Feelgood” has suffered from ankylosing spondylitis for most of his adult life. This chronic illness is a form of arthritis that attacks the bones and joints at the base of the spine. This results in a lack of flexibility and a noticeable hunch. Mars explained to Classic Rock Revisited:
It is one of those things that I call an inconvenience. Of course I have days that are worse than others and there is always some amount of pain with my hips. There are good days and bad days but it is more of an inconvenience than anything else. I don’t feel sick.
Elisabeth Hasselbeck's Celiac Disease Made Her Feel Like She Was Hitting Roadblocks
This former co-host of The View has been outspoken about her diagnosis with celiac disease, which makes her intolerant to gluten, since she found out that she couldn’t enjoy whey, barley, and rye in the late 2000s. She told Everyday Health that until she was officially diagnosed she had no idea what was wrong with her:
Sometimes I would find myself under my desk or pulling over on the side of the road to lie on my side in my beat-up Jetta. I felt as though I kept hitting roadblock after roadblock with health, and at the age of 23, there was no way I should have been feeling the way I felt.