Lady Gaga Reveals Chronic Illness

Lady Gaga is finally putting a diagnosis with the chronic pain she has been suffering over the last year.

The “Bad Romance” singer told fans that she has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, which she opens up about in her upcoming documentary, Gaga: Five Foot Two.

“In our documentary the #chronicillness #chronicpain I deal w/ is #Fibromyalgia I wish to help raise awareness & connect people who have it,” Mother Monster tweeted on Tuesday after speaking out about her pain at the Toronto International Film Festival last week.

During a press conference to promote the film, she said her documentary will follow the highs and lows of her life — from slaying the Superbowl halftime performance to living with agonizing pain.

“It’s hard,” Gaga said through tears, Variety reports. “But it’s liberating, too.”

Fibromyalgia is a condition that causes widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and issues with sleep, memory and mood, according to the Mayo Clinic. Symptoms of the chronic illness can flare up after a physical trauma, surgery, infection or psychological stress, or they can gradually appear over time with no known cause.

Though everyone experienced their fair share of these symptoms, people living with fibromyalgia feel widespread pain for longer than three months at a time and develop fatigue that’s stronger than your normal afternoon slump.

While there’s no cure for the illness, it can be relieved with medication, physical therapy, solid nutrition and counseling, says Gerardo E. Miranda-Comas, M.D., assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, to Women’s Health.

For Gaga, she says speaking out about her experience is a way she plans to cope with her diagnosis.

“There is an element and a very strong piece of me that believes pain is a microphone,” Gaga said in the press conference. “My pain really does me no good unless I transform it into something that is… I hope that people watching it that struggle with chronic pain know they are not alone.”

For active sufferers like Lady Gaga, Miranda-Comas says it’s important to rest often, follow good sleep practices and utilize stress-relieving techniques, which sounds exactly like what the pop star plans to do after wrapping up her “Joanne” tour.

“I am going to take a rest,” she said. “I don’t know how long. That doesn’t mean I won’t be creating. I’m looking forward to reflecting and slowing down for a moment.”

Gaga’s documentary will be released on Netflix Sept. 22.

Photo credit: Instagram / @ladygaga

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