CELINE Dion has opened up about her health struggles, confessing to taking ‘a lot’ of dangerous medications.
The iconic singer sat down for an interview with Hoda Kotb on NBC, detailing her scary medication regimen.
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The My Heart Will Go On singer said in the interview that for years she struggled to perform, suffering spasms that made it hard for her to hit her signature high notes.
Celine, 56, visited countless doctors looking for answers but found nothing.
In her quest to get a diagnosis, she was prescribed serious medications in large doses.
“I don’t want you to think that I was taking crazy – well, they were crazy, not crazy to kill myself but crazy things to keep going,” she explained.
“Let’s put it this way. We tried a lot of things.”
She noted, however, that it was a dangerous route.
“Trying a lot of things when you don’t know what you have can kill you,” she said sternly.
Celine started taking Valium, prescribed by her doctor, to “relax” her body and avoid spasms.
“I would take, like, for example, before a performance 20 milligrams of Valium,” she shared.
“Just walking from my dressing room to backstage, it was gone already,” Celine added, suggesting that the longer she used the drug, the more used to it her body got.
She repeatedly had to increase her dose, at one point getting up to as much as 90 milligrams.
“90 milligrams of valium a day can kill you,” she noted.
“I needed that. It was relaxing my whole body. But for what? For two weeks? A month? … But then you get used to it. It doesn’t work anymore. More, more, more.”
In 2020, when the pandemic hit, Celine was able to step back from the stage and focus on her health.
What is Stiff Person Syndrome?
Celine Dion stepped out of the spotlight after she was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune condition
Stiff-Person Syndrome is a rare neurological disorder that progresses overtime.
The condition causes pain and muscle spasms that worsen over the years.
According to Contact A Family, the condition is characterized by “progressive stiffness and painful spasms in the back and limbs, which are often triggered by touch, noise or anxiety, and exacerbated by movement.”
There is currently no cure, but death from the condition is rare.
Strong spasms to the chest can sometimes cause difficulty breathing.
She weaned off the medication with the help of medical professionals.
“It was an opportunity for me to not be brave,” she said.
Her symptoms progressed, and she “got worse.”
Celine said that at that point, she struggled with mobility.
Finally, she got an answer: Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS).
She noted that her diagnosis was “very complex.”
While she was thrilled to have an answer, she worried it was the end of her career as a musician.
SPS is a rare autoimmune neurological disorder, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Those who have it often experience muscle stiffness in the trunk and abdomen, though it can also affect the legs and other muscles.
Celine told Hoda, 59, that she has suffered “broken ribs” during particularly bad spasms.
ANOTHER BLOW
This isn’t the first time the Grammy winner has opened up about her battle with SPS.
She recently spoke in depth about sharing the news with her kids and how it affected them.
“I barely could walk at one point, and I was missing very much living. My kids started to notice,” she told People.
“I was like, ‘Okay, they already lost a parent. I don’t want them to be scared.
“I let them know, ‘You lost your dad, [but] mom has a condition and it’s different. I’m not going to die. It’s something that I’m going to learn to live with,” she went on.
Amid her health struggles, Celine was forced to cancel her global tour.
She shared the news in a video online.
“I’ve been dealing with problems with my health for a long time, and it’s been really difficult for me to face these challenges and to talk about everything that I’ve been going through,” she said in the clip.
She held back tears in the video.
SHARING IT ALL
Celine’s documentary, I Am: Celine Dion, is set to be released on Prime Video on June 25.
In the trailer, Celine brought fans into her home and showed off her family.
She also documented her struggles and physical therapy, while talking about missing the stage.
Celine hinted that she won’t allow her condition to keep her from creating music again.
A montage of her on stage played before the camera cut to the singer crying.
“I miss it so much,” she said.
“If I can’t run, I’ll walk. If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl…,” she said at the end of the trailer.
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