What Is Lyme Disease? The Symptoms of Justin Timberlake's Diagnosis

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4 days ago

Originally appeared on E! Online
Justin Timberlake is holding a mirror up to a misunderstood illness.
On July 31, the 'Can't Stop the Feeling' singer shared that he has been diagnosed with Lyme disease, admitting that his world tour was made difficult by his ongoing health issues.
'I don't say [this] so you feel bad for me but to shed some light on what I've been up against behind the scenes,' the 44-year-old shared in a vulnerable Instagram post. 'If you've experienced this disease or know someone who has—then you're aware: living with this can be relentlessly debilitating, both mentally and physically.'
And while the *NSYNC alum—who shares kids Silas, 10, and Phineas, 4, with wife Jessica Biel—said he was initially 'shocked' by the diagnosis, it ended up making a lot of sense.
'At least I could understand why I would be onstage,' Timberlake explained, 'and in a massive amount of nerve pain or, just feeling crazy fatigue or sickness.'
Though the symptoms vary, according to the Center of Disease Control, the debilitating disease—caused by a tickborne infection—affects over 400,000 people, including celebs like Justin Bieber, Bella Hadid and Avril Lavigne.
Keep reading for everything to know about the condition…
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What is Lyme disease?
Lyme disease starts as an infection from a blacklegged tick bite, but can progress if left untreated into a more serious chronic illness, per the CDC.
What are Lyme disease symptoms?
Initially, Lyme causes a rash, fever, chills and headaches.
However, if left untreated, the disease can sometimes evolve into chronic Lyme disease, which can cause fatigue, body aches, or difficulty thinking. Other later stage symptoms include facial droopiness, joint pain, nerve pain, dizziness or shortness of breath.
While the symptoms vary, many celebrities have shared that they are debilitating.
"I wasn't me anymore,' Tommy Hilfiger's daughter Ally described of her side effects in her 2016 memoir Bite Me. 'I was a weakly projected image of myself on a wall, crying out for someone to help me and figure out what was wrong.'
For Shania Twain, the diagnosis impacted her ability to sing. 'My voice was never the same again,' Twain said in Shania Twain: Not Just A Girl in 2022, noting she got Lyme disease while horseback riding in 2003. 'There were seven years where I could not, for example, yell out for my dog. My voice would just cut out in certain places.'
How is Lyme disease diagnosed?
Lyme disease is difficult to diagnose once it has hit its chronic state. Indeed, Shania admitted that even doctors couldn't determine the source of her vocal problems at first.
'It took another several years to determine what it was,' she described. 'It wasn't anything obvious. Nobody connected the Lyme disease to it. In the end, a neurologist finally connected that it was the nerve to each vocal cord.'
However, doctors are able to determine if a patient has Lyme disease through blood tests several weeks after an infection has started by searching for Lyme antibodies.
How do you treat Lyme disease?
Initial Lyme disease infections can be treated by antibiotics. After Lyme disease becomes chronic, flare ups can arise from stress or pushing your body too hard, according to Global Lyme Alliance, which recommends monitoring symptoms daily to adjust behavior based on how you feel to keep symptoms at bay.
What celebrities have been diagnosed with Lyme disease?
In addition to Justin Timberlake, stars that have opened up on Lyme disease include Anwar Hadid, Yolanda Hadid, Riley Keough, Amy Schumer, Avril Lavigne, Alexis Ohanian, Ryan Sutter and Ben Stiller.
Back in 2020, Justin Bieber detailed his own health while slamming criticism about his appearance.'I've recently been diagnosed with Lyme disease,' Bieber wrote at the time. 'Not only that but a case of chronic mono which affected my skin, brain function, energy and overall health.'
Meanwhile, Bella Hadid admitted that she had '15 years of invisible suffering' amid her battle with chronic Lyme disease.
'Living in this state, worsening with time and work while trying to make myself, my family and the people who support me, proud, had taken a toll on me in ways I can't really explain,' the model wrote in a 2023 Instagram post. 'The universe works in the most painful and beautiful ways but I need to say that if you are struggling—it will get better.'
Alec Baldwin, for his part, described it as one of the scariest periods of his life. 'I really thought this is it, I'm not going to live,' he shared at LymeAid, the Bay Area Lyme Foundation's gala, in 2017. '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.''
Kelly Osbourne was also diagnosed with the disease after being bitten by a tick that came from a reindeer. For more than a decade, Kelly suffered from 'traveling pain,' she wrote in her 2017 memoir, a sore throat and stomachaches.
Lyme disease is just one illness celebrities have opened up about, keep reading for more stars who have shared insight into private health struggles..
Lupita Nyong'o's Uterine FibroidsSuki Waterhouse's HerniaBrian Austin Green's Perforated AppendixAdam Devine's Long-Term Injury From Childhood AccidentJason Tartick's Back InjuryMatt Kirschenheiter's Heart AttackTracy Morgan's Medical EmergencyChristy Carlson Romano's Eye InjuryAmy Schumer's Cushing SyndromeCasey Fitzgerald's Neck Injury From Hockey Skate BladeHailey Bieber's Blood ClotJustin Bieber's Ramsay Hunt SyndromeJamie Foxx's Brain Bleed & StrokeEmilia Clarke's Brain AneurysmCori Broadus's StrokeShailene Woodley's Health Battle
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