Tick-borne illnesses are complex diseases that can not only damage patients’ quality of life but also alienate them from their communities. Diagnosis is tricky, and the cost of missed or misdiagnosis compounds the detrimental effects of the disease itself.
If you have or suspect you have a tick-borne illness, you may be wondering which celebrities have Lyme Disease or can offer comfort to someone going through the same struggle. Read on to learn the sometimes surprising stories of ten famous people who have been diagnosed with tick-borne diseases.
Which Celebrities Have Lyme Disease and/or Tick-Borne Illness(es)?
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1. Avril Lavigne
This Canadian pop star’s Lyme Disease diagnosis caused her to retreat from the public eye for several years. Lavigne has since opened up about her experience, including being “bedridden” for about two years. She says songs from her album, Head Above Water, were inspired by her struggles with the illness.
Now her charity, The Avril Lavigne Foundation, works with the Global Lyme Alliance and the LymeLight Foundation to raise awareness about Lyme.
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2. Shania Twain
Another Canadian singer struck by tick-borne illness, Shania Twain has suffered lasting effects from her struggles with Lyme. One of her symptoms, dysphonia, has permanently damaged her singing voice. Singing, she says, now requires more intense warm-ups and effort than ever before.
Like many fellow famous Lyme survivors, Shania Twain has made serious lifestyle changes, focusing on a healthy diet, rest, and self-care. She warns that Lyme Disease is something you “can’t play around with.”
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3. Alec Baldwin
This comedian and 30 Rock star says a tick bit him around the year 2000. For five years after that, he suffered devastating symptoms every summer, becoming bedridden and suffering high fevers and sweats. His symptoms got so bad, he felt sure he would die from the illness.
At a 2017 dinner thrown by the Bay Area Lyme Foundation, he opened up about the loneliness and fear that can come with being diagnosed with a tick-borne illness.
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4. Yolanda Hadid (and Her Kids)
When former model Yolanda Hadid starred on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, not many people knew she was suffering from debilitating Lyme symptoms like anxiety, fatigue, and pain.
Since then, she’s been an outspoken advocate for Lyme patients, calling the tick-borne disease an “invisible disability” that can harm patients’ mental health and alienate them from friends and loved ones. She’s talked about how she not only battled several doctors to finally get an accurate diagnosis, but also struggled to be understood by friends, co-stars, and even her ex-husband.
If that weren’t enough, Yolanda’s children Anwar Hadid and Bella Hadid also have Lyme. Yolanda has been vocal about how her other daughter Gigi, who is fortunate not to have Lyme, has provided love and support for the family.
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5. Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller provides a hopeful example of how early detection and antibiotic treatment can help manage symptoms. After a knee injury coincided with excessive, inexplicable inflammation, he was diagnosed with Lyme Disease he believes he contracted in Nantucket.
Doctors were able to treat Stiller’s Lyme Disease, and he’s since reported being “symptom-free.” However, he acknowledges that Lyme “never leaves your body,” echoing concerns about chronic Lyme that are picking up steam in parts of the medical community.
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6. Daryl Hall
Daryl Hall, of the pop duo Hall & Oates, credits his life in the countryside for his and his family members’ tick-borne illnesses. Though he’s still performing music, symptoms from the tick-borne disease have affected his career and quality of life, causing him to cancel tours.
After years of suffering a host of disparate and confusing symptoms – including fevers and wild fluctuations in body temperature, new food allergies, tremors, aches, and stiffness – he was eventually diagnosed with “six or seven” different tick-borne illnesses. Now he has “roving symptoms” that come and go, including heart arrhythmia – a common problem for chronic Lyme sufferers.
Hall says the confusion and controversy around Lyme disease can lead infected individuals to suffer “on their own.”
7. Amy Tan
Celebrated author Amy Tan has been very vocal about her battle with undiagnosed Lyme Disease. After she “soldiered through” increasingly erratic and troubling symptoms like pain, numbness, and hearing sensitivity during a major book tour, she suffered through debilitating anxiety, paranoia, and even hallucinations, plus several drug regimens that left her exhausted.
Like many Lyme sufferers, Tan’s quest for diagnosis was as harrowing as her battle with Lyme Disease itself. At one point, doctors found and removed a small brain tumor, but the symptoms persisted. She even had an ELISA – a common test for Lyme – come back negative.
Still struggling with symptoms that made her unable to even write, she finally got positive results on a Western Blot from IGeneX and was diagnosed with Lyme.
Tan now serves on the Honorary Board of Directors for the Lyme Disease Association.
8. Rebecca Wells
Like her friend and fellow author Amy Tan, Rebecca Wells’ illness struck just as she was ascending as a successful fiction writer.
Similar to Tan, she suffered through symptoms like dizzy spells, noise sensitivity, respiratory infections, numbness, and even multiple-chemical sensitivities for over a decade before being diagnosed. At one point she even had to be hooked up to an oxygen tank for two hours per day.
Wells says she has taken inspiration not only from Tan but also from writer Flannery O’Connor, who wrote through her chronic lupus.
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9. George W. Bush
The Washington Post reported that back in 2006, former President George W. Bush was quietly diagnosed with and treated for Lyme Disease. Another example of how early detection can lead to better chances of recovery, Bush is thought to be fully healthy today. His story is also a reminder that tick-borne illnesses can strike anyone given the right circumstances.
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10. Kelly Osbourne
The daughter of Ozzy Osbourne chronicled the effects of Lyme on her life in her 2016 memoir, detailing how she suffered through recurring sore throats, stomach pain, and even seizures for ten years before getting a clear diagnosis. This had given the disease time to advance to stage III neurological Lyme. Throughout her undiagnosed illness, Osbourne’s intense drug regimen caused a cycle of depression, anxiety, and treatment for those symptoms.
When Osbourne noticed and burned a tick off her body after spending time near reindeer at her father’s birthday party, she thought she was in the clear. But her story proves that removing a tick is only the first step in preventing disease.
Lyme patients can take inspiration from Osbourne’s resilience and self-advocacy in the face of this poorly understood illness.
BONUS: Justin Bieber
Canadian pop star Justin Bieber made headlines in January 2020 when he revealed that he had been struggling with Lyme disease. The story resonated with many in the Lyme community because Bieber was sick for months before getting a proper diagnosis. Complications from Lyme as well as a case of mono exacerbated Bieber’s exhaustion and damaged his mental health, serving as a further reminder of the consequences of a missed diagnosis.
The Importance of Testing
While the bewildering symptoms of tick-borne illness can be isolating, you don’t have to suffer alone. If you have Lyme symptoms – especially if there’s a chance you’ve been bitten by a tick – it’s important to get accurate testing and medical advice.
To learn more about why and how to get tested for tick-borne illness, read about the IGeneX Advantage today.