PHOTOS20 Celebrities Who Have Been Diagnosed With Lyme Disease – From Alec Baldwin to Yolanda Hadid
Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin spoke about his battle with Lyme in 2017.
Alec Baldwin has been candid about his battle with Lyme disease in several interviews, initially telling The New York Times he was suffering from a chronic type of the condition.
The Mercury Rising actor spoke about his struggles again when he attended a 2017 event benefiting the Bay Area Lyme Foundation. Baldwin said he was bitten by a tick decades ago before it happened again a few years later.
"The first time was the worst of all," he said. "And I really thought, 'This is it, I'm not going to live.' ... I was lying in bed saying, 'I'm going to die of Lyme disease,' in my bed.'"
Ally Hilfiger
The 'Rich Girls' producer was bitten by a tick in 1992.
Through her memoir Bite Me: How Lyme Disease Stole My Childhood, Made Me Crazy, and Almost Killed Me, Ally Hilfiger revealed she suffered visible symptoms amid her battle with the invisible illness.
"I wasn't me anymore," she wrote. "I was a weakly projected image of myself on a wall, crying out for someone to help me and figure out what was wrong."
She also told Health that several doctors misdiagnosed her with different diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia, before they discovered what was really going on with her.
Amy Schumer
Amy Schumer tried to learn more about the disease from her fans and followers.
In an Instagram post in September 2020, Amy Schumer posted a childhood photo of herself alongside a caption that confirmed her Lyme disease diagnosis.
"My first ever fishing pole. Anyone get LYME this summer? I got it, and I'm on doxycycline," she said. "I have maybe had it for years. Any advice? Can you have a glass of wine or 2 on it? I know to stay out of the sun. I'm also taking these herbs from cape cod called lyme-2."
Anwar Hadid
Doctors said that Lyme disease is not genetic, but members of the same family can catch it because they live in the same environment.
Bella Hadid's brother, Anwar Hadid, also has a fair share of struggles because of Lyme disease.
Their mother, Yolanda Hadid, said in a 2015 speech that seeing her children suffer with the condition struck "the deepest core of hopelessness" inside her.
Avril Lavigne
The Canadian singer-songwriter started advocating for those who were diagnosed with Lyme.
In 2015, Avril Lavigne spoke up about her condition for the first time in a 2015 interview with Good Morning America. Like other celebrities, she was also misdiagnosed with depression and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Amid her brave battle, she got inspired to write the song "Head Above Water" and start her Avril Lavigne Foundation to raise awareness about Lyme and other illnesses.
Bella Hadid
The supermodel called her health issue an 'invisible illness.'
Bella Hadid has been open about her Lyme disease battle for the past few years, using her social media account to raise awareness.
In one of her Instagram Story posts, she revealed that the condition became more aggressive when she turned 18. Bella also revealed all the symptoms she began experiencing, including headaches, insomnia, nausea, brain fog, eating disorders, sudden changes in body temperature and joint pain, to name a few.
While it never hindered her work as a model, it affected her dream to become part of the 2016 Olympics, where she initially wanted to join the equestrian competition. However, her lingering symptoms kept her from reaching her goal.
Her mother shared the heartbreaking post in a 2016 blog.
Bella's battle with the disease continues, and she received her most recent treatments in August.
Ben Stiller
The 'Night at the Museum' actor suspects he contracted the disease during a trip to Nantucket, Mass.
Ben Stiller no longer experiences a symptom caused by Lyme, but he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2011 that he initially suffered an inflamed knee.
Daryl Hall
Daryl Hall's 2004 Lyme diagnosis led to the cancelation of Hall and Oates' 2005 tour.
Daryl Hall endured countless symptoms – from pains to tremors – before being diagnosed with "six or seven tick-borne diseases." He only received a definite diagnosis when he consulted a Lyme expert doctor.
"I've lived in the country for many, many years ... it's a hotbed of deer and other wildlife animals," he said in 2011. "I'd been bitten over the years so many times and I think it finally reached a critical mass and I crashed and burned about five years ago."
Debbie Gibson
Debbie Gibson famously appeared on Season 25 of 'Dancing With the Stars.'
Debbie Gibson's battle started in early 2013 when the symptoms began affecting her body. She revealed in a blog post in April 2014 that she felt anxious and suffered muscle fatigue and pain she had never experienced before.
Things worsened as she began to lose so much weight that she could barely walk.
"I started feeling numbness and tingling in my hands and feet, which is very disconcerting for a pianist and dancer, to say the least," she said. "Night sweats, chills, fever, nerve tremors, nightmares, and migraine headaches were at a fever pitch without a minute of relief."
But even after receiving a Lyme diagnosis, she joined Dancing With the Stars in 2017 so she could continue pushing her limits.
Fletcher
The singer became the latest celebrity to receive a Lyme disease diagnosis.
Ahead of her scheduled Australia and New Zealand concerts, Fletcher – born Cari Elise Fletcher – canceled her shows and revealed she had been diagnosed with Lyme disease.
"I started becoming increasingly ill over the last couple of years and just kept pushing even though I knew there was something deeper going on," she wrote on Instagram. "For the last few months I've been receiving treatments, following doctor's orders and doing my best to learn more about this invisible illness."
The bacterial infection not only affected her physically but also her voice.
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Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Jamie-Lynn Sigler was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a year after discovering she had Lyme disease.
In an interview with People, Jamie-Lynn Sigler shared she was working on The Sopranos when she was diagnosed with Lyme. However, things got confusing for her when she also received multiple sclerosis the following year despite not feeling anything wrong in her body.
Sigler then took antibiotics for her Lyme symptoms, and things started to go away from there.
Justin Bieber
Hailey Bieber's husband was reportedly misdiagnosed with depression.
Justin Bieber's first-ever documentary on YouTube, Justin Bieber: Seasons, revealed that he had Lyme disease – which was undiagnosed until late 2019. He reportedly looked terrible, and people thought he was on drugs.
In a since-deleted Instagram post, the "Ghost" singer revealed that he had a serious case of the condition.
Kelly Osbourne
The former reality star's Lyme was left undiagnosed for a decade.
During a surprise birthday party for Ozzy Osbourne in 2004, Kelly Osbourne joined the family celebration in their backyard and was bitten by a tick. She revealed in her 2017 book that she started experiencing traveling pain after the incident.
Kris Kristofferson
The 87-year-old retired country singer's wife believed he was bitten by a tick while he was filming the movie 'Disappearances' in 2006.
Kris Kristofferson and his wife, Lisa, spoke about his Lyme disease diagnosis together in an interview with Rolling Stone. They revealed that he was correctly diagnosed days before his 80th birthday.
Ramona Singer
Ramona Singer was diagnosed early after possibly contracting the illness while in the Hamptons.
In March 2020, Ramona Singer learned that she had the tick-borne illness weeks after she started feeling sick. She told E! News she still felt blessed and thankful she was able to get the diagnosis early.
Riley Keough
Elvis Presley's daughter became his estate's sole trustee after Lisa Marie Presley's death.
Riley Keough opened up in her 2023 Vanity Fair cover story that her Lyme disease affected her family as it led her to choose surrogacy instead. Though she can carry her own children, she made the choice because of the disease's physical effects that affect her day-to-day life.
Ryan Sutter
He revealed that mold toxins triggered his Lyme disease.
In May 2021, Ryan Sutter disclosed to his followers that the mystery illness he had been struggling with for months was Lyme disease. His doctors explained that his mold exposure worsened his condition because of his job as a firefighter.
He also revealed during his appearance on his wife Trista Sutter's podcast "Better Etc." that he contracted COVID-19 and Epstein-Barr virus at that time.
Shania Twain
Lyme disease affected Shania Twain as its symptoms targeted her voice.
Shania Twain has been candid about the issues Lyme disease caused, including problems with her vocal cords.
Twain told People that she felt scared she might be unable to sing again when she started experiencing the symptoms.
"I was on tour, so I almost fell off the stage every night," she said in a separate interview with CBC. "I was very, very dizzy and didn't know what was going on. It's just one of those things you don't suspect."
A few years later, she developed dysphonia – a neurological disorder she attributed to the Lyme bacteria that caused spasms in her vocal cords' muscles.
Thalía Mottola
The Mexican singer did not know she had Lyme when she was pregnant with her first child.
In her 2011 memoir Growing Stronger, Thalía Mottola shared that doctors told her she was suffering from postpartum depression even when she was experiencing agonizing pain after giving birth to her daughter.
She tried to resolve the issue on her own and finally met Lyme specialists who assisted her in her two-year heavy treatment.
Yolanda Hadid
Her children, Bella and Anwar, also suffer from the invisible illness.
Yolanda Hadid was already struggling with Lyme disease symptoms when she started filming The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. However, it was only in 2015 when she was diagnosed with it.
The former model used her health battle to advocate for people struggling with Lyme while working on her health, especially when she began suffering from debilitating neurological and physical effects.
