Shania Twain recently opened up about her battle with Lyme disease and how it ended her career. Twain opened up about her experience with Lyme disease and how it affected her voice in her new Netflix documentary Not Just A Girl.
She stated:
“I was feeling dizzy on stage before I was diagnosed…I was losing my balance and worried I was going to fall off the stage.”
The 56-year-old singer described her symptoms as “very, very, tiny micro blackouts, but constantly, every minute or every 30 seconds.” Twain was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2003 after being bitten by an infected tick while horseback riding in Norfolk, Virginia.
Shania Twain also said that due to a chronic illness, she developed dysphonia, which caused her to lose her voice for a moment. Her voice, she said, “was never the same.”
“I assumed I had lost my voice forever. I felt that it was the end of everything and that I would never sing again.”
‘There was a moment where I thought I would have to accept that I would never be able to sing again.’
Shania Twain opens up about being diagnosed with Lyme disease and the stress it put on her voice and singing career.
Watch➡️ https://t.co/uhvdBHHe6b pic.twitter.com/aFVOMjDpCL
— Loose Women (@loosewomen) August 17, 2020
What exactly is Lyme disease? Exploring the symptoms of Shania Twain
Lyme disease is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This condition can spread to the joints, heart and neurological system. Symptoms of this condition include fever, headache, acute exhaustion, joint pain, enlarged lymph nodes, and rashes or tics that increase over time. Later-stage symptoms include headaches, facial paralysis, severe arthritis, palpitations and bouts of vertigo.
According to the Mayo Clinic, Lyme disease can cause injury to the vocal cords since the inflammation directly affects the voice box. When the nerves in the voice box are injured, nerve impulses are further disrupted, leading to paralysis of the vocal cords. Twain noted that this persistent disease can make it difficult for the sufferer to talk, breathe or make sounds. This disease, according to the Mayo Clinic, can also cause the patient to choke when swallowing food, making it difficult for the patient to speak out loud.
More information about Shania Twain’s health.
Shania Twain told British chat show Loose Women that she had been in therapy for years before realizing she had Lyme disease, which affected her voice and ability to sing. Shania Twain mentioned:
“Before, I believed that I would never be able to sing again… It took years to understand what was wrong with my voice. It took about seven years before a specialist discovered that the nerve damage to my vocal cords was actually caused by Lyme disease.”
In an interview with The Sun, Twain revealed that she “felt sad” about the illness and its effect on her singing power. She said, “
“I also thought I’d never make another album, which was probably true. It was disastrous. I was devastated by this. It depressed me and I struggled with it every day.”
Shania went on to explain how her “first passion,” called “writing,” kept her spirits up when she couldn’t sing or perform for her fans due to her condition. She stated:
“It was extremely bleak and I was quite upset about it, but I still wrote, and writing is truly my first passion, above all else. I planned to be a writer, not a performer.”
Shania Twain has released a “compilation of all the songs in the documentary” for her fans called Not Just A Girl – The Highlights, following the premiere of the new Netflix documentary.
Categories: Entertaintment
Source: HIS Education