Actor Ben Stiller was doing charity work in Africa when he contracted Lyme Disease. He went to his doctor complaining of persistent knee pain, but it took lots of tests and time to determine that Stiller was dealing with the condition.
Thankfully, the star reports that he's been symptom free after treatment.
When country singer Shania Twain contracted Lyme disease in 2003, the condition left her in such bad shape that she struggled to continue singing.
Twain was on tour at the time when the tick bit her, and she reports experience symptoms almost immediately. “I was very, very dizzy and didn't know what was going on. It's just one of those things you don't suspect.”
The first time Alec Baldwin battled with Lyme disease, he thought he was dying. But it wouldn't be the last time the two would face off.
In an interview with People magazine he revealed that he was bitten and contracted the disease 17 years ago--and that a few years later he was bitten and infected again.
Debbie Gibson got her start in the music world in the 80s and she's had a solid career ever since. However, in 2013 she began experiencing scary symptoms without any discernible cause. "I was at a stop sign in my home town and literally didn’t know if I was turning right or left, but I was aware enough to know I didn’t know, which was really scary."
Her condition was eventually diagnosed as Lyme disease, but Gibson says she still struggles with some persistent symptoms, even years after the fact.
Canadian singer Avril Lavigne is probably best known for her hits like "Complicated" and "Skater Boy," but these days she's also raising awareness of Lyme disease and its effects.
In 2015 she revealed her own Lyme disease diagnosis, which occured shortly after her 30th birthday. Luckily, she's also reported that she's in the recovery process.
Bella Hadid might look flawless and effortless on the runway, but the international model has opened up about Lyme disease and how it's impacted her ability to function. "[I've] just got to keep moving and keep living life. You can't just step back."
Since her diagnosis, the model has said the condition has left her chronically fatigued and in need of regular medication. Interestingly, Hadid isn't the only one in her family with the condition--her mother and younger brother have also been diagnosed.
Whether you loved him or hated him, it was hard to escape Justin Bieber mania a few years ago. However, he hasn't been as omnipresent recently--his newest single, "Yummy," is the first solo song he's released in four years. And that probably has to do with his Lyme disease diagnosis.
In January of 2020, the singer revealed that he's been battling the disease and its aftereffects for several years now. He also teased an upcoming Youtube series he's creating that documents his experiences.
After a tick bite at a birthday party for her father, Ozzy Osbourne, Kelly Osbourne began experiencing strange symptoms like sore throats, body aches, and insomnia. No one suspected Lyme disease, and her condition persisted for a decade.
Finally, Osbourne recieved an accurate diagnosis, and with treatment, her symptoms began to reverse. Kelly revealed her struggles with Lyme in a 2017 memoir.
Yolanda Hadid looked like she had a picture-perfect life on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, but behind the scenes, the celebrity was struggling to keep it together while dealing with the effects of Lyme disease.
However, she hasn't let her struggles keep her down and has done a lot to raise awareness about this "invisible" disease. "It sucks that it happened to me but at the end of the day I put a face to the disease that nobody knew anything about. It’s very real. And lot of people are suffering. But God put me on this path to make a difference. That’s what keeps me going."
Jamie-Lynn Sigler was only 19 when she starred on the HBO hit The Sopranos. However, in addition to nabbing the role of a lifetime, she was also battling not one but two illnesses.
When she was 20, the actress was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. However, she also revealed that she had been diagnosed with Lyme disease the year before. Thankfully, she reported that her doctor-prescribed antibiotic regimen had begun to reverse her Lyme symptoms.
Like many people with the condition, musician Daryl Hall was left baffled by his seemingly random symptoms. "I suddenly got this really outrageous allergy to celery, where my eyes and face swelled up like a pumpkin, and I’d been eating celery my whole life, so I thought that was strange. Another time my left arm and hand started shaking and I started getting tremors. Then this weird thing started happening with alcohol. I’m not a heavy drinker, but I suddenly had a major sensitivity to alcohol, where I’d have one drink and I would go to the moon."
While he said his first emotion after diagnosis was relief, he still struggles with the after effects of Lyme disease to this day, including joint pain and frequent headaches.
When singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson first began experiencing memory problems, his doctors gave him heartbreaking news--it was either Alzheimer's or some other form of dementia. However, Kristofferson now knows that isn't the case. It was Lyme disease that was causing all his problems.
Kristofferson had been struggling with symptoms for years and believes that he could have been infected for decades without knowing it.
Bikini Kill frontwoman and Riot Grrrl pioneer Kathleen Hanna struggled with Lyme disease symptoms for six years before receiving an accurate diagnosis. This trying and terrifying time in her life included symptoms as serious as seizures.
While things got so bad that Hanna had to cancel tour dates in 2014, she now reports being free of Lyme disease since 2015.
Author Amy Tan (whose most famous book is The Joy Luck Club) has struggled with Lyme diease since 1999 and has been very open about her quest to get an accurate diagnosis for her unusual symptoms.
While she still struggles with symptoms (including seizures), Tan has tried to use her situation to make a difference. She even co-founded LymeAid 4 Kids, a charity that helps children with the disease pay for medical costs.
When Richard Gere contracted Lyme disease, he experienced massive fatigue. "Just turning my head to see the time on the clock was a major operation. I felt as if my life was going in slow motion."
Thankfully, the condition was caught quickly by his doctors, and with antibiotics, he was able to beat Lyme disease and make a full recovery with no long-lasting symptoms.
Actor Peter Sarsgaard had a close brush with Lyme disease, but thankfully was able to get it treated quickly without any major complications.
While on vacation in 2007 at Martha's Vineyard, Sarsgaard contracted the disease like most people do--by being outdoors. While he did have to cut his vacation short for treatment, the disease doesn't appear to have left any long-lasting effects.
When Parker Posey was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2009, she had to drop out of a play production to undergo treatment.
The star claimed that traditional antibiotics didn't help alleviate her symptoms, so she instead turned to natural medicine. We're glad that helped, but it was probably not a decision most medical doctors would support.
In 2007, the White House reported that then-president George W. Bush had been treated for Lyme disease in the summer of 2006.
While details were scant about his symptoms or treatment, it just goes to show you that even the most powerful man in the free world isn't immune from the power of Mother Nature.
Folk singer Pete Seeger was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2000, according to a report from his wife.
There's actually not much information about his struggle with the illness, but the musician passed away in 2014 of natural causes.
