Viewers of Lady Gaga’s revealing documentary, which aired in 2017, will be familiar with the devastating health issues she has faced over the past decade.
In Four Foot Two, the megastar offered a harrowing look at her battle with chronic pain caused by a long-term condition called fibromyalgia.
The singer, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, has spoken extensively about her struggles since then, telling Oprah she was “in pain from head to toe” during a 2020 interview.
But now the disease, for which there is no cure, appears to be in remission for Germanotta, 38.
Lady Gaga’s Netflix documentary, ‘Gaga: Five Foot Two,’ offered a glimpse into the star’s life and her struggle with the pain of fibromyalgia.
In her latest interview with Vogue magazine, the A Star Is Born actress said her most recent tour, in 2022, was the “first time I performed without pain.”
“I did it without pain,” he said. “It’s like I’ve changed.”
He added that he hasn’t “smoked marijuana” in years and had previously talked about using the drug to relieve his chronic pain.
While she did not fully explain why her health has improved so dramatically, she said the 2022 tour, called Chromatica, was the first she did while dating her current fiancé, American businessman Michael Polansky.
“Michael and I did that tour together,” she said, adding later that she is “really excited” to “organize our lives and our marriage around our creative output as a couple.”
Fibromyalgia is thought to affect between 1.8 and 2.9 million people in the UK.
In a candid new interview with Vogue, in which she poses in a number of eye-catching looks, Lady Gaga praised her “kind” and “smart” partner, before praising him for “holding her hand” through tough times.
Lady Gaga has opened up about her love for her fiancé Michael Polansky, revealing that he helped her through a dark period in her life when she struggled with her mental health.
The cause of this condition is unknown, but it is thought to be related to faulty brain signals that alter the way nerves transmit pain messages throughout the body.
According to the NHS, it causes a range of symptoms including increased sensitivity to pain, muscle stiffness, fatigue and concentration problems, as well as low mood.
There are limited treatments for fibromyalgia, and activists have long been fighting for more research to find better therapies.
The NHS currently recommends a combination of exercise, talking therapies and medications commonly used to treat anxiety and depression.
There is little or no evidence to show that other types of medications help reduce pain in the long term.
Germanotta previously admitted she had taken mental health medication that helped her “tremendously,” during her 2020 interview with Oprah.
“I take an antipsychotic. If I didn’t take it, I would have frequent sleep spasms and fits,” she said.
“Medicine helped me a lot. A lot of people are afraid that medication will help them improve their brain. I really want to end the stigma surrounding this.”
However, antipsychotic medications such as amisulpride and clozapine are not recommended medications for fibromyalgia.
Although the evidence does not suggest that a new relationship can improve symptoms, studies have found that emotional stress can make pain worse.
A 2019 review by Norwegian scientists found stress-relieving therapies such as Mindfulness produced mild to moderate improvements in fibromyalgia-related symptoms in a group of female patients.
However, the fact that Lady Gaga is not showing symptoms may also simply be due to a matter of time.
According to NHS guidelines, fibromyalgia symptoms vary over time and can suddenly improve dramatically as brain signals are regulated.
But the disease can deteriorate just as quickly, and symptoms can become increasingly debilitating.
“We know that fibromyalgia is a relapsing condition and that means most people will experience some fluctuations in their symptoms,” says GP Dr Philippa Kaye.
‘In fact, one of the signs of the disease is that symptoms are interchangeable: they can suddenly improve or worsen.’
‘While there is no cure, for many people the pain will go away over a very long period of time.’
Dr. Kaye adds that there are many things patients can do to “help manage” the disease.
These may include exercise programs and cognitive behavioral therapy.
