Singer Celine Dion speaks openly about her "medication excesses" - excessive use of very dangerous drugs, in an interview with the French TV channel TF1 before the broadcast of a documentary film dedicated to the disease, which forced her to retire from the stage, reported AFP, quoted by dariknews.bg.
The fifty-six-year-old Canadian has been battling a rare neurological disease known as Stiff person syndrome (SPS) for years. There is no known cure for the disease, which causes severe pain, difficulty moving and spasms.
Due to her illness, Celine Dion is unable to perform concerts from 2020.
The documentary, titled "I Am: Celine Dion", will air on Amazon Prime Video on June 25.
"I canceled a lot of concerts, lied to myself, started taking medication. "Maybe I'll try an anti-inflammatory or an antispasmodic or something," the singer says of the time when the pain became too much, for a reason she didn't understand until late 2022.
"I started with small things until I got to very dangerous medications to continue", Celine Dion also admits in the interview recorded in May in Las Vegas.
Asked by journalist Anne-Claire Coudret if she had taken "Valium" (diazepam, a benzodiazepine), Dion replied: "Yes, among other things".
At the time, the Canadian singer had no diagnosis. "At first it helped. But very quickly the doses had to be increased. And when you reach a dangerous level of the drugs and they no longer work, you have two choices - to continue or to stop breathing and it's all over," says Celine Dion.
"Don't bear the pain alone. Agree to talk about it and get help. Don't suffer alone", urges the singer.
Celine Dion, mentioned in early June by a French satirical weekly among the performers to sing at the opening of the Paris Olympics on July 26, has confirmed her confidence that she will one day perform again. "I don't know when. But I'll be back on stage," she said.
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Jun 18, 2024 05:24 399