As humans, unfortunate things may happen in our lives that push us to seek refuge in habits that cannot be considered the healthiest. There may even come a point where the habit grows into an addiction. Upon falling into this trap, it isn’t easy to break the cycle. Whenever someone finds the will to step out of their unhealthy routine, it should be commended and even celebrated.
Multifaceted artist and A-list star Lady Gaga has struggled for years with fibromyalgia. According to Don L. Goldberg in his 2002 book Fibromyalgia: A Leading Expert’s Guide to Understanding and Getting Relief from the Pain that Won’t Go Away, the disease involves seemingly unexplainable chronic pain, hypersensitiveness, and exhaustion, affecting each person differently, but with women being more likely to develop it than men, outnumbering them eight to one in probability.
The disease can also be the result of a severe fracture, which is what happened to the singer and actress in 2013 when she suffered a labral tear in her hip during her Born This Way tour. In a 2013 The Hollywood Reporter article she is cited as saying:
“When we got all the MRIs finished before I went to surgery there were giant craters, a hole in my hip the size of a quarter, and the cartilage was just hanging out the other side of my hip. I had a tear on the inside of my joint and a huge breakage. The surgeon told me that if I had done another show I might have needed a full hip replacement. I would have been out at least a year, maybe longer.”
In order to cope with the debilitating symptoms of fibromyalgia, Gaga understandably resorted to self-medicating by smoking weed. However, she has since broken the chain of habit.
There’s no stopping her
The Chromatic Ball tour marked a new stage in Lady Gaga’s life, as the artist told Vogue, sharing how that 2022 performance was “the first time I’ve performed not in pain in…I don’t even remember.”
A Reddit user with fibromyalgia made a post titled “If pain reminds you that you’re alive, I guess I’m rather more alive than most,” writing while awake at 4 am due to the pain. At the end of their text, they write: “Perhaps I’m just moody tonight, brought on by the exhaustion of not enough sleep. But I’m also in too much pain to relax.”
If one does not suffer from chronic pain, one can only imagine how hard it must be to live with it on a daily basis. Understanding this, we can comprehend why Gaga would lean on the drug to keep herself going, to distract from the agonizing aches across her body.
“Michael and I did [the Chromatic Ball] tour together. I did it pain-free! I haven’t smoked pot in years. I’ve, like, changed. A lot. I feel like this new album, in a lot of ways, is about that time but from a place of happiness instead of misery. And now, Michael and I are really excited to organize our lives—and our marriage—around our creative output as a couple. Which is really different than, like, doing what other people want you to do.”
Entrepreneur and investor Michael Polansky is Gaga’s fiancé, with whom she had been with for four years prior to the marriage proposal.
She continued:
“For a long time, for most of my career, my life was controlled by this business: what people wanted from me; what they hoped I could achieve; how to keep me going. And that can be a lot of pressure and it’s scary. But I feel like I’m finally coming out on the other side.”
It is not a stretch to assume that Gaga’s supportive sweetheart had a part to play in this major change in her life. Thus, there are multiple reasons for one to feel proud of and happy for this undeniably iconic artist, the unbelievable path she has trod, and the obstacles she has conquered along the way.