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Celine Dion has Stiff Person Syndrome. Disease explanation and video of Celine announcing it in blog.

By Austin Michael Dec 8, 2022 | 6:55 PM

Celine Dion has a very rare neurological disease. She announced it last night. She has Stiff Person Syndrome. She’s been dealing with painful muscle spasms that reduce the ability to do things from simply standing to singing and swallowing. I’m familiar with it because I’ve been dealing with a neurological issue the last year and one of the things they ran tests for is Stiff Person Syndrome. Thankfully I don’t have it and I wish she didn’t either. It usually starts with spasms and muscle rigidity in the trunk and back. Then is affects arms and legs. For some people the rigidity becomes constant. Clench your fist. Then imagine never being able to let it go. Then imagine that’s muscles throughout your body. When a person has it, it can be triggered by loud noise, emotional distress, and light physical touch. About one in a million people get it. Researchers aren’t sure what causes it, but it appears to be an autoimmune disorder that attacks an enzyme that helps control muscle movement.

The good news is that it can be treated. One of the medications is gabapentin. I was on that for a while. It can make you tired a lot. Muscle relaxants, benzodiazepines, and physical therapy are also helpful. Celine said that she’ll hopes to be singing again after working with doctors and therapists.