A candid new documentary about Selena Gomez shows the moment the singer was left in tears as a result of her lupus symptoms.
Gomez, 30, revealed her lupus diagnosis to the world in 2015 and two years later underwent a kidney transplant with the help of her friend and donor, Francia Raisa.
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The condition causes joint and muscle pain, extreme tiredness and rashes, as well an inflammation of different parts of the body such as the lungs, heart, liver, joints and kidneys.
Though Gomez has previously discussed her diagnosis on social media, fans get a more in-depth insight into her experience in her new Apple TV+ documentary, My Mind & Me.
It reveals the upsetting moment her lupus symptoms started to worsen, as the singer explained: "I haven’t felt it since I was younger. Now it just hurts. Like, in the morning when I wake up, I immediately start crying because it hurts, everything."
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Gomez learned her pain stemmed from an overlap of lupus and myositis, which can cause weak, painful or aching muscles, and was prescribed the intravenous drug Rituxan to help ease her joint pain for about a 'year or so'.
"I just always feel better when I have answers, but the Rituxan was really hard to do last time," Gomez explained. "It’s about four hours, five hours. It’s really hard on your system at first, but it’s OK."
My Mind & Me is described as an 'intimate study' which spans Gomez's 'six-year journey into a new light', and sees the singer talk about how she wants to use her experiences and time to help others.
It comes as Gomez discussed more of her ordeal in an interview with Rolling Stone, explaining that she'd dealt with psychosis and a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
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She recalled feeling that the world 'would be better' if she wasn't there, and explained that she'd been to multiple different treatment centres as she sought help with her mental health.
"I'm going to be very open with everybody about this: I've been to four treatment centres,' she said. "I think when I started hitting my early twenties is when it started to get really dark, when I started to feel like I was not in control of what I was feeling, whether that was really great or really bad."
After leaving the facilities, she began working with a psychiatrist who removed her off all but two of her medications and she began to become interested in philanthropy and politics. Gomez has also recently appeared in the Disney+ series Only Murders In The Building.
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If you're experiencing distressing thoughts and feelings, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is there to support you. They're open from 5pm–midnight, 365 days a year. Their national number is 0800 58 58 58 and they also have a webchat service if you're not comfortable talking on the phone
Topics: Celebrity, Health, Mental Health, Apple
Emily Brown