The 23-year-old told Billboard magazine she was treated in late 2013 and early 2014 after she cancelled the Asian and Australian legs of her Stars Dance tour.
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Merrill, who did not treat Gomez, has revealed that the medication used to treat Lupus patients during chemotherapy is not in “as high doses as cancer patients” but it still has the same side-effects such as nausea. “That’s what my break was really about”, Gomez says.
She says, “Taylor makes me feel empowered, like I can trust new people… I’m in chemotherapy. You’re a**holes.’ I locked myself away until I was confident and comfortable again”. E! News even learned that the “Good For You” singer has been channeling her frustrations and anger into music.
“What [chemotherapy drugs] do is they kill any of the cells in the body that are rapidly dividing”, Merrill said, adding that in Lupus patients “the immune cells are rapidly dividing…to create inflammation”. “I’m going to work it on out”.
“I’ve been a UNICEF ambassador since I was 17”.
“It s so disappointing that I’ve become a tabloid story”. She explains for the same publication that, while she was plagued by insecurity at the time she posted it, she meant it to mean that she was ok with gaining weight and that she didn’t think the number on the scales represented who she was as a person. “I’ve deserved this. I earned it. This is all me”.
Lupus is an autoimmune disease which can affect any part of the body including lungs, kidneys, skin, joints, internal organs and other blood vessels. However, here are a few symptoms to look out for: Fatigue, fever, joint pain, stiffness, swelling, butterfly-shaped rash on face, skin lesions that worsen with sun exposure, shortness of breath, chest pain, dry eyes, headaches, confusion and memory loss.
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Women of color are two to three times more likely than white women to develop lupus, Lupus Foundation of America health educator Dawn Isherwood said.
