Welsh singer Marina Diamandis has revealed she’s been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (ME).
The performer, 37, previously known under her stage name Marina and the Diamonds, took to Instagram to share she’d been diagnosed after battling symptoms for seven years, including ‘brain fog, numbness and insomnia.’
In a lengthy post, Marina told her followers her ME symptoms have been triggered by ‘chronic stress,’ and has left her ‘feeling like her body was being poisoned.’
However, she added that she was starting to ‘feel better than she had in a long time,’ after beginning her recovery two months ago with the help of a functional medicine practitioner.
She went onto reveal that before seeking the long-term treatment, she relied on ‘adrenaline and will power’ to manage her symptoms.
Update: Welsh singer Marina Diamandis has revealed she’s been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (ME)
Tough time: The performer previously known under her stage name Marina and the Diamonds, took to Instagram to share she’d been diagnosed after battling symptoms for seven years
Sharing a fresh-faced selfie, Marina wrote: ‘I have a health/ life update I want to share with you all.
‘After seven years of health issues, I recently got diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ ME.
‘I’ve had symptoms like deep fatigue, numbness, tingling, low appetite, brain fog, rashes, insomnia and a feeling of being ‘poisoned’ for so long it’s been hard to remember what healthy feels like.
‘My baseline energy has been at 50 – 60% for a long time. Aside from a few periods of remission, the last seven years have consisted of relying on adrenaline and will power to push me through each day.
‘Recovery started two months ago after an unusually bad flare up that involved shooting pains and burning sensations all over my hands, legs and back.
‘After seeing countless doctors, I started working with a functional medicine practitioner to find the root cause of the symptoms.
‘After a lot of reading, I now understand that these symptoms are a result of a hypersensitive nervous system, developed in response to chronic stress.
Tough time: In a lengthy post, Marina told her followers her ME symptoms have been triggered by ‘chronic stress,’ and has left her ‘feeling like her body was being poisoned’
Tough time: Marina (pictured performing in March 2022) added that she’d worked for the first time in weeks, after spending two months in recovery
‘My body has felt stuck in ‘fight or flight’ mode and there were many warning signs it gave me before the worst symptoms set in.
‘Regardless of the trigger, the key to healing seems to lie in retraining the nervous system to regulate itself again.
‘The happy news is… (!) I am feeling better today than I have in a long time. My energy levels are around 65 – 70% most days and the dips I have are shorter.
‘Healing is demanding a lot of my energy and attention right now, but the better I feel, the sooner I can get back to my creative life again. I worked for the first time in a while yesterday and it felt so good.’
She went onto add: ‘I am very grateful for the lessons this experience has given me and I KNOW it’s going to change my life for the better! I feel like I have been given the opportunity to rebuild my life from scratch, exactly how I want it to be.
‘I’ve also cultivated a deeper empathy for the millions of people who live silently with chronic illness… It’s hard to maintain optimism when the world feels like it’s moving on without you, but hope always exists.
‘Answers always exist. The body wants to heal — and what I’ve learned is that you have to work with it, not against it.’
ME/CFS causes a range of symptoms but the most common are extreme tiredness and generally feeling unwell.
Around 250,000 people in the UK and 17 million around the world are estimated to have the condition.
Marina released her last studio album, Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land, in June 2021, and promoted the record with a world tour last year.
In 2021, it was also reported she’d split from her boyfriend, Clean Bandit star Jack Patterson, after five years together.
The two musicians started dating in early 2016 after working together on collaboration tracks Disconnect and Baby.
The Sun reported that the former couple were living thousands of miles apart, with Marina moving to LA to work on her fifth album Love + Fear.
A source told the publication: ‘Marina and Jack aren’t together any more and it’s not been easy for either of them.
‘They were such important parts of each others’ lives and friends thought they were perfect together. No one would have been surprised if he had popped the question.
‘They had been living together in London and had a lovely life but I think the lockdown really made them both re-evaluate what they want.
Reflecting on her previous album, she continued: ‘Love + Fear was such a different record and it was highly collaborative on the songwriting front, which is what I needed at the time.’
‘At that time in my life, I just felt very unsure about everything. I was coming off two years of just feeling very depressed in ways where I started to doubt my decision-making.’
‘But I feel very different on this record. I think I’m much more confident and my life’s more balanced. I’ve made several changes in my professional life and that always translates to the art, if you have a team facilitating your ideas and helping you create what you want.’
‘I feel in control. It feels so liberating and strengthening not having to fight with your label to hash out your ideas.’
