'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
American singer and actress Toni Braxton recently opened up about her struggles with Lupus. The 56-year-old sat down with co-host Mary Alice Haney and Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi in the recent episode of the women's health podcast SHE MD, published on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, and said:
"Lupus can be very challenging and difficult to diagnose because everything has to line up, it's almost like an eclipse. And no one could find out what was wrong with me."
In November 2010, the Secrets singer told CBS News she had been diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a potentially life-threatening autoimmune disease. Lupus occurs when one's immune system attacks healthy tissues in one's body.
Toni Braxton also revealed how the disease affected her career. The Grammy-winning singer was initially forced by her management to keep the diagnosis from the public as "people get scared around sick celebrities."
"And I couldn’t get insured. You would not get work, because the second I was told I had it, I didn’t get work at first. No one wanted to put me on a stage. ‘Well, suppose she collapsed on stage, and the insurance, how are we going to do that?’ And so I couldn’t, at first I did not work," she explained.
Toni Braxton met at least six doctors before she received an accurate diagnosis
Toni Braxton appeared on the podcast along with her rheumatologist, Dr. Daniel Wallace, whom she met while she struggled to understand her health issues. The 56-year-old revealed she met six doctors before she was introduced to Dr. Wallace.
Toni recalled the time she collapsed on stage while performing in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. She was rushed to the hospital, where doctors suspected she had had precancerous symptoms for two years.
Dr. Wallace revealed Braxton again fainted on stage three or four years later in Las Vegas and had to be airlifted to Los Angeles, where his team diagnosed her with Lupus. The Un-Break My Heart singer elaborated that she was generally unwell and experienced pain throughout her body between the two incidents.
"It took me 10 years to get a diagnosis...I felt like a hypochondriac. Like I'm just telling people, 'I don't feel well,' and no one's listening... And lupus doesn't have a look to it. Not to say that other things do, but we always try to fake that we're feeling great or don't want to worry anyone. As mothers and women, we tend to do that anyway," she said.
Toni described that she initially thought the tightness in her chest was a result of her implants and had them removed, but the feeling persisted. At the time, doctors thought she had microvascular angina.
Per the Mayo Clinic, Lupus is often misdiagnosed as its symptoms usually mimic those of other diseases, including chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. Wallace, an expert on Lupus, explained that it "takes an average of three and a half years for someone with non-organ threatening lupus to be diagnosed and an average of four different doctors."
Toni Braxton also opened up about experiencing pregnancy with the health condition. She revealed she had two successful pregnancies but had to terminate one due to health complications.
Toni Braxton is preparing for her upcoming Las Vegas residency, Love & Laughter with Cedric, the entertainer, which will debut at the Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on April 27. The duo have known each other for years, and Cedric, whose mother died from a lupus-related complication, expressed interest in working with her when she revealed her condition.
