Madison Burgess
Last week, Danielle Jonas opened up about a private health battle she's been dealing with, that's seemingly common among celebrities.
For those who aren't familiar, the mother-of-two is a reality TV star and a jewellery company founder, as well as being married to Jonas Brothers star, Kevin Jonas, 37.
The 39-year-old sat down with Parents Magazine on 9 October, where she lifted the lid on the worrying ordeal, including what her first symptoms were.
As we say, the illness Danielle is suffering from is one that's affected quite a few famous faces over the years, such as Justin Timberlake, Shania Twain, Bella Hadid, and Kelly Osbourne, to name a few.
Advert
Ben Stiller, Amy Schumer, Miranda Hart, Alec Baldwin and Avril Lavigne are also on the long list of people who have gone public about their health struggles.
In the interview, Danielle revealed that she was initially told by doctors that her diagnosis was something else entirely and so had to push for more tests to get to the real issue.
The American TV personality shared that she was diagnosed with Lyme disease - a bacterial infection which is passed on by tick bites.
She told the publication: "They tried to tell me it was anxiety. Finally, I had a biopsy that showed I actually had Lyme disease."
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that can be spread to humans by infected ticks and it's usually easier to treat if it's diagnosed early.
One of the more common symptoms is a circular or oval-shaped rash around a tick bite that can appear up to three months after being bitten by an infected tick.
Some people also get flu-like symptoms a few days or weeks after they were bitten by an infected tick, including a high temperature, headache, tiredness, and muscle and joint pain.
However, Danielle shared that the first early warning sign she got was something else entirely - hair loss.
The health ordeal began when she started noticing that her hair was falling out and doctors had no answer as to why, which she described as 'very traumatic'.
Danielle told the magazine: I also had eczema on my scalp, which was likely from the inflammation [caused by Lyme disease]. The hair loss was very traumatic. I got to a point where I wanted to wear a wig."
She added: "I had to go out and do things with Kevin. I just wanted to feel like myself."
Danielle turned to extensions which sadly just inflamed her eczema even more because of the way they pulled at her scalp.
However, she explained that now her symptoms are more manageable and she has her Lyme disease 'under control'.
As hair loss is one of the less common side effects, there is limited research into it, but as per Healthline, researchers think it could be occurring due to an autoimmune-like response.
Hair follicle damage is also a possibility from the tick bites, leading to what’s known as tick-bite alopecia.
In some case reports, antibiotic treatments helped resolve symptoms. However, it’s important to note that it can still take several months for hair to regrow to its normal state, even after this.