Marina of Marina and The Diamonds fame has been battling chronic fatigue syndrome.
Medically known as Myalgic encephalomyelitis, the long-term condition has a wide range of symptoms, but the most common is extreme tiredness.
And the ‘Primadonna’ hitmaker, 37, has revealed she has been running on pure “adrenaline” for the past seven years, with only a “few periods of remission”, and described feeling like she had been “poisoned”.
Sharing her own debilitating symptoms, Marina wrote on Instagram with a selfie: “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 per cent for a long time. Aside from a few periods of remission, the last 7 years have consisted of relying on adrenaline and will power to push me through each day.”
It was just two months ago that she started recovery after a nasty flare-up and she sought the help of a specialist to find out the cause.
Marina – whose full name is Marina Lambrini Diamandis – went on: “Recovery started 2 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. 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.”
Marina’s energy levels have improved to around 65 to 70 per cent, and she’s hoping she’ll feel well enough to return to making music properly soon after her first day back on Wednesday (12.07.23).
She continued: “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 per cent 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. (sic)”
Her health battle has inspired the Welsh star to “rebuild my life from scratch”.
She added: “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.”
Marina’s last solo album, ‘Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land’, was released in 2021 and was her last under a major label.